critical thought research assignment general education assignment

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Teaching Commons > Teaching Guides > Assignment Design > Critical Thinking

Designing Assignments for Critical Thinking

• Tim van Gelder from the University of Melbourne offers some guidelines for teaching critical thinking based on key ideas from cognitive science in his article "Teaching Critical Thinking: Some Lessons fro​ m Cognitive Science".
• The IDEA Center at Kansas State University offers information on designing assignments and learning environments that enhance thinking skills.
• The University of Nebraska at Lincoln offers an overview of teaching critical thinking , including a number of examples across the disciplines

Stephen Brookfield On Critical And Creative Thinking

The 2012 Fall Forum on Teaching and Learning featured a keynote presentation by the noted expert on adult education, Stephen Brookfield, who is the John Ireland Endowed Chair at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. You can watch the keynote below.

TLA Handouts On Teaching For Critical Thinking

• Definitions of Critical Thinking
• Argument mapping allows students to see the underlying structure of an argument.
• Creating cognitive dissonance to help students question their pre-existing or intuitive ideas.
• Scaffolding assignments so that they gradually increase in cognitive complexity.
• Teaching for transfer to help students understand their critical thinking process.
• Critical thinking Internet resources and selected bibliography.

Further Resources

Bean, J.C. (2001).  Engaging Ideas: The Professor's Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Brookfield, Stephen. (2011). Teaching for Critical Thinking: Tools and Techniques to Help Students Question Their Assumptions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Critical Thinking in Academic Research - Second Edition

(4 reviews)

Cindy Gruwell, University of West Florida

Robin Ewing, St. Cloud State University

Copyright Year: 2022

Last Update: 2023

Publisher: Minnesota State Colleges and Universities

Language: English

Formats Available

Conditions of use.

Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by Julie Jaszkowiak, Community Faculty, Metropolitan State University on 12/22/23

Organized in 11 parts, this his textbook includes introductory information about critical thinking and details about the academic research process. The basics of critical thinking related to doing academic research in Parts I and II. Parts III –... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Organized in 11 parts, this his textbook includes introductory information about critical thinking and details about the academic research process. The basics of critical thinking related to doing academic research in Parts I and II. Parts III – XI provide specifics on various steps in doing academic research including details on finding and citing source material. There is a linked table of contents so the reader is able to jump to a specific section as needed. There is also a works cited page with information and links to works used for this textbook.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content of this textbook is accurate and error free. It contains examples that demonstrate concepts from a variety of disciplines such as “hard science” or “popular culture” that assist in eliminating bias. The authors are librarians so it is clear that their experience as such leads to clear and unbiased content.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

General concepts about critical thinking and academic research methodology is well defined and should not become obsolete. Specific content regarding use of citation tools and attribution structure may change but the links to various research sites allow for simple updates.

Clarity rating: 5

This textbook is written in a conversational manner that allows for a more personal interaction with the textbook. It is like the reader is having a conversation with a librarian. Each part has an introduction section that fully defines concepts and terms used for that part.

Consistency rating: 5

In addition to the written content, this textbook contains links to short quizzes at the end of each section. This is consistent throughout each part. Embedded links to additional information are included as necessary.

Modularity rating: 4

This textbook is arranged in 11 modular parts with each part having multiple sections. All of these are linked so a reader can go to a distinct part or section to find specific information. There are some links that refer back to previous sections in the document. It can be challenging to return to where you were once you have jumped to a different section.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

There is clear definition as to what information is contained within each of the parts and subsequent sections. The textbook follows the logical flow of the process of researching and writing a research paper.

Interface rating: 4

The pictures have alternative text that appears when you hover over the text. There is one picture on page 102 that is a link to where the downloaded picture is from. The pictures are clear and supportive of the text for a visual learner. All the links work and go to either the correct area of the textbook or to a valid website. If you are going to use the embedded links to go to other sections of the textbook you need to keep track of where you are as it can sometimes get confusing as to where you went based on clicking links.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

This is not really a grammatical error but I did notice on some of the quizzes if you misspelled a work for fill in the blank it was incorrect. It was also sometimes challenging to come up with the correct word for the fill in the blanks.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

There are no examples or text that are culturally insensitive or offensive. The examples are general and would be applicable to a variety of students study many different academic subjects. There are references and information to many research tools from traditional such as checking out books and articles from the library to more current such as blogs and other electronic sources. This information appeals to a wide expanse of student populations.

I really enjoyed the quizzes at the end of each section. It is very beneficial to test your knowledge and comprehension of what you just read. Often I had to return and reread the content more critically based on my quiz results! They are just the right length to not disrupt the overall reading of the textbook and cover the important content and learning objectives.

Reviewed by Sara Stigberg, Adjunct Reference Librarian, Truman College, City Colleges of Chicago on 3/15/23

Critical Thinking in Academic Research thoroughly covers the basics of academic research for undergraduates, including well-guided deeper dives into relevant areas. The authors root their introduction to academic research principles and practices... read more

Critical Thinking in Academic Research thoroughly covers the basics of academic research for undergraduates, including well-guided deeper dives into relevant areas. The authors root their introduction to academic research principles and practices in the Western philosophical tradition, focused on developing students' critical thinking skills and habits around inquiry, rationales, and frameworks for research.

This text conforms to the principles and frames of the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, published by the Association of College and Research Libraries. It includes excellent, clear, step-by-step guides to help students understand rationales and techniques for academic research.

Essential for our current information climate, the authors present relevant information for students who may be new to academic research, in ways and with content that is not too broad or too narrow, or likely to change drastically in the near future.

The authors use clear and well-considered language and explanations of ideas and terms, contextualizing the scholarly research process and tools in a relatable manner. As mentioned earlier, this text includes excellent step-by-step guides, as well as illustrations, visualizations, and videos to instruct students in conducting academic research.

(4.75) The terminology and framework of this text are consistent. Early discussions of critical thinking skills are tied in to content in later chapters, with regard to selecting different types of sources and search tools, as well as rationales for choosing various formats of source references. Consciously making the theme of critical thinking as applied to the stages of academic research more explicit and frequent within the text would further strengthen it, however.

Modularity rating: 5

Chapters are divided in a logical, progressive manner throughout the text. The use of embedded links to further readings and some other relevant sections of the text are an excellent way of providing references and further online information, without overwhelming or side-tracking the reader.

Topics in the text are organized in logical, progressive order, transitioning cleanly from one focus to the next. Each chapter begins with a helpful outline of topics that will be covered within it.

