Critical thinking is the ability to reason well, including questioning assumptions, examining evidence, considering context, remaining open to alternative perspectives, and being willing to accept a new or revised perspective.
For more information about critical thinking please contact Vanessa Fritz, Dean of Liberal Arts at vfritz@ivytech.edu or (812) 429-9811.
These resources offer helpful tips when considering a critcial thinking activity for your classroom.
Skills You Need: Critical thinking
University of Louisville: What is Critical Thinking?
Washington State University: Guide to Rating Integrated and Critical Thinking Matrix
Critical and Creative Thinking by 
Critical Reading in Higher Education by 
Sparking Student Creativity by 
An a to Z of Critical Thinking by This is a list of terms recommended for use when searching in the databases or other locations for critical thinking-related materials.
critical thinking
thought & thinking
discourse analysis
ability testing
teaching methods
concept mapping
intellect
metacognition
thinking skills
comparative analysis
These are a few databases which will prove useful in searching critical thinking-related topics.
A multidisciplinary database containing articles from popular and scholarly sources. Most research projects start with at least one search in Academic Search Premier.
Provides access to over 1.3 million education related records. A great resource for educators.
A general purpose database, MasterFILE Premier also contains the text of over 500 reference books.
Professional Development Collection
Designed for professional educators, this database provides a highly specialized collection of nearly 520 high quality education journals, including more than 350 peer-reviewed titles. This database also contains more than 200 educational reports. Professional Development Collection is the most comprehensive collection of full text education journals in the world.
A multidisciplinary database containing over 48,000 publications.
