Why Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking should be intertwined into every curriculum. The ability to store knowledge without the
skills to critical think turns a person into a parrot unprepared for anything out of the constraints of the
particular knowledge they just put in their head. Students do not need all of the answers (often times
there are no such thing) but should have effective skills for formulating and evaluating the questions.

While we might avoid controversial issues, engaging students in these discussions is a critical exercise
that plays an important role in their development as thinkers. Controversial issues are also fundamental
to teaching critical thinking. Discussions help students apply abstract ideas and think critically about
what they learn. In fact, studies show that discussions build students problem-solving skills more
effectively than do lectures. Exposing students to controversial

issues in their studies also enables them to develop their capacity for ethical and moral reasoning.

Students on Controversial Issues & Critical Thinking

93% of higher education faculty believe critical thinking is an essential learning outcome.

A 2005 report by the Association of American Colleges and Universities demonstrated the need for
efforts to promote critical thinking by highlighting the disparity between the 93% of higher education
faculty that perceive critical thinking to be an essential learning outcome and the 6% of undergraduate
seniors that actually demonstrated critical thinking proficiency.

Source: Ian J. Quitadamo and Martha J. Kurts, "Learning to Improve: Using Writing to Increase Critical
Thinking Performance in General Education Biology, CBE Life Sciences Education, Feb. 2007.

Critical thinking is considered the second most important life skill after interpersonal skill.

In a 1994 survey of over 11,000 college graduates, the "ability to think critically ranked as the second
most important skill out of 16 in their daily life (#1 was interpersonal skills).
Source: Cooperative Institutional Research Program, "1994 Nine Year Follow-Up Survey (of 1985
Freshmen), Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, 1995.

Learning and discussing controversial issues in school helps students become more informed and more
active citizens.

A 2007 survey of 5,400 secondary students found that: "Students who regularly take part in classroom
discussion are more likely to:

Vote in later life

Support basic democratic values

Take part in political discussions

Follow political news in the media

Be interested in the political process

Have confidence in their ability to influence public policy

Source: Keith Barton and Alan McCully, "Teaching Controversial Issues...Where Controversial Issues
Really Matter," Teaching History, June 2007.

Learning about controversial topics in school increases students political participation.

Studies by Lee Ehman in 1966 and 1977 reveal that focusing course content on controversial topics
positively affects students' attitudes toward citizen duty, political participation, and political efficacy as
well as their political trust, social integration, and political interest.

Source: Lee Ehman, "Social Studies Instructional Factors Causing Change in High School Students'
Sociopolitical Attitudes over a Two-Year Period, Paper presented at the annual meeting of the
American Educational Research Association, Apr. 1977.
Students who debate controversial issues in school are more likely to be engaged and active citizens.

In a 2002 survey of 1,166 youth aged 15-25, the following differences were found between youth who
debated issues in class and those who did not:

Source: Molly Andolina, et al. "Habits from Home, Lessons from School: Influences on Youth Civic
Engagement, PS: Political Science and Politics, Apr. 2003.

Discussing current events and debating controversial issues are associated with higher scores on the
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the largest national standardized test in the United
States.

An Apr. 2013 fact sheet from the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement
(CIRCLE) reported that 12th grade students who took part in frequent discussions of current events and
debates about current issues "including controversies" scored higher on the NAEP Civics test than
students who did not frequently engage in those activities. Eighth graders also scored higher when
regularly participating in current events discussion.

Regular discussion of current events was correlated with a 16 point gain on the NAEP Civics test for male
12th graders and a 13 point gain for females. Male eighth graders taking part in current events
discussion gained a 10 point advantage, while female eighth graders gained five points. Frequent
debates were correlated with a six point gain for male 12th graders and an eight point gain for female
12th graders.

Source: Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, "Do Discussion, Debate, and Simulations Boost NAEP Civics
Performance?," Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement website, Apr. 2013
Teaching controversial topics helps students develop non-violent strategies for dealing with conflict.

A 2008 case study of social studies teachers concluded that: "Teaching controversial issues allows
students to question and to express their fears in the safety of the classroom, and provides
opportunities to develop their social skills such as learning how to listen to one another, to deal with
difficult topics, and to handle their anger and frustrations without resorting to violence. Importantly, it is
not about teaching students to avoid conflict, because conflict and controversy are part of human
relationships, but rather where schools provide neutral grounds for rational discourse and objective
study.

Source: P. Reitano, C. Kivunja, and K. Porter, "Teaching Controversial Issues In Schools to Prepare
Children for a Sustainable Global Village," Australian Association for Research Education website, 2008

Controversial issue assignments increase critical thinking skills and appreciation of cultural diversity.

A 2003 evaluation of students given a controversial issue assignment found that:

98.25% "agreed, strongly agreed, or very strongly agreed" that "they were more sensitive to the
concerns of people from diverse populations" after completion of a controversial issue assignment. 9

6.4% "agreed, strongly agreed, or very strongly agreed" that "their knowledge about a population other
than their own" had increased.

94.7% "agreed, strongly agreed, or very strongly agreed" that the assignment "sharpened their critical
thinking skills."
Source: Sue Steiner, Stephanie Bruzuzy, Karen Gerdes, and Donna Hurdle, "Using Structured Controversy
to Teach Diversity Content and Cultural Competence," Journal of Teaching and Social Work, 2003

Studying and debating controversial topics in school helps increase student attention, motivation,
achievement, creativity, and self-esteem.

A 2009 meta-analysis of studies on teaching controversial issues found that teaching the pros and cons
of controversial issues in a structured conflict format can help "focus student attention," increase
motivation, "produce higher levels of cognitive reasoning," "produce higher levels of achievement and
retention," as well as increase "levels of creativity and divergent thinking" and "students' self-esteem."

Source: David W. Johnson, Minnesota University, and Roger T. Johnson, Minnesota University,
"Energizing Learning: The Instructional Power of Conflict," Educational Researcher, Jan. 2009

Teaching Controversial Issues Resources

Teaching Controversial Issues

Written by Ed Neal from the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, this resource provides a number of ideas and suggestions for working with controversial
issues in the classroom.

Controversial Issues in the Classroom

This article by Angela M. Harwood and Carole L. Hahn is available from the ERIC Clearinghouse
(ED327453) and provides a number of suggestions for preparing students for class discussions on
controversial issues. (Downloads as a PDF logo PDF file.)

Teaching Idea: Cooperative Controversies

Outlines an approach that encourages mutual understanding among students, even if the topics are
controversial. From the Fall 1991 issue of Teaching Concerns, a newsletter for faculty and teaching
assistants at the University of Virginia.
Managing Hot Moments in the Classroom

This resource by Lee Warren from the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University
provides suggestions on how to get students engaged in discussing controversial topics and what to do
to make the engagement work