There are no technical issues with the interface for this text. Interactive learning tools such as the many self-checks and short quizzes that are included throughout the text are a great bonus for reinforcing student learning, and the easily-accessible table of contents was very helpful. There are some slight inconsistencies across chapters, however, relative to formatting images and text and spacing, and an image was missing in the section on Narrowing a Topic. Justifying copy rather than aligning-left would prevent hyphenation, making the text more streamlined.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

(4.75) A few minor punctuation errors are present.

The authors of this text use culturally-relevant examples and inclusive language. The chapter on Barriers to Critical Thinking works directly to break down bias and preconceived notions.

Overall, Critical Thinking in Academic Research is an excellent general textbook for teaching the whys and hows of academic research to undergraduates. A discussion of annotated bibliographies would be a great addition for future editions of the text. ---- (As an aside for the authors, I am curious if the anonymous data from the self-checks and quizzes is being collected and analyzed for assessment purposes. I'm sure it would be interesting!)

Reviewed by Ann Bell-Pfeifer, Program Director/ Instructor, Minnesota State Community and Technical College on 2/15/23

The book has in depth coverage of academic research. A formal glossary and index were not included. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The book has in depth coverage of academic research. A formal glossary and index were not included.

The book appears error free and factual.

The content is current and would support students who are pursuing writing academic research papers.

Excellent explanations for specific terms were included throughout the text.

The text is easy to follow with a standardized format and structure.

The text contains headings and topics in each section.

It is easy to follow the format and review each section.

Interface rating: 5

The associated links were useful and not distracting.

No evidence of grammatical errors were found in the book.

The book is inclusive.

The book was informative, easy to follow, and sequential allowing the reader to digest each section before moving into another.

Reviewed by Jenny Inker, Assistant Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University on 8/23/22

This book provides a comprehensive yet easily comprehensible introduction to critical thinking in academic research. The author lays a foundation with an introduction to the concepts of critical thinking and analyzing and making arguments, and... read more

This book provides a comprehensive yet easily comprehensible introduction to critical thinking in academic research. The author lays a foundation with an introduction to the concepts of critical thinking and analyzing and making arguments, and then moves into the details of developing research questions and identifying and appropriately using research sources. There are many wonderful links to other open access publications for those who wish to read more or go deeper.

The content of the book appears to be accurate and free of bias.

The examples used throughout the book are relevant and up-to-date, making it easy to see how to apply the concepts in real life.

The text is very accessibly written and the content is presented in a simple, yet powerful way that helps the reader grasp the concepts easily. There are many short, interactive exercises scattered throughout each chapter of the book so that the reader can test their own knowledge as they go along. It would be even better if the author had provided some simple feedback explaining why quiz answers are correct or incorrect in order to bolster learning, but this is a very minor point and the interactive exercises still work well without this.

The book appears consistent throughout with regard to use of terminology and tone of writing. The basic concepts introduced in the early chapters are used consistently throughout the later chapters.

This book has been wonderfully designed into bite sized chunks that do not overwhelm the reader. This is perhaps its best feature, as this encourages the reader to take in a bit of information, digest it, check their understanding of it, and then move on to the next concept. I loved this!

The book is organized in a manner that introduces the basic architecture of critical thinking first, and then moves on to apply it to the subject of academic research. While the entire book would be helpful for college students (undergraduates particularly), the earlier chapters on critical thinking and argumentation also stand well on their own and would be of great utility to students in general.

This book was extremely easy to navigate with a clear, drop down list of chapters and subheadings on the left side of the screen. When the reader clicks on links to additional material, these open up in a new tab which keeps things clear and organized. Images and charts were clear and the overall organization is very easy to follow.

I came across no grammatical errors in the text.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

This is perhaps an area where the book could do a little more. I did not come across anything that seemed culturally insensitive or offensive but on the other hand, the book might have taken more opportunities to represent a greater diversity of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

This book seems tailor made for undergraduate college students and I would highly recommend it. I think it has some use for graduate students as well, although some of the examples are perhaps little basic for this purpose. As well as using this book to guide students on doing academic research, I think it could also be used as a very helpful introduction to the concept of critical thinking by focusing solely on chapters 1-4.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Part I. What is Critical Thinking?
• Part II. Barriers to Critical Thinking
• Part III. Analyzing Arguments
• Part IV. Making an Argument
• Part V. Research Questions
• Part VI. Sources and Information Needs
• Part VII. Types of Sources
• Part VIII. Precision Searching
• Part IX. Evaluating Sources
• Part X. Ethical Use and Citing Sources
• Part XI. Copyright Basics
• Works Cited
• About the Authors

Ancillary Material

About the book.

Critical Thinking in Academic Research - 2nd Edition provides examples and easy-to-understand explanations to equip students with the skills to develop research questions, evaluate and choose the right sources, search for information, and understand arguments. This 2nd Edition includes new content based on student feedback as well as additional interactive elements throughout the text.

About the Contributors

Cindy Gruwell is an Assistant Librarian/Coordinator of Scholarly Communication at the University of West Florida. She is the library liaison to the department of biology and the College of Health which has extensive nursing programs, public health, health administration, movement, and medical laboratory sciences. In addition to supporting health sciences faculty, she oversees the Argo IRCommons (Institutional Repository) and provides scholarly communication services to faculty across campus. Cindy graduated with her BA (history) and MLS from the University of California, Los Angeles and has a Masters in Education from Bemidji State University. Cindy’s research interests include academic research support, publishing, and teaching.

Robin Ewing is a Professor/Collections Librarian at St. Cloud State University. Robin is the liaison to the College of Education and Learning Design. She oversees content selection for the Library’s collections. Robin graduated with her BBA (Management) and MLIS from the University of Oklahoma. She also has a Masters of Arts in Teaching from Bemidji State University. Robin’s research interests include collection analysis, assessment, and online teaching.

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Teaching with Writing

Designing Writing Assignments To Promote Critical Thinking

By Bob Bauer , Associate Professor of Geological Sciences

Published on Aug. 31, 2015

As teachers who use writing assignments to help students learn course material, we hope that students think critically as they complete our assignments, and we expect that they are learning from their writing. But what does critical thinking really mean in the context of their writing and the assignments we provide? What are students doing when they think critically to complete our assignments, and how does it help them learn things that are relevant to our courses? Even more to the point, how can we design assignments to help promote students’ critical thinking and learning as they complete our assignments? The objective of this blog is to address these questions and provide an example of an assignment designed to promote critical thinking.

What is Critical Thinking?

