Strong critical thinking demands a healthy dose of skepticism. When I saw an op-ed in the AAC&U journal “Liberal Education” claiming that a sharp decline in students reading novels was directly related to a decline in their critical thinking, I wondered, “Could that be true?”
For decades, if not centuries, education has privileged text-based learning. Students who have struggled with reading novels were often labeled as incapable of serious deep learning and unworthy of being admitted into the text-based professions that rely on a strong foundation in the humanities.
To the extent that success as a high school teacher, librarian, historian, literature professor, lawyer, or scientist demand excellent skills in reading comprehension and expression, it may be reasonable to expect that the students who will become these professionals has a strong interest in reading literature.
The basic argument of the piece in “Liberal Education” was this: Because we live in a quick-paced world and everyone, this generation of college students in particular, wants information and entertainment to be bite-sized and often video-based, we as a collective are shrinking our attention span and therefore diminishing our critical thinking skills. Their argument was supported by anecdotes and the opinions of professors of traditionally text-based disciplines. But, not with assessment data.
Let’s test their hypothesis. If their hypothesis were true, we should have seen progressive declines in critical thinking test scores of college students and the decline in critical thinking skills scores over time would be proportionate to the decrease of their attention span. But we know, written text is not the only valid way of getting an idea or information across.
However, scores of college students on standardized critical thinking skills tests just do not support that hypothesis. Students may be reading less, and they may be more distracted, but their critical thinking today is where it was when today’s professors were students. It would be a mistake to say that critical thinking in college students is declining, even if it is true that they read less.
Critical thinking is less about where or how we acquire data—whether through literature, lived experience, or digital channels—and more about what we do with that information once we have it. Human beings now navigate a flood of inputs from sources like podcasts, online forums, visual media, and real-time analytics, so while the gain of information looks different, it has increased because of how readily available information is. But the essential work of critical thinking—interpreting, analyzing, evaluating, and drawing reasoned conclusions—remains unchanged. What has evolved are the arenas in which we apply these skills. Critical thinking isn’t tied to a specific medium; it’s defined by the quality of judgment applied across all media. Whether you’re absorbing field observations, reading academic texts, or listening to stakeholder feedback, the core challenge is the same: to reflect purposefully and self-regulate your thinking in the face of complexity. As we adapt to the 21st-century flow of communication, the need for well-honed critical thinking habits of mind is more urgent than ever.
Meta-Analyses of experimental and quasi-experimental research by Abrami et. al.1 demonstrates that measurable gains in critical thinking can be achieved in all disciplines. What it requires is “the opportunity for dialogue, the exposure of students to authentic or situated problems and examples, and mentoring.” 2
When we engage students and incentivize problem-solving, they are more likely to apply their critical and creative thinking in pursuit and evaluation of ever more promising solutions. And this is best done, in my experience, using robust real-world issues that grab the students’ attention with questions and with materials that the students themselves find meaningful.
From an initial problem or issue of interest, expand outward by inviting meaningful inquiries into ever expanding domains of knowledge the students themselves discover are both interesting and relevant. Always seek to apply critical and creative thinking purposefully so that the solutions are increasingly more promising and so that the connections to other people and other domains of learning are richer and deeper.
As one trained in a text-heavy academic discipline, I challenge my colleagues in the academy to expand their efforts to connect with today’s students using the means and the media that the students find most relevant.
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