THE CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS CHEATSHEET [INFOGRAPHIC]
Lee Watanabe-Crockett
Critical thinking skills truly matter in learning. Why? Because they are life skills we use every day of our lives. Everything from our work to our recreational pursuits, and all that’s in between, employs these unique and valuable abilities. Consciously developing them takes thought-provoking discussion and equally thought-provoking questions to get it going. Begin right here with the Critical Thinking Skills Cheatsheet.
It’s a simple infographic offering questions that work to develop critical thinking on any given topic. Whenever your students discover or talk about new information, encourage them to use these questions for sparking debate and the sharing of opinions and insights among each other. Together they can work at building critical thinking skills in a collaborative and supportive atmosphere.
Click on the image to download a full-size version of this resource
How Does It Work?
Critical thinking is thinking on purpose. It’s clear, rational, logical, and independent thinking. It’s about practicing mindful communication and problem-solving with freedom from bias or egocentric tendency. You can apply critical thinking to any kind of subject, problem, or situation you choose. We made the Critical Thinking Skills Cheatsheet for you with this in mind.
The Critical Thinking Skills Cheatsheet includes categories for Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How. Each section has eight questions that begin with their corresponding word. The questions are meant to be versatile and broad, and applicable to a range of topics.
In these questions you’ll find great potential conversation starters and fillers. That said, this is obviously not a definitive list! Let them inspire your students to come up with their own questions for critical thinking skill building.
The Critical Thinking Skills Cheatsheet for Printing
You can get an 11x17 PDF file of the Critical Thinking Skills Cheatsheet for quick and easy printing on our newly updated resources page. We really hope you enjoy this cheatsheet. Use it to help your students build solid critical thinking habits and skills.