The concepts of critical thinking are rooted in the teachings of Socrates nearly 2,500 years ago. However, a vast literature on “critical thinking” developed in the latter part of the 20th century and provides a similarly vast array of definitions and essential aspects of critical thinking (e.g. ; Scriven and Paul, 1987; Angelo, 1995; Beyer, 1995; Wade, 1995). Among the various definitions, I quote two here as a guide to our consideration of the topic. Angelo (1995) defines critical thinking as “the intentional application of rational, higher order thinking skills, such as analysis, synthesis, problem recognition and problem solving, inference, and evaluation”. Paul and Elder (2009) provide a simpler, more general definition – “Critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with the view to improving it.” As part of our exploration of the topic, we will consider both specific aspects of critical thinking and the more metacognitive aspects inherent in Paul and Elder’s definition. For a more detailed discussion of the definition of critical thinking, see Critical Thinking as Defined by the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking, 1987 .

Critical Thinking as Part of the Writing Process

Critical thinking should be inherent in our thinking processes and our oral discourse, but it is most obvious to students, and is most readily taught, as part of the writing process (Wade, 1995). This is primarily because writing involves more self-reflection and helps to promote broader perspectives on the topics considered. Wade (1995) identified eight characteristics of critical thinking that are promoted during the writing process: asking questions, defining a problem, examining evidence, analyzing assumptions and biases, avoiding emotional reasoning, avoiding oversimplification, considering other interpretations, and tolerating ambiguity.

Objectives and Use of the Linked Presentation

The objectives of the linked presentation are to provide an introduction to the use of critical thinking in the writing process, to describe ways to design writing assignments that promote critical thinking, and to provide an example assignment that uses many of these design principles.

As such, the presentation includes four parts: 1) What is critical thinking? , 2) How is critical thinking applied to the writing process? , 3) Thinking critically to design writing assignments that promote critical thinking? , and 4) An example writing assignment designed to promote critical thinking .

Comments on Use of the Presentation

The presentation is available in both Flash and HTML5 so it can be viewed on all platforms and devises. It combines an animated PowerPoint presentation and a voice-over for each slide. It includes an outline tab that allows you to skip directly to a specific part or a specific slide in the presentation, and a notes tab that shows my narration text for the current slide. You can control the rate of slide advancing using the next and previous arrows and the pause and advance symbols, and you can control the presentation volume. Switching to full screen mode removes the outline and notes tabs from view.

The presentation and a PDF file of the example assignment are linked below. I hope you find them useful.

Presentation: Designing writing assignments to promote critical thinking

Example Assignment: Write-to-Learn Assignment – Evidence for the Theory of Plate Tectonics (PDF)

References Cited

Angelo, T. A. (1995). Beginning the dialogue: Thoughts on promoting critical thinking: Classroom assessment for critical thinking. Teaching of Psychology, 22(1), 6-7.

Bean, J. C. (1996, 2011). Engaging ideas: The professor’s guide to integrating writing, critical thinking, & active learning in the classroom (1st, 2nd ed). Jossey-Bass. 282, 360p.

Beyer, B. K. (1995). Critical thinking. Bloomington, in: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.

Carr, K. S. (1990). How can we teach critical thinking. Eric Digest. [On-line]. 

McDade, S. A. (1995). Case study pedagogy to advance critical thinking. Teaching Psychology, 22(1), 9-10.

Paul, R. and Elder, L., (2009), The miniature guide to critical thinking concepts and tools (6th ed.), Thinker’s Guide Library, Foundation for Critical Thinking, 23p.

Scriven, M. and Paul, R. (1987). Defining critical thinking: A draft statement for the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking. [On-line]. Available 2015: https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766 .

Wade, Carol (1995). Using writing to develop and assess critical thinking. Teaching of Psychology, 22(1), 24-28.

Other Online Sources

Opencourseware on critical thinking, logic, and creativity, [Online], Available 2015, http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/

The Fundamentals of Critical Reading and Effective Writing, [Online], Available 2015, http://www.criticalreading.com/critical_thinking.htm

Walker Center for Teaching and Learning, Critical Thinking, University of Tennessee, [Online]. Available 2015: http://www.utc.edu/walker-center-teaching-learning/teaching-resources/ct-ps.php .

About the Author

Bob Bauer is an associate professor of Geological Sciences and has been at the University of Missouri since 1982.  From 1992 through 2010 he ran the University’s nationally recognized Geology Field Course from a permanent field laboratory in the Wind River Mountains, near Lander, Wyoming.  His research into ancient mountain-building processes has involved studies in Minnesota, Wyoming, and Antarctica.  He began teaching his course in Structural Geology as writing-intensive (WI) course in 1996, which evolved into the current four-course WI program in Geological Sciences at the University of Missouri.

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Structuring Assignments To Promote Critical Thinking

Thinking Assignments

November 27, 2006, by The Critical Thinking Co. Staff

Writing assignments are an excellent vehicle for promoting critical thinking. In a paper, you can require students to provide valid evidence and arguments in favor of claims that they support and those they do not, thus encouraging them to consider more than their own perspectives. Writing requires students to plan and organize their thoughts in logical order, and if well done, it necessitates thorough and fluent knowledge of their topic.

Creating activities by which students can practice applying knowledge learned in class to new problems or everyday experience, encourages them to examine their assumptions and make judgments about the fit between theory and application, principle and practice. Problem-solving assignments are obviously an integral part of courses in mathematics, statistics, and the sciences, as they allow students to develop and refine the reasoning and hypothesis-testing abilities necessary for success in these disciplines. However, instructors in other subject areas can also consider how to help students develop discipline-relevant problem-solving skills, particularly concerning ill-structured and novel problems. Possibilities for this kind of activity are endless and are best developed by instructors to meet the unique needs of their students, disciplines, and subject matter.

Creating Effective Research Assignments: Home

Introduction.

This guide shares observations about crafting effective research assignments, gleaned from the experiences of the librarians of DeVry University and other academic institutions.  Here can also be found links to ebooks and other resources that address the research process and research assignments.

General Considerations

Learning Objectives What is the purpose of the research assignment?  The assignment's learning objectives should be clear to both students and the instructor. 

Student Confidence Remember that students, despite some of them being "digital natives," do not know as much about research (even online) as they think they do, and a large percentage of our population are returning students with a long "gap year." 

Library anxiety is a well documented phenomenon.  Even students who grew up with information technology admit to finding the library and its wide array of resources intimidating and confusing (Head, 2013) .  The librarians are here to help, but not every student is aware of this resource - please direct them to ask for assistance.

