Fostering Critical Thinking Skills: Comparative Creative Projects in General Education Humanities and Social Science Classrooms

Abstract

According to both post-secondary educational advocates and employers, critical thinking is a vital skill for students to learn during their university education. It is not a skill, however, that students can be introduced to once and then expected to independently apply. Instead, critical thinking skills should be integrated and practiced throughout a student’s degree program. Including project-based learning (PjBL) in general education classes can serve a dual purpose for the general education instructor: first, well-designed project-based assignments allow students to practice many of the cognitive and metacognitive skills associated with critical thinking, and, second, they enable students to connect the material in the general education classroom to their own experiences, making it a more robust learning opportunity while at the same time providing students choice. This essay reflects on the PjBL assignment “Thinking Outside the Essay” to illustrate one potential avenue for humanities and social and behavioral science faculty to facilitate practice in critical thinking, provide student choice, and connect course content to students’ lived experiences.