“A Model for Student Success: Critical Thinking and ‘At Risk’ Students” (pdf)

There appears to be a significant gap between faculty expectations for incoming college students and these same students perceptions of their abilities. Incoming college students are not very confident of their critical thinking abilities, yet faculty expect students to enter college already being able to critically evaluate information and to reach conclusions based on a critical analysis of the data. The current study challenges the preconception that critical thinking cannot be taught and delineates a model for critical thinking that can be employed regardless of one’s discipline. Outcome data strongly suggests critical thinking can lead to both proximal and distal increases in student success.