Head, A. (2013). Project Information Literacy: What can be learned about the information-seeking behavior of today’s college students? Retrieved from https://www.projectinfolit.org/uploads/2/7/5/4/27541717/head_project.pdf

Clearly define research assignment terminology.  A specification like "do not use the Internet" can be construed as applying to the library's resources (and the librarians have dealt with this exact state of confusion by students).  It is better to positively identify what your expectations are, e.g. "a minimum of six scholarly sources."

Direct students to contact the librarians for help - this is an essential part of the research process, not an admission of ignorance (if using the library was obvious, there wouldn't be librarians).

On a related note, consider scheduling a library instruction session with your DVU librarians that coincides with the start of the research assignment.  

Test the assignment yourself before assigning it to students.

Contact the librarians to make sure the library has the resources needed and in sufficient quantity.  Some access models limit the library to one "copy" of a particular e-book, for example, and some of our vendors do not always make the most recent content available immediately.

Consider requiring research journals or logs, or annotated bibliographies, etc. to encourage thinking about the research process and quality of the resources used.

Things to Avoid

Avoid directing students to a particular and finite resource - it is an unfortunate fact that some of the library's license agreements limit the number of "copies" of some content.

Avoid "scavenger hunts," i.e. directing students to find things for the sake of finding things.  Students tend to reject activities that do not appear to have direct application in their classes. However, these kinds of activities can work if students find them sufficiently engaging or entertaining.

Do not make assumptions about what resources are available in the library.  The library's resources change over time, due to factors including budget variations and vendor agreements.  Contact the librarians to ensure that the needed resources are available.

Avoid seemingly arbitrary specifications on resources.  Telling students not to use Wikipedia is not as effective as being explicit about which resources are acceptable.  

DVU Library Resources

External links.

The following sources were consulted in preparing this LibGuide:

Burkhardt, J. (2016). Teaching information literacy reframed . Chicago: ALA Neal Schuman

Hunter College Libraries (2018). Creating research assignments: Faculty guide . Retrieved from https://libguides.library.hunter.cuny.edu/c.php?g=438884&p=2991497

Mesa Community College Library (n.d.). Planning checklist: Research assignments [PDF]. Retrieved from https://mesacc.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=26267774

Su, D. (2014). Library instruction design: Learning from Google and Apple . [Books24x7 version] Available from http://common.books24x7.com.proxy.devry.edu:5050/toc.aspx?bookid=73439.

University of Idaho Library (2017). Creating effective library research assignments . Retrieved from  https://libguides.uidaho.edu/Creating_Research_Assignments

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How to Design a Library Research Assignment

Critical thinking and information literacy.

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• Guidelines for an Effective Assignment

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Librarians from the Research Engagement and Scholarship  (RES) department are here to help.

Contact an RES Librarian: David Bell Steve Brantley Kirstin Duffin Michele McDaniel Amy Odwarka

Information Literacy is the ability to efficiently navigate information resources in order to identify credible sources relevant to a research question and use those sources to inform and engage one’s own thinking. The skills necessary to become information literate are analogous to those skills required of someone who employs critical thinking .

The " Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education " (from the Association of College and Research Libraries) contextualizes information literacy into the following six "frames" presented in alphabetical order.

• Authority is constructed and contextual Information resources reflect their creators’ expertise and credibility, and are evaluated based on the information need and the context in which the information will be used. Authority is constructed in that various communities may recognize different types of authority. It is contextual in that the information need may help to determine the level of authority required.
• Information creation as a process Information in any format is produced to convey a message and is shared via a selected delivery method. The iterative processes of researching, creating, revising, and disseminating information vary, and the resulting product reflects these differences.
• Information has value Information possesses several dimensions of value, including as a commodity, as a means of education, as a means to influence, and as a means of negotiating and understanding the world. Legal and socioeconomic interests influence information production and dissemination.
• Research as inquiry Research is iterative and depends upon asking increasingly complex or new questions whose answers in turn develop additional questions or lines of inquiry in any field.
• Scholarship as a conversation Communities of scholars, researchers, or professionals engage in sustained discourse with new insights and discoveries occurring over time as a result of varied perspectives and interpretations.
• Searching as strategic exploration Searching for information is often nonlinear and iterative, requiring the evaluation of a range of information sources and the mental flexibility to pursue alternate avenues as new understanding develops.

"The ACRL  Framework  is called a framework intentionally because it is based on a cluster of interconnected core concepts, with flexible options for implementation, rather than on a set of standards or learning outcomes, or any prescriptive enumeration of skills.

Two added elements illustrate important learning goals related to those concepts:  knowledge practices , which are demonstrations of ways in which learners can increase their understanding of these information literacy concepts, and  dispositions , which describe ways in which to address the affective, attitudinal, or valuing dimension of learning." 

"Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education", American Library Association, February 9, 2015. ttp://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework (Accessed July 8, 2021) Document ID: b910a6c4-6c8a-0d44-7dbc-a5dcbd509e3f

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• What Is Critical Thinking? | Definition & Examples

What Is Critical Thinking? | Definition & Examples

Published on May 30, 2022 by Eoghan Ryan . Revised on May 31, 2023.

Critical thinking is the ability to effectively analyze information and form a judgment .

To think critically, you must be aware of your own biases and assumptions when encountering information, and apply consistent standards when evaluating sources .

Critical thinking skills help you to:

• Identify credible sources
• Evaluate and respond to arguments
• Assess alternative viewpoints
• Test hypotheses against relevant criteria

Table of contents

Why is critical thinking important, critical thinking examples, how to think critically, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about critical thinking.

Critical thinking is important for making judgments about sources of information and forming your own arguments. It emphasizes a rational, objective, and self-aware approach that can help you to identify credible sources and strengthen your conclusions.

Critical thinking is important in all disciplines and throughout all stages of the research process . The types of evidence used in the sciences and in the humanities may differ, but critical thinking skills are relevant to both.

In academic writing , critical thinking can help you to determine whether a source:

• Is free from research bias
• Provides evidence to support its research findings
• Considers alternative viewpoints

Outside of academia, critical thinking goes hand in hand with information literacy to help you form opinions rationally and engage independently and critically with popular media.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Critical thinking can help you to identify reliable sources of information that you can cite in your research paper . It can also guide your own research methods and inform your own arguments.

Outside of academia, critical thinking can help you to be aware of both your own and others’ biases and assumptions.

Academic examples

However, when you compare the findings of the study with other current research, you determine that the results seem improbable. You analyze the paper again, consulting the sources it cites.

You notice that the research was funded by the pharmaceutical company that created the treatment. Because of this, you view its results skeptically and determine that more independent research is necessary to confirm or refute them. Example: Poor critical thinking in an academic context You’re researching a paper on the impact wireless technology has had on developing countries that previously did not have large-scale communications infrastructure. You read an article that seems to confirm your hypothesis: the impact is mainly positive. Rather than evaluating the research methodology, you accept the findings uncritically.

Nonacademic examples

However, you decide to compare this review article with consumer reviews on a different site. You find that these reviews are not as positive. Some customers have had problems installing the alarm, and some have noted that it activates for no apparent reason.

You revisit the original review article. You notice that the words “sponsored content” appear in small print under the article title. Based on this, you conclude that the review is advertising and is therefore not an unbiased source. Example: Poor critical thinking in a nonacademic context You support a candidate in an upcoming election. You visit an online news site affiliated with their political party and read an article that criticizes their opponent. The article claims that the opponent is inexperienced in politics. You accept this without evidence, because it fits your preconceptions about the opponent.

There is no single way to think critically. How you engage with information will depend on the type of source you’re using and the information you need.

However, you can engage with sources in a systematic and critical way by asking certain questions when you encounter information. Like the CRAAP test , these questions focus on the currency , relevance , authority , accuracy , and purpose of a source of information.

When encountering information, ask:

• Who is the author? Are they an expert in their field?
• What do they say? Is their argument clear? Can you summarize it?
• When did they say this? Is the source current?
• Where is the information published? Is it an academic article? Is it peer-reviewed ?
• Why did the author publish it? What is their motivation?
• How do they make their argument? Is it backed up by evidence? Does it rely on opinion, speculation, or appeals to emotion ? Do they address alternative arguments?

Critical thinking also involves being aware of your own biases, not only those of others. When you make an argument or draw your own conclusions, you can ask similar questions about your own writing:

• Am I only considering evidence that supports my preconceptions?
• Is my argument expressed clearly and backed up with credible sources?
• Would I be convinced by this argument coming from someone else?

If you want to know more about ChatGPT, AI tools , citation , and plagiarism , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• ChatGPT vs human editor
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• Using ChatGPT for your studies
• What is ChatGPT?
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Critical thinking refers to the ability to evaluate information and to be aware of biases or assumptions, including your own.

Like information literacy , it involves evaluating arguments, identifying and solving problems in an objective and systematic way, and clearly communicating your ideas.

Critical thinking skills include the ability to:

You can assess information and arguments critically by asking certain questions about the source. You can use the CRAAP test , focusing on the currency , relevance , authority , accuracy , and purpose of a source of information.

Ask questions such as:

• Who is the author? Are they an expert?
• How do they make their argument? Is it backed up by evidence?

A credible source should pass the CRAAP test  and follow these guidelines:

• The information should be up to date and current.
• The author and publication should be a trusted authority on the subject you are researching.
• The sources the author cited should be easy to find, clear, and unbiased.
• For a web source, the URL and layout should signify that it is trustworthy.

Information literacy refers to a broad range of skills, including the ability to find, evaluate, and use sources of information effectively.

Being information literate means that you:

• Know how to find credible sources
• Use relevant sources to inform your research
• Understand what constitutes plagiarism
• Know how to cite your sources correctly

Confirmation bias is the tendency to search, interpret, and recall information in a way that aligns with our pre-existing values, opinions, or beliefs. It refers to the ability to recollect information best when it amplifies what we already believe. Relatedly, we tend to forget information that contradicts our opinions.

Although selective recall is a component of confirmation bias, it should not be confused with recall bias.

On the other hand, recall bias refers to the differences in the ability between study participants to recall past events when self-reporting is used. This difference in accuracy or completeness of recollection is not related to beliefs or opinions. Rather, recall bias relates to other factors, such as the length of the recall period, age, and the characteristics of the disease under investigation.

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Ryan, E. (2023, May 31). What Is Critical Thinking? | Definition & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved August 21, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/critical-thinking/

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Effective Research Assignments

Identify learning goals., clarify expectations., "scaffold" the assignment., test the assignment., collaborate with librarians..

• Assignment Ideas
• Studies on Student Research

Acknowledgement

These best practices were adapted from the handout "Tips for Designing Library Research Assignments" developed by Sarah McDaniel, of the Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. Many thanks to her for permission to reuse this resource.

See  Assignment Ideas  to explore different possible approaches beyond a traditional research paper. 

• What abilities would you like students to develop through the assignment?
• How will the learning goals and their importance be communicated in the assignment?

Your students may not have prior experience with academic research and resources. State (in writing) details like:

• the assignment's purpose,
• the purpose of research and sources for the assignment,
• suggested resources for locating relevant sources,
• expected citation practices,
• terminology that may be unclear (e.g. Define terms like "database," "peer reviewed"),
• assignment length and other parameters, and
• grading/evaluation criteria ( Rubrics are one way to communicate assessment criteria to students. See, for example, AAC&U's VALUE rubric for information literacy .)

Also consider discussing how research is produced and disseminated in your discipline, and how you expect your students to participate in academic discourse in the context of your class. 

Breaking a complex research assignment down into a sequence of smaller, more manageable parts:

• models how to approach a research question and how to manage time effectively,
• empowers students to focus on and to master key research and critical thinking skills,
• provides opportunities for feedback, and
• deters plagiarism.

Periodic class discussions about the assignment can also help students

• reflect on the research process and its importance
• encourage questions, and
• help students develop a sense that what they are doing is a transferable process that they can use for other assignments.

By testing an assignment, you may identify practical roadblocks  (e.g., too few copies of a book for too many students, a source is no longer available online).

Librarians can help with this process (e.g., suggest research strategies or resources, design customized supporting materials like handouts or course research guides).

Subject librarians can explore with you ways to support students in their research.

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Article Contents

The epidemiology workplace writing repository, linking best writing practices to materials in the repository, value of linking academic writing with public health context.

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Using writing assignments to promote critical thinking, learning and professional identity: The Epidemiology Workplace Writing Repository

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Ella August, James A Trostle, Using writing assignments to promote critical thinking, learning and professional identity: The Epidemiology Workplace Writing Repository, Journal of Public Health , Volume 40, Issue 3, September 2018, Pages e419–e422, https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdy011

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Public health writing assignments can and should be more focused on student problem solving, flexible and critical thinking, and intercultural awareness. Liberal arts college writing assignments increasingly focus on these outcomes, and public health educators can learn from their theories and practices. To construct better writing assignments, teachers of public health would benefit from knowing the types and content of writing that practicing professionals produce outside of graduate schools. We describe a resource to support writing in epidemiology courses, that can also serve as a model for other public health subdisciplines. The Epidemiology Workplace Writing Repository includes job descriptions and workplace writing examples from graduates with epidemiology degrees. The repository materials and teaching guide can support the development of formal and informal writing assignments that adapt for public health graduate schools the best writing practices recommended within liberal arts colleges and universities.

In the past decade, public health education has enjoyed increasing popularity, expanding its reach into more institutions and new undergraduate programs. To prepare students to address the highly complex and persistent socially and economically driven health problems we face, public health educators need to foster excellent analytic and problem-solving skills, a flexible and creative approach to applying these skills, and communication skills effective within and outside the field and across diverse cultures and stakeholders. To achieve this, education policy makers, researchers and other stakeholders have advocated for a shift toward including a liberal arts perspective in public health education. 1 , 2

Thoughtfully assigned writing promotes the critical thinking skills thought to be lacking in many STEM education settings. 3 – 8 Critical thinking is conceptualized here as ‘a process of purposeful self-regulatory judgment that drives problem-solving and decision-making’. 9 Critical thinking uses and builds analysis, inference and evaluation skills, along with the ability to interpret information, explain concepts and ideas and regulate one’s own learning. The behaviors associated with critical thinking skills include the tendency to seek truth, to be open-minded, inquisitive, analytical, orderly and systematic. 6 These qualities are essential for successfully engaging with today’s public health issues, and the exercise of writing further develops the power of purposeful self-regulatory judgment that supports them. 7 , 8 , 10 , 11

Public health students are also training to develop a professional identity: an understanding of disciplinary ways of thinking; how knowledge is created in the field; what disciplinary conventions shape discourse; and what values accompany all these. Carefully designed writing assignments also foster a professional identity. 12

Whereas scholarship and practice efforts in the liberal arts have focused on developing effective writing assignments, very little public health attention has been given to this goal. This is especially important because MPH epidemiology graduates are employed in diverse sectors, including universities and colleges (24%), government (23%), healthcare (17%), for-profit (14%), non-profit (13%) and other (9%. 13 The employment profile of MPH graduates in other public health subdisciplines is similarly diverse; and 50% of those with public health doctorates are employed in non-academic jobs. 13 Broadening the scope of writing assignments is therefore increasingly important to reflect and prepare for the broadening scope of professional identities.

We present an innovative resource, The Epidemiology Workplace Writing Repository [available with instructions free at https://umich.box.com/s/i1t6sumft19gm04430our84d46mlq5wx ] that can be used to support writing in epidemiology courses, along with suggested writing assignments. This repository also serves as a model that can be replicated in other public health subdisciplines.

The repository includes job descriptions, employer types and workplace writing examples from University of Michigan epidemiology alumni who consented to participate. The writing examples were contributed by Michigan alumni to represent their work. Most, but not all, were authored or co-authored by the alumni, and all alumni submitted material in the public domain or had permission to share what they contributed. Alumni submitted samples that include a broad array of writing types: congressional budget requests, policy briefs, surveillance reports, annual reports, emergency response plans, social media planning documents, health advisories, health communications for clinicians, press releases, hospital safety protocols, drug package inserts, Red Cap code, scientific articles, scientific posters and syllabi along with many others.

Six features of effective writing assignments assembled from multiple sources 5 , 8 , 11 , 12 , 14 – 16

The first three recommendations are not surprising; the first calls for a clear explanation of what the assignment involves; the second recommends specifying the assignment’s purpose and the third, some type of writing process, such as pre-writing activities (e.g. brainstorming) or allowing for multiple drafts. The fourth recommendation requests inclusion of what writing experts sometimes refer to as ‘constructed meaning’ into these assignments. Such assignments present students with a real problem rooted in the discipline of study, and ask students to engage in critical thinking to address that problem. One example from the repository asks students to prepare a press release summarizing the Department of Defense’s recent surveillance report on the increase in Chikungunya cases in the Americas. The press release should provide context for the information in the report and summarize key information in a way that would be clear and compelling to a media reporter. Asking students to write about topics specific to the discipline of public health helps them build their professional knowledge and identity. 8 , 11 , 14

The fifth recommendation is to specify an ‘audience’ for writing; individuals for whom the writing is intended, regardless of whether these individuals actually read the writing. Specifying an audience obliges the student to make arguments clear, relevant and interesting to this audience; to consider what background the audience needs in order to understand the bigger points being made; and to reflect on each part of that writing and decide whether and how to include it. In the epidemiology writing assignment described above, relevant to the Department of Defense, students are asked to articulate concepts and information in a way that the media—and ultimately, the public—can understand. The assignment calls for clear, simple, jargon-free writing that conveys information about the most important points.

The final recommendation explicitly asks that writing be assigned in a format used in the discipline of interest, clearly indicating that these formats are recommended over more generic formats (e.g. the ‘research paper’ or ‘term paper’). Disciplinary formats help students develop a deeper understanding of disciplinary activities and values, professional roles and context (e.g. awareness of the tension between different stakeholders in a given public health issue). 5 , 11 , 12 , 16 – 22

Four of these six recommendations call for integrating disciplinary formats, conventions and writing types into writing assignments. According to writing scholars, these practices are not being met in the majority of assigned writing in higher education. 8 , 23 Our pilot data on assigned writing in one public health school show that, with the exception of Health Management Policy, public health educators tend to include either a very narrow range of disciplinary formats (e.g. the scientific article, NIH-style grant application, and the scientific poster) or formats that bear no resemblance to contemporary workplace needs (e.g. a ‘10-page research paper’).

The writing done by public health professionals, specifically in the workplaces of those with an epidemiology degree, has, to our knowledge, not been described, so these formats have been possible to imagine but hard to find. The disciplinary writing requested in public health courses is, not surprisingly, in those formats most familiar to PhD-level academics—the scientific article, the grant application and the scientific poster. These are not necessarily relevant writing formats for a doctoral-level, master’s-level or even bachelor’s level graduate working in public health, whose work after graduation may take place in local and federal public health departments, foundations, hospitals, NGOs, pharmaceutical companies, health insurers and others. By limiting our pedagogical interactions with students to a narrow range of writing types, we limit our opportunities to help students learn other aspects of our discipline and thus broaden their professional interests.

