To solve problems through critical and creative thinking, students need to understand how to define problems, analyze them by separating complexities into manageable parts, and envision novel solutions with a purposeful sense of possible audiences and contexts. Students must show a willingness to ask “why?” and “what if?” and other questions as they form hypotheses, try and refine various approaches, and demonstrate flexibility and responsiveness as they acquire new information or apply old information in new ways.

Employers want graduates who can think, are willing to think boldly, take risk, venture new ideas, and use feedback to make changes. Graduates who can think both critically and creatively, analyzing existing information and envisioning new possibilities, will possess skills that can be applied to advance knowledge.

Teaching Critical Thinking

Library of Critical Thinking Resources | Foundation for Critical Thinking
Expansive collection of foundational and current resources on critical thinking in theory and practice. Includes instructional resources for higher education and K-12, and student-facing materials.

Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking | Foundation for Critical Thinking
Standalone text that provides introduction to critical thinking framework and applications. Great starting point for considering critical thinking as academic skill.

Overview of How to Design Instruction Using Critical Thinking | Foundation for Critical Thinking
Explanation of course structures necessary for teaching critical thinking. Provides instructors with sense of what and how to teach critical thinking in any course.

“The Beating Heart of Gen Ed” | Inside Higher Ed
Opinion piece arguing that critical thinking skills should be placed at the center of general education programs. Suggests ways instructors can prioritize critical thinking in gen ed courses.

Teaching Creative Thinking

How to Teach Creative Thinking | National Education Association (NEA)
Article and recommended resources for supporting student development of creative thinking and problem-solving skills through mentoring and other innovative instructor-student interactions.

What is Creative Problem-Solving and Why is it Important? | Harvard Business School Online
Overview of creative problem-solving approaches and applications to professional roles. Includes brief introduction to design thinking and short list of tools to inspire innovation.

Teaching Problem Solving

Teaching Problem Solving | Brown University Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning
Introduction to problem solving pedagogy and skills that can be incorporated into any course.

Problem-Based Learning | Cornell University Center for Teaching Innovation
Introduction to and rationale for problem-based learning approaches in higher education.

Problem Library | University of Delaware Institute for Transforming University Education
Large storehouse of problem-based scenarios for course implementation. Includes, and can be filtered for, a wide range of disciplines, skill levels, and duration.

Don’t Just Tell Students to Solve Problems. Teach Them How. | UC-San Diego Today
Expansive article highlighting approaches to teaching problem solving and including problem-solving skill development in curriculum.

Problem Solving in STEM | Harvard University Bok Center for Teaching and Learning
Website providing advice about strategies for facilitating problem solving in higher education courses.

Teaching Design Thinking

Design Thinking | William & Mary Studio for Teaching & Learning Innovation
Straightforward explanation of design thinking and applications to instructional practice. Includes small handful of helpful resources.

Design Thinking your Teaching | Focus 2 Achieve
Infographic depicting process for applying design thinking to instructional practice.

Assessing Critical Thinking

Teaching, Learning, and Assessing Creative and Critical Thinking Skills | Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Paper that argues for establishment of ways to educate students in critical and creative thinking and systematically assess students’ acquisition of critical and creative thinking skills. Includes general and discipline-specific assessment rubrics.

Critical Thinking VALUE Rubric | The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)
Rubric intended for institutional-level use in evaluating and discussing students’ demonstration of critical thinking through the comprehensive exploration of issues, ideas, artifacts, and events before accepting or formulating an opinion or conclusion.

Assessing Creative Thinking

Assessing Students’ Creative Thinking | National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment
Blog post providing definition of creative thinking, instructional frameworks, and suggestions for assessment design. Focused on K-12 but easily applied to higher education contexts.

Teaching Essential Skills: Critical Thinking | University of Kentucky
Resource that includes teaching approaches and assessment strategies for critical thinking.

Critical Thinking VALUE Rubric | The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)
Rubric intended for institutional-level use in evaluating and discussing students’ demonstration of critical thinking through the comprehensive exploration of issues, ideas, artifacts, and events before accepting or formulating an opinion or conclusion.

Critical Thinking in Specific Disciplines

Nursing Programs

Simulation Debriefing as Part of Simulation for Clinical Teaching and Learning in Nursing
Article showing how the debriefing portion of simulation (reflecting afterward) is where most of the critical thinking actually happens. Helpful resource for faculty conducting simulation labs.

The Relationship Between Virtual Simulation, Critical Thinking, and Self-Directed Learning Among Nursing Students
Article finding strong correlations between virtual simulations and both critical thinking and self-directed learning.

Critical Thinking and Clinical Decision Making Among Registered Nurses in Clinical Practice: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Article from Frontiers in Nursing Science that synthesizes multiple studies to show how experience, context, and organizational factors affect nurses’ decision-making. Great overview of how thinking translates into practice.

Challenges of Clinical Decision-Making in Emergency Nursing
Article from The Open Nursing Journal that focuses on the chaos of emergency care—where decisions are fast and imperfect. It explores cognitive overload, teamwork, and strategies to preserve sound reasoning under stress.

Influence of Critical Thinking Disposition, Clinical Reasoning Competence, and Nursing Practice Environment on Medication Safety Competence of Hospital Nurses
Open access article that connects critical thinking to real patient outcomes, showing that strong reasoning and supportive environments significantly reduce medication errors. Direct cause-and-effect proof that thinking saves lives.