Abstract
Nilson’s (2021) Infusing Critical Thinking into Your Course: A Concrete Practical Approach highlights the important role of critical thinking to meet the demands of the 21st century and, presents the pedagogical and assessment methods for thinking skills. The twelve chapters of the book are organized into four major parts: (a) introduction to why acquiring critical thinking is essential and challenging, (b) effective critical thinking teaching methods for teachers, (c) assessment methods, and (d) integrating critical thinking into higher education.
Chapter one highlights the essential role and payoffs of critical thinking (CT). CT is not only one of the most demanded skills in the job market, it assists us to avoid deceitful influences of fake news, frauds, demagoguery, propaganda, and so on. There is always a high chance that we can be the victims of disinformation if not aware. There is a noteworthy list of objective and evidence-oriented websites that detect fake news and political rumors.
Chapter two focuses on a known issue that there is no universally accepted CT definition in the literature regardless of overlapping assumptions and concepts proposed by different scholars. Nilson suggests six disciplinary approaches that best capture the concept of CT so as to help us formulate a working definition. These approaches are:
William Perry’s Theory of Undergraduate Cognitive Development Stephen D. Brookfield’s Assumption-Based Approach Peter A. Facione and Delphi Group Dinae F. Halpen’s Cognitive Psychology Approach The Late Rechard Paul and Linda Elder’s Foundation for Critical Thinking, and Susan L. Wolott’s Steps for Better Thinking.
Chapter three is helpful particularly for teachers who want to infuse CT into their syllabi. Nilson gives ten major reasons why CT teaching is challenging and provides possible solutions to overcome those challenges at the end of the chapter.
In Chapters four to seven, effective teaching approaches for CT are introduced. We should note here that the concept of CT is the same across disciplines, but practices and strategies for each CT skill vary depending on the subject. In other words, the methods learners analyze, synthesize, or evaluate differ across different disciplines because each discipline requires its own internal logic to apply CT skills. Nilson offers many examples on defining CT learning outcomes for the disciplines of sciences, technology, communication, arts, and exercising self-regulation. In fact, formulating CT learning outcomes is like setting a roadmap in advance to reach the goals at the end of the course. Initially, teachers should familiarize learners with CT vocabularies, scaffold their thinking by way of a model, and training them to have self-reflection and awareness. Chapter six mentions how teachers should tap students’ CT skills by challenging them with the right questions. Chapter seven recommends group discussion, debates, cases, simulations, games, and role-plays as effective teaching activities to promote CT development.
In Chapter eight to eleven, Nilson presents assessment methods for CT learning outcomes. Among the tests, Nilson emphasizes selected-response and constructed-response test types. Selected-response tests or objectives tests include matching, true/false, and multiple true-false. Stimulus based tests are also efficient in testing a variety of CT skills. Rules and tips on writing these tests effectively can be learned in Chapter eight. Constructed-response tests are discussed in Chapter nine. They enable teachers to assess CT skills that objective questions cannot, taking the form of writing assignments, performances of specialized subjects, multimedia presentations, with discipline-relevant stimuli. In Chapter ten and eleven, Nilson presents two types of grading systems in detail: grading traditionally using a point system and specification grading that is a less stressful alternative assessment strategy.
Finally, in Chapter twelve, Nilson concludes by stressing the fact that higher educational attainment is more than material well-being: it is assessed by one’s own critical thinking skills and dispositions that lead one towards better decision making and acquiring intellectual traits. The author does acknowledge possible risks one has to pay for embracing logic and the truth. Nilson provides readers a list of checklists, (a) sharing the truth, (b) honoring the truth, and (c) encouraging the truth, that can reflect the development of humanity in a civilized society (p. 126).
Overall, this book is worthwhile reading for all teachers regardless of their different specialization. The book situates readers in the field of CT by giving background knowledge on the role of critical thinking as an everyday life essential skill and opens research ideas for effective classroom instruction and teaching methods for researchers and teachers. The book touches on areas related to critical thinking teaching, assessments, and challenges in the course of training CT skills in the class. But the book does not fully discuss teaching approaches in the curriculum. For the further details, one needs to continue digging into the CT literature, following the recommended references mentioned in the book.