While the repository materials can be used as models for assigning disciplinary writing, they can also be used to structure informal reflective writing assignments. This writing can be a window into the activities, roles, values and context of a discipline, and it has been shown to enhance meta-cognition and critical thinking skills. 6 One example of such an informal writing assignment would be to ask students to reflect on a particular writing example (e.g. the Department of Defense surveillance report on Chikungunya in the Americas) and then write informally about what events they imagine gave rise to this document, and what responses they imagine resulted from its circulation. In such assignments students should be asked to consider and note for later discussion what questions the writing assignment raised. Both formal and informal reflective writing have great potential for interdisciplinary engagement, because social, economic and political issues tend to arise with the deeper disciplinary thinking that these assignments demand.

Asking students to write in and engage with a variety of formats provides much more than ‘practice’ for their professional lives—these activities provide an avenue to enrich learning, critical thinking skills and disciplinary understanding. They also provide students a beckoning entry point for thinking about course content and a broader appreciation for the disciplinary writing that public health practitioners engage in.

Funding for this project was supported by the University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching.

Aelion CM , Gubrium AC , Aulino F et al.  . Bridging graduate education in public health and the liberal arts . Am J Public Health 2015 ; 105 : S78 – 82 .

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Liberal Education and America’s Promise [LEAP] . http://www.aacu.org/leap . (29 March 2017 , date last accessed).

Pace D . Decoding the Disciplines: Helping Students Learn Disciplinary Ways of Thinking . San Francisco : Jossey-Bass , 2004 .

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Anderson P , Gonyea RM , Anson CM et al.  . Results from a large-scale multi-institutional study . Res Teach Engl 2015 ; 50 : 199 – 235 .

Facione PA . and American Philosophical Association . Critical thinking: a statement of expert consensus for purposes of educational assessment and instruction. In: Research Findings and Recommendations . Millbrae, CA : Insight Assessment , 1990 .

Tsui L . Fostering critical thinking through effective pedagogy: evidence from four institutional case studies . J Higher Educ 2002 ; 73 : 740 – 63 .

Bean JC . Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom , 2nd edn. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass , 2011 .

Adler-Kassner L (ed) . Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies . Logan : Utah State University Press , 2015 .

Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health . ASPPH Graduate Employment: 2014 Common Questions Pilot Project. Washington, DC; 2015 .

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Wiggins G . Real-world writing: making purpose and audience matter . Engl J 2009 ; 98 : 29 – 37 .

Soliday M . Everyday Genres: Writing Assignments Across the Disciplines . Illinois : Southern Illinois University Press , 2011 .

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Melzer D . Writing assignments across the curriculum: a national study of college writing . Coll Composit Commun 2009 ; 61 : W240 – 261 .

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Information Literacy Teaching Toolkit

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Designing Effective Research Assignments

• Designing a Research Assignment
• Designing an Information Literacy Curriculum

Below are questions to ask yourself when designing an assignment that promotes information literacy and critical thinking skills.

• What will students learn as a result of completing this assignment?
• What are the  information literacy student learning outcomes ?
• What are the writing or presentation outcomes?
• What are the discipline-specific outcomes?
• Are these goals clear to students?
• Does our library have these resources? Are they freely and easily available elsewhere?
• Is there a link to the library (or other needed resources) in the assignment and/or syllabus?
• Is there a link to any related student services (peer tutoring, technology help desk, etc.) in the assignment and/or syllabus?
• Does this model a process students can repeat in the future? Is that clear to students?
• Is there space for students to reflect on what they are doing, which strategies are working and which aren’t?
• Does this provide enough time for students to be successful?
• Does it provide time for you to give feedback to students, and for students to revise and/or integrate that feedback into their next piece of work?
• Do you have grading criteria or a rubric to help you score student work? Is this available to students?
• Might you ask past students if you can use their work as a sample, or can you create your own?
• How will students access the sample(s)? Hand out in class, provide in Moodle, etc.?

Greenfield Community College Library.  “Information Literacy Toolkit for Faculty.”  gcc.mass.edu, Greenfield Community College. Accessed 1 Jan. 2021.

Scaffolding and reinforcing information literacy skills and concepts throughout your courses and program, will allow students to develop and master their skill set. Below are a number of questions to think about while creating course and program materials. 

• Is it clear to students how these skills connect to continued study and/or real life?
• What do they already know? Can you assume, or do you need to find out?
• Which information literacy skills do you need to teach, in addition to your course content?
• What can a librarian help teach?
• What needs to be done during class time (for face-to-face classes)?
• What can be done outside of class, as homework?
• What supports does the library already have available (i.e. Moodle plug-ins, videos, handouts, etc.)?
• If you want a librarian to teach, where does that fit in the course schedule?
• If not, what needs to change? Course content, the research assignment, or both?

Greenfield Community College Library.  “Information Literacy Toolkit for Faculty.”  gcc.mass.edu, Greenfield Community College. Accessed 1 Jan. 2021.

Ideas and Examples

• Ideas for Research-related Assignments
• Classic Examples of Research Assignments

There are any number of library-related assignments that can be incorporated into a course. Here are a few examples that can be adapted to most subjects (assignments may be repeated across categories).

Critical Evaluations & Comparisons

• Locate a popular magazine article, then find a scholarly article on the same subject. Compare the two articles for content, style, bias, audience, etc.
• Analyze the content, style, and audience of three journals in a given discipline.
• Choose an autobiography of someone related to the course content. Find secondary sources which deal with an idea or event described in the autobiography. Compare and contrast the sources.
• Evaluate a website based on specific criteria.
• Determine the adequacy of a psychological test based on the literature about the test. Then develop a test battery designed for a particular clinical (or other) situation, by using published tests and the literature about them.
• To develop the ability to evaluate sources, students prepare a written criticism of the literature on a particular issue by finding book reviews, by searching citation indexes to see who is quoting the context of the scholarship in a particular field.
• Students use bibliographies, guides to the literature and the Internet to find primary sources on an issue or historical period. They can contrast the treatment in the primary sources with the treatment in secondary sources including their textbook.
• Write a newspaper story describing an event--political, social, cultural, whatever suits the objectives-based on their research. The assignment can be limited to one or two articles, or it can be more extensive. This is a good exercise in critical reading and in summarizing. The assignment gains interest if several people research the same event in different sources and compare the newspaper stories that result.
• Contrast journal articles or editorials from recent publications reflecting conservative and liberal tendencies.
• Write a review of a musical performance. Include reference not only to the performance attended, but to reviews of the composition's premiere, if possible. Place the composition in a historical context using timetables, general histories and memoirs when available, using this information to gain insight into its current presentation.

