Thinking
These articles are about the challenge of teaching critical thinking:
Willingham, D. T. (2008). Critical Thinking: Why Is It So Hard to Teach? Arts Education Policy Review, 109(4), 21–32. https://doi.org/10.3200/AEPR.109.4.21-32
Here are some further research articles on critical thinking:
Tiruneh, D. T., Verburgh, A., & Elen, J. (2014). Effectiveness of Critical Thinking Instruction in Higher Education: A Systematic Review of Intervention Studies. Higher Education Studies, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.5539/hes.v4n1p1
Niu, L., Behar-horenstein, L. S., Niu, L., Behar-horenstein, L. S., & Garvan, C. W. (2013). Do instructional interventions influence college students ’ critical thinking skills? A meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 9, 114-128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2012.12.002
Macpherson, R., & Stanovich, K. E. (2007). Cognitive ability , thinking dispositions , and instructional set as predictors of critical thinking, 17, 115–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2007.05.003
Halpern, D. F. (1999). Teaching for critical thinking: Helping college students develop the skills and dispositions of a critical thinker. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 69-74.
Butler, H. A., & Halpern, D. (2012). Critical thinking assessment predicts real-world outcomes of critical thinking. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 26(June), 721–729. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.2851
Halpern, D. F., Millis, K., Graesser, A. C., Butler, H., Forsyth, C., & Cai, Z. (2012). Operation ARA: A computerized learning game that teaches critical thinking and scientific reasoning. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 7(2), 93–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2012.03.006
Transfer of learning is another major topic relating to teaching thinking skills:
Bransford, J. D., & Schwartz, D. L. (2001). Rethinking transfer: a simple proposal with multiple implications. Review of Research in Education Chapter 3 American Educational Research Association AERA Review of Research Award Winner, 24(AERA), 61–100. Retrieved from https://aaalab.stanford.edu/papers/Rethinking_transfer_a_simple_proposal_with_multiple_implications.pdf
There is emerging evidence that reinforcing memory can also help students develop and transfer thinking skills:
S. C. Pan & T. C. Rickard (2018), Transfer of test-enhanced learning: Meta-analytic review and synthesis, Psychological Bulletin, https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000151; A. C. Butler (2010), Repeated testing produces superior transfer of learning relative to repeated studying, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36(5), 1118–1133.
L. G. Eglington & S. H. K. Kang (2018), Retrieval practice benefits deductive inference, Educational Psychology Review, 30(1), 215–228. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648–016–9386-y.
Siler, J., & Benjamin, A. S. (2019). Long-term inference and memory following retrieval practice. Memory and Cognition. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-019-00997-3.
More resources for teaching problem solving and developing thinking skills:
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/
Problem-Based Learning Clearinghouse https://primus.nss.udel.edu/Pbl/
Analogies and multimedia are two good ways to illustrate complex processes and concepts. Here are two examples of interactive analogies drawn from the MERLOT database:
G. Burruss, Analogy for testing statistical significance http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=82914
E. Miles, Inside the body: Fluid pressures and processes
http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=417242
Because critical thinking is so difficult to teach and learn, explicit instruction in specific aspects of it can be helpful. Here is an example tutorial on critical thinking about sources of information:
http://library.acadiau.ca/sites/default/files/library/tutorials/webevaluation/
Here is an example of a simulation used to teach psychological learning concepts called Sniffy the Rat: http://sniffy-pro.software.informer.com/2.0/
Here is the web site for the PHeT Project:
From the PHeT web site:
"Founded in 2002 by Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman, the PhET Interactive Simulations project at the University of Colorado Boulder creates free interactive math and science simulations. PhET sims are based on extensive education research and engage students through an intuitive, game-like environment where students learn through exploration and discovery."
Lastly, here is a large compendium of ideas for engaging students in problem solving, graciously provided by my colleague Michele Garabedian Stork: http://www.usf.edu/atle/documents/handout-interactive-techniques.pdf