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Important Critical Thinking Skills as Compiled by the National Assessment of College Student Learning
Dona Warren
What follows are the critical thinking skills identified as important by the National
Assessment of College Student Learning, as these skills are taxonomized by that study.
I have, however, made four modifications:
First, I’ve omitted those individual skill items that I found too vague to be of practical use
(e.g. “Determine if an argument makes sense”) or that I believed to target performance objectives adequately represented by other items.
Second, I have divided some individual items into their components. (For example, under “b. Inference Skills - Developing Alternative Hypotheses,” I divided “Project alternative hypotheses regarding an event, and develop a variety of different plans to achieve some goal,” into “Project alternative hypotheses regarding an event” and
“Develop a variety of different plans to achieve some goal.”)
Third, I have revised the order in which the individual skills are listed in each lowestlevel category in order to better capture relationships of logical priority. If the application of one skill requires the successful application of another skill, for instance, I listed the latter skill first, ceteris paribus .
Fourth, I have introduced a “third-level” category, indicated by small Roman numerals and noted here in italics, in order to render more salient important similarities among and differences between individual skill items.

1. Interpretation Skills a. Interpretation Skills – Categorizing a.i – Correctly employing an existing taxonomy
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Classify and group data, findings, and opinions on the basis of attributes or a given criterion
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Make comparisons; note similarities and differences between or among informational items
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Translate information from one medium to another to aid comprehension without altering the intended meaning a.ii – Developing new taxonomies
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Formulate categories, distinctions, or frameworks to organize information in such a manner as to aid comprehension b. Interpretation Skills - Detecting Indirect Persuasion b.i – Recognizing charged or misleading language
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Detect the use of strong emotional language or imagery which is intended to trigger a response in an audience
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Detect the use of leading questions that are biased towards eliciting a preferred response
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Recognize the use of slanted definitions or comparisons which express a bias for or against a position
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Recognize the use of misleading language b.ii – Recognizing red herrings
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Detect instances where irrelevant topics or considerations are brought into an argument that divert attention from the original issue b.iii – Recognizing false counterfactuals
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Detect “if, then” statements based on the false assumption that if the antecedent is true, so must be the consequent. c. Interpretation Skills - Clarifying Meaning c.i. – Recognize the need for clarification
• confusing, increase comprehension
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Recognize images, or symbols c.ii – Seek out information and resources to aid clarification
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Ask relevant and penetrating questions to clarify facts, concepts, and relationships
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Identify and seek additional resources, such as resources in print, that can help clarify communication c.iii – Offer clarifications
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Provide an example that helps to explain something or removes a troublesome ambiguity
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Develop analogies and other forms of comparisons to clarify meaning
2. Analysis Skills a. Analysis Skills – Examining Ideas and Purpose a.i – Recognizing the purpose
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Identify the stated, implied, or undeclared purpose(s) of a communication.
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Recognize relationship between the purpose(s) of a communication and the problems or issues that must be resolved in achieving that purpose a.ii – Recognizing the other important ideas
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Identify the ideas presented and assess the interests, attitudes, or views contained in those ideas.
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Assess the constraints on the practical applications of an idea. b. Analysis Skills – Detecting and Analyzing Arguments b.i – Recognizing an argument
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Examine a communication and determine whether or not it expresses a reason(s) in support of or in opposition to some conclusions, opinion, or point of view b.ii – Identifying the ultimate conclusion
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Identify the main conclusion of an argument b.iii – Identify the reasons supporting the conclusion
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Determine if the conclusion is supported with reasons and identify those that are stated or implied
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Identify the unstated assumptions of an argument
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Identify the background information provided to explain reasons which support a conclusion
3. Evaluation Skills
3.i – Gauging the significance of an argument
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Assess the importance of an argument and determine if it merits attention
3.ii – Assessing the conceptual clarity of an argument
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Assess the degree to which the language, terminology, and concepts employed in an argument are used in a clear, consistent manner
3.iii – Assessing an argument’s premises
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Determine if an argument rests on false, biased, or doubtful assumptions
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Assess bias, narrowness, and contradictions whey the occur in the person’s point of view.
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Evaluate the credibility, accuracy, and reliability of sources of information
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Determine what stated or unstated assumptions values or standards of conduct are upheld by an argument and assess their appropriateness to the given context
3.iv – Assessing an argument’s inferences
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Judge the consistency of supporting reasons, including their relevancy to a conclusion and their adequacy to support a conclusion
3.v – Assessing special types of arguments
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Determine if conclusions based on empirical observations were derived from a sufficiently large and representative sample
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Assess statistical information used as evidence to support an argument
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Determine and judge the strength of an argument in which an event(s) is claimed to be the result of another event(s) (causal reasoning)
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Determine and evaluate the strength of an analogy used to warrant a claim or conclusion
3.vi – Assessing an argument’s resilience
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Determine how new data might lead to the further confirmation or questioning of a conclusion
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Assess how well an argument anticipates possible objections and offers, when appropriate, alternative positions
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4. Inference Skills a. Inference Skills - Collecting and Questioning Evidence a.i – Deciding if more evidence is needed
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Determine if one has sufficient evidence to form a conclusion a.ii – Deciding what kind of evidence is needed
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Determine what is the most significant aspect of a problem or issue that needs to be addressed, prior to collecting evidence
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Judge what background information would be useful to have when attempting to develop a persuasive argument in support of one’s position a.iii – Deciding how to collect the evidence
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Formulate a plan for locating information to aid in determining if a given opinion is more or less reasonable than a competing opinion a.iv – Synthesizing the evidence
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Combine disparate pieces of information whose connection is not obvious, but when combined offers insight into a problem or issue b. Inference Skills - Developing Alternative Hypotheses b.i. – Identifying alternative plans of action and weighing them on the basis of their expected outcomes
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List alternatives and consider their pros and cons, including their plausibility and practicality, when making decisions or solving problems
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Seek the opinion of others in identifying and considering alternatives
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Develop a variety of different plans to achieve some goal
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Assess the risks and benefits of each alternative in deciding between them b.ii. – Identifying alternative hypotheses and assessing them on the basis evidence
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Project alternative hypotheses regarding an event
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Seek evidence to confirm or disconfirm alternatives
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Recognize the need to isolate and control variables in order to make strong causal claims when testing hypotheses b.iii. – Generating new alternatives