Fact-Finding Research

• Read an editorial and find facts to support it.
• In biology or health classes, assign each student a 'diagnosis' (can range from jock itch to Parkinson's Disease). Have them act as responsible patients by investigating both the diagnosis and the prescribed treatment. Results presented in a two-page paper should cover: a description of the condition and its symptoms; its etiology; its prognosis; the effectiveness of the prescribed treatment, its side effects and contradictions, along with the evidence; and, finally, a comparison of the relative effectiveness of alternate treatments. This can also be accompanied by oral or visual presentations, slideshow, poster session, etc.
• Students follow a piece of legislation through Congress. This exercise is designed primarily to help them understand the process of government. However it could also be used in something like a 'critical issues' course to follow the politics of a particular issue. (What groups are lobbying for or against a piece of legislation? How does campaign financing affect the final decision? etc.).
• Similar to the above, have students follow a particular foreign policy situation as it develops. Who are the organizations involved? What is the history of the issue? What are the ideological conflicts?
• Nominate someone or a group for the Nobel Peace Prize. Learn about the prize, the jury, etc. Justify the nominations.
• Write an exam on one area; answer some or all of the questions (depending on professor's preference). Turn in an annotated bibliography of source material, and rationale for questions.

Career-Based Research

• Assemble background information on a company or organization in preparation for a hypothetical interview. For those continuing in academia, research prospective colleagues' and professors' backgrounds, publications, current research, etc.
• Ask each student to describe a career they envision themselves in and then research the career choice. What are the leading companies in that area? Why? (If they choose something generic like secretarial or sales, what is the best company in their county of residence to work for? Why?) Choose a company and find out what its employment policies are-flex time, family leave, stock options. If the company is traded publicly, what is its net worth? What is the outlook for this occupation? Expected starting salary? How do the outlook and salaries vary by geography?

Personal Research

• Locate primary sources from the date of your birth. You may use one type type of material only once, i.e., one newspaper headline of a major event, one quotation, one biography, one census figure, one top musical number, one campus event, etc. Use a minimum of six different sources. Write a short annotation of each source and include the complete bibliographic citation.

Historical Research (for any subject)

• Select a scholar/researcher in a field of study and explore that person's career and ideas. Besides locating biographical information, students prepare a bibliography of writings and analyze the reaction of the scholarly community to the researcher's work.
• Pick a topic and research it in literature from the 60s and 70s. Then research the same topic in the literature of the 80s and 90s. Compare and contrast the topic in a bibliographic essay.
• Write a biographical sketch of a famous person. Use biographical dictionaries, popular press and scholarly sources, and books to find information about the person.
• Everyone becomes an historical figure for a day. Students research the person, time-period, culture, etc. They give an oral presentation in class and answer questions.
• Similar to the above, students adopt a persona and write letters or journal entries that person might have written. The level of research required to complete the assignment can range from minimal to a depth appropriate for advanced classes.
• News conferences offer good opportunities to add depth to research and thus might work particularly well with advanced students. A verbatim transcript of an analytical description of a news conference can serve as a format for simulated interviews with well known people of any period. What questions would contemporaries have asked? What questions would we now, with hindsight, want to ask? How would contemporary answers have differed from those that might be given today? Here students have an opportunity to take a rigorous, analytical approach, both in terms of the questions to be asked and the information contained in the answers.

Biographical Research

(annotated) bibliography variations.

• Prepare an annotated bibliography of books, journal articles, and other sources on a topic. Include evaluative annotations.
• Create a Web page on a narrow topic relevant to the course. Include meta sites, e-journals, discussion lists, and organizations.
• Update an existing bibliography or review of the literature.
• Compile an anthology of readings by one person or on one topic. Include an introduction with biographical information about the authors, and the rationale for including the works [justify with reviews or critical materials].
• Choose a topic of interest and search it on the Internet. Cross reference all search engines and find all websites which discuss the topic. Like a research paper, students will have to narrow and broaden accordingly. The student will then produce an annotated bibliography on the topic, based solely on internet references.
• Create an anthology. The model for this format is the annotated book of readings with which most students are familiar. In this case, however, rather than being given the anthology, they are asked to compile it themselves. The assignment can limit the acceptable content to scholarly articles written within the last ten years, or it can be broadened to include chapters or excerpts from monographs and significant older materials. Students should be asked to write an introduction to the anthology that would display an overall understanding of the subject. In addition, each item should be described, and an explanation given as to why it is included. The assignment could also require a bibliography of items considered for inclusion as well as copies of the items selected. In any subject course in which students would benefit from finding and reading a variety of scholarly, such an assignment would guarantee that they use their library skills to locate the articles, their critical reading skills to make the selections, and a variety of writing skills to produce the introduction, the summaries, and the explanations.

Literature Review Variations

• Each student in the class is given responsibility for dealing with a part of the subject of the course. He or she is then asked to 1) find out what the major reference sources on the subject are; 2) find out "who's doing what where" in the field; 3) list three major unresolved questions about the subject; 4) prepare a 15 minute oral presentation to introduce this aspect of the subject to the class.
• Conduct the research for a paper except for writing the final draft. At various times students are required to turn in 1) their choice of topic; 2) an annotated bibliography; 3) an outline; 4) a thesis statement; 5) an introduction and a conclusion.
• Write a grant proposal addressed to a specific funding agency; include supporting literature review, budget, etc. Have class peer groups review. (Best proposal could be submitted for funding of summer research).

Collins Memorial Library.  “Ideas for Library-Related Assignments.”  Pugetsound.edu, University of Puget Sound. Accessed 1 Jan. 2021.

Assignments below are linked to Google Drive documents. Please feel to download and edit for your classroom or context and to remix assignments. A CSU librarian would be happy to tailor a version of an assignment or scaffold research skills into your class.

Example of a short assignment that asks students to think critically about two news sources.

Example of an annotated bibliography assignment that asks students to think critically about their sources.

Example of a research paper abstract assignment that asks students to closely evaluate their topics and sources needed.

Example of an assignment that asks students to brainstorm and evaluate research questions.

Example of an assignment that asks to compare and evaluate various sources.

Example of an assignment that asks students to critically approach source use and paraphrasing.

Example of an assignment that asks students to detail the research process by recording search strategies and resources located.

Example of an assignment that asks students to choose and refine a research topic.

Example of an assignment that asks students to think critically about sources.

Example of an assignment that asks students to crucially evaluate their research topic by evalauting sources.

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