Phi Beta Cons

Some College Students Really Do Learn Critical Thinking

In this week’s Pope Center Clarion Call, Prof. David Clemens discusses the general failure to teach college students critical thinking — despite the fact that many schools trumpet that as one of their goals — and then explains how he gets his students to learn it. He gives them a capstone assignment that requires them to write a lengthy essay on the question of whether Holocaust deniers should be included in the curriculum. That compels the students to analyze evidence and arguments as most have never had to do before.

George Leef is the the director of editorial content at the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. He is the author of The Awakening of Jennifer Van Arsdale: A Political Fable for Our Time.
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