Course Design Strategies to Enhance Critical Thinking

As Director of Think Strong, the college QEP on critical thinking, I was responsible for developing training for faculty and staff on how to infuse critical thinking into existing courses and programs. This presentation is based on the work of Gerald Nosich and his suggestion that critical thinking is taught by reiterating fundamental concepts throughout a learning unit or course to increase depth of understanding. It was created to preserve an in-person workshop on fundamental concepts that I have given at multiple conferences and colleges. I took a problem-based approach and focused on how the over-emphasis on vocabulary frustrates student learning. While I could not recreate the live give-and-take of the original presentations, there are multiple moments where the viewer is prompted to revise existing course materials or assessments. Feedback for the live version of this presentation has been overwhelmingly positive and it is my hope that this video captures the spirit of the original.