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After evaluating the alternatives generated, develop, when appropriate, a new alternative that combines the best qualities and avoids the disadvantages of previous alternatives c. Inference Skills - Drawing Conclusions c.i – Utilizing diverse sources of evidence, strategies, and points of view
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Seek various independent sources of evidence, rather than a single source of evidence to provide support for a conclusion
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Reason well with divergent points of view, especially with those with which one disagrees, in formulating an opinion on an issue or problem
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Assess how the tendency to act in ways to generate results that are consistent with one’s expectations could be responsible for experimental results in everyday observations
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Use multiple strategies in solving problems including means-ends analysis, working backward, analogies, brain storming, and trial and error c.ii – Utilizing appropriate inference strategies (e.g. statistics, graphs) to generate conclusions
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Develop and use criteria for making judgments that are reliable, intellectually strong, and relevant to the situation at hand
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Note uniformities or regularities in a given set of facts, and construct a generalization that would apply to all these and similar instances
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Apply appropriate statistical inference techniques to confirm or disconfirm a hypothesis in experiments
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Employ graphs, diagrams, hierarchical trees, matrices, and models as solution aids
5. Presenting Arguments Skills
5.i – Supporting the conclusion with reasons
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Cite relevant evidence and experiences to support their position
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Present supporting reasons and evidence for their conclusions(s) which address the concerns of the audience
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Present an argument succinctly in such a way as to convey the crucial point of an issue
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Illustrate their central concepts with significant examples and show how these concepts and examples apply in real situations
5.ii – Fairly treating the alternative positions
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Formulate accurately and consider alternative positions and opposing points of view, noting and evaluating evidence and key assumptions on both sides
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Negotiate fairly and persuasively

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6. Reflection Skills
6.i – Critically examining one’s own reasoning and making any appropriate corrections
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Critically examine and evaluate their vested interests, beliefs, and assumptions in supporting arguments or judgment
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Apply the skills of their own analysis and evaluation to their arguments to confirm and/or correct their reasoning and results
7. Dispositions
7.i – Initiating and persisting in an inquiry
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Be curious and inquire about how things work
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Willingly persevere and persist at a complex task
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Monitor their understanding of a situation and progress toward goals
7.ii – Valuing the use of reason
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Value the application of reason and the use of evidence
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Be fair-minded; seek truth and be impartial, even if the findings of an inquiry may not support one’s preconceived opinions
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Willingly self-correct and learn from errors made no matter who calls them to your attention
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Be intellectually careful and precise
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Be organized, orderly, and focused in inquiry or in thinking
7.iii – Valuing intellectual diversity
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Be open-minded; strive to understand and consider divergent points of view
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Find ways to collaborate with others to reach consensus on a problem or issue
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Apply insights from cultures other than their own
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Exhibit honesty in facing up to their prejudices, biases, or tendency to consider a problem solely from their viewpoint
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Be flexible and creative in seeking solutions
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Be inclined to arrive at a reasonable decision in situations where there is more than one plausible solution

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References
Jones, Elizabeth A., et. al., National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), U. S
Department of Education (1995).
National Assessment of College Student
Learning: Identifying College Graduates' Essential Skills in Writing, Speech and
Listening, and Critical Thinking . Washington, D. C.:U. S. Government Printing
Office. http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.js
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SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=ED383255