Pedagogy for developing critical thinking in adolescents: Explicit instruction produces greatest gains

Although the development and transfer of critical thinking skills are recognized as primary goals for education, there is little empirical evidence to help educators decide how to teach in ways that enhance critical thinking. In two studies, we compared explicit and imbedded instructional modes and assessed critical thinking with the Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment, which uses both constructed response and multiple-choice response formats with everyday situations. Participants were high school students in the United States attending low-performing high schools with large minority enrollment. In both studies, the students receiving explicit instruction showed much larger gains than those in the imbedded instruction group. Grade point average was significantly related to critical thinking scores, but as expected its relationship with critical thinking was much weaker than standardized test scores. These results provide robust evidence that explicit instruction is an effective method for teaching critical thinking skills to high school students.