Critical Thinking (PDF)

Judgment and critical faculties are central concerns in many Western educational programs. However, promoting critical thinking requires specifically developed and didactically coherent concepts. This book therefore attempts to provide a philosophically and empirically sound as well as applicationoriented introduction to the concept and didactics of critical thinking. The realm of higher education is marked by a distinct emphasis on critically questioning established knowledge and practices, leading to the generation of new insights. In light of this crucial task, this book presents a comprehensive exploration of the theoretical foundations of critical thinking, coupled with practical strategies for its effective promotion. Designed to be accessible across various subjects, the introductory volume offers a low-threshold framework that can be adapted across subjects.

Dr. Dirk Jahn, research associate at the Center for Continuing Education in Higher Education (FBZHL) at the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. His scientific focus includes the promotion of critical thinking, design-based research, action theory, and the didactic use of films.

Dr. Michael Cursio Continuing Education Center for University Teaching at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg. His main research interests encompass the didactics of science, competence-oriented teaching, and the didactics of the philosophy of science

This book is a translation of an original German edition. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation.