critical thinking mit pdf

On the site

Mit press essential knowledge series, critical thinking.

by Jonathan Haber

ISBN: 9780262538282

Pub date: April 7, 2020

• Publisher: The MIT Press

232 pp. , 5 x 7 in , 10 b&w illus.

ISBN: 9780262357357

Pub date: March 13, 2020

• 9780262538282
• Published: April 2020
• 9780262357357
• Published: March 2020
• MIT Press Bookstore
• Penguin Random House
• Barnes and Noble
• Bookshop.org
• Books a Million

Other Retailers:

• Amazon.co.uk
• Waterstones
• Description

How the concept of critical thinking emerged, how it has been defined, and how critical thinking skills can be taught.

Critical thinking is regularly cited as an essential twenty-first century skill, the key to success in school and work. Given our propensity to believe fake news, draw incorrect conclusions, and make decisions based on emotion rather than reason, it might even be said that critical thinking is vital to the survival of a democratic society. But what, exactly, is critical thinking? In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Jonathan Haber explains how the concept of critical thinking emerged, how it has been defined, and how critical thinking skills can be taught and assessed.

Haber describes the term's origins in such disciplines as philosophy, psychology, and science. He examines the components of critical thinking, including structured thinking, language skills, background knowledge, and information literacy, along with such necessary intellectual traits as intellectual humility, empathy, and open-mindedness. He discusses how research has defined critical thinking, how elements of critical thinking have been taught for centuries, and how educators can teach critical thinking skills now.

Haber argues that the most important critical thinking issue today is that not enough people are doing enough of it. Fortunately, critical thinking can be taught, practiced, and evaluated. This book offers a guide for teachers, students, and aspiring critical thinkers everywhere, including advice for educational leaders and policy makers on how to make the teaching and learning of critical thinking an educational priority and practical reality.

Jonathan Haber was an educational researcher, writer and entrepreneur working in the fields of critical-thinking education, assessment, and technology-enabled learning whose work has been featured in the New York Times , the Boston Globe , the Chronicle of Higher Education , and the Wall Street Journal . He is the author of another MIT Press Essential Knowledge book, MOOCs , and The Critical Voter .

Additional Material

Watch MIT Press Live with Jonathan Haber.

Check out an interview with Jonathan Haber, the man who teaches you to cultivate critical thinking.

Watch Jonathan Haber discuss critical thinking on the David Pakman Show

Listen to an interview with Jonathan Haber at Partially Examined Life.

Read Jonathan Haber's piece in Inside Higher Ed: It's Time to Get Serious About Teaching Critical Thinking.

Related Books

Jonathan Haber was an educational researcher, writer and entrepreneur working in the fields of critical-thinking education, assessment, and technology-enabled learning whose work has been featured in the New York Times , the Boston Globe , the Chronicle of Higher Education , and the Wall Street Journal . He is the author of another MIT Press Essential Knowledge book, MOOCs , and The Critical Voter .

• ‹ Prev
• Next ›

Additional Resources

• Published: 2020
• Permissions
• Cite Icon Cite

2020. "Additional Resources", Critical Thinking, Jonathan Haber

Download citation file:

• Ris (Zotero)
• Reference Manager

Client Account

Sign in via your institution, a product of the mit press, mit press direct.

• About MIT Press Direct

Information

• Accessibility
• For Authors
• For Customers
• For Librarians
• Direct to Open
• Open Access
• Media Inquiries
• Rights and Permissions
• For Advertisers
• About the MIT Press
• The MIT Press Reader
• MIT Press Blog
• Seasonal Catalogs
• MIT Press Home
• Give to the MIT Press
• Direct Service Desk
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Statement
• Crossref Member
• COUNTER Member  
• The MIT Press colophon is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

Get the MIT Reads Fall Selection Close this alert

Critical Thinking (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Staff reviews.

test review

Description

An insightful guide to the practice, teaching, and history of critical thinking—from Aristotle and Plato to Thomas Dewey—for teachers, students, and anyone looking to hone their critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is regularly cited as an essential 21st century skill, the key to success in school and work. Given the propensity to believe fake news, draw incorrect conclusions, and make decisions based on emotion rather than reason, it might even be said that critical thinking is vital to the survival of a democratic society. But what, exactly, is critical thinking? Jonathan Haber explains how the concept of critical thinking emerged, how it has been defined, and how critical thinking skills can be taught and assessed. Haber describes the term's origins in such disciplines as philosophy, psychology, and science. He examines the components of critical thinking, including • structured thinking • language skills  • background knowledge • information literacy • intellectual humility • empathy and open-mindedness Haber argues that the most important critical thinking issue today is that not enough people are doing enough of it. Fortunately, critical thinking can be taught, practiced, and evaluated. This book offers a guide for teachers, students, and aspiring critical thinkers everywhere, including advice for educational leaders and policy makers on how to make the teaching and learning of critical thinking an educational priority and practical reality.

About the Author

Jonathan Haber is an educational researcher, writer and entrepreneur working in the fields of critical-thinking education, assessment, and technology-enabled learning whose work has been featured in the New York Times , the Boston Globe , the Chronicle of Higher Education , and the Wall Street Journal . He is the author of another MIT Press Essential Knowledge book, MOOCS , and The Critical Voter .

Other Books in Series

Universal Basic Income (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Galaxies (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Endangered Languages (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Blockchain Governance (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Cyborg (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

AI Ethics (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Espionage: A Concise History (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Machine Learning, revised and updated edition (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Memory (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Analog (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Plastics (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Deep Learning (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Phenomenology (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Algorithms (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Data Science (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Nihilism (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Cybersecurity (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Pragmatism (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Tech Monopoly (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Cloud Computing, revised and updated edition (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

You may also like.

Death and Dying (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

All About Love: New Visions (Love Song to the Nation #1)

Hamlet's BlackBerry: Building a Good Life in the Digital Age

Life, Death, and Other Inconvenient Truths: A Realist's View of the Human Condition

A Passion for Ignorance: What We Choose Not to Know and Why

Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence

Aesop’s Animals: The Science Behind the Fables

Movement Matters: How Embodied Cognition Informs Teaching and Learning

Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance [50th Anniversary Edition]: An Inquiry into Values

How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen

101 Clues to a Happy Life

Sorry, there was a problem.

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Critical Thinking (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series) Paperback – Illustrated, April 7, 2020

• Part of series The MIT Press Essential Knowledge
• Print length 232 pages
• Language English
• Publisher The MIT Press
• Publication date April 7, 2020
• Dimensions 5 x 0.64 x 7 inches
• ISBN-10 0262538288
• ISBN-13 978-0262538282
• See all details

Customers who bought this item also bought

Editorial Reviews

About the author, product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ The MIT Press; Illustrated edition (April 7, 2020)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 232 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0262538288
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0262538282
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.2 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.64 x 7 inches
• #58 in Philosophy Criticism (Books)
• #115 in Language Experience Approach to Teaching
• #247 in Philosophy & Social Aspects of Education

About the author

Jonathan haber.

Jonathan Haber is an educational researcher, writer and recovering entrepreneur working in the field of technology-enabled learning and teacher education. His Degree of Freedom One Year BA project, which involved trying to learn the equivalent of a BA in just twelve months using only Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and other forms of free learning, has been featured in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Wall Street Journal and other major media sources. His writing on education-related topics has also appeared in Slate, EdSurge and other publications.

Products related to this item

Customer reviews

• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 66% 19% 10% 3% 2% 66%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 66% 19% 10% 3% 2% 19%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 66% 19% 10% 3% 2% 10%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 66% 19% 10% 3% 2% 3%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 66% 19% 10% 3% 2% 2%

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Customers say

Customers find the book provides a basic yet insightful overview of critical thinking, with depth on creative, pragmatic reasoning. They also describe the content as very readable and approachable. Opinions are mixed on the entertainment value, with some finding it fascinating, fun, and quick, while others say it's not very engaging.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the book provides a basic yet insightful overview of critical thinking. They also say it provides logical, practical, and insightful history and philosophy behind critical thinking, making it a good book for academics. Readers also mention that the book is packed with great ideas and is thoughtful, practical and concise.

"Easy read and great arguments on why critical thinking is so important and teaching how, could change our tribal culture." Read more

"This very readable and approachable book on critical thinking is a great introduction for those who are wondering what critical thinking is, as well..." Read more

"...It’s a good introduction to the necessary components .Haber introduces general principles and history of critical thinking...." Read more

"...It was a fascinating , fun, and quick read, and I'd recommend it to anyone that wants to upgrade their own critical thinking skills." Read more

Customers find the book very readable and approachable.

" Easy read and great arguments on why critical thinking is so important and teaching how, could change our tribal culture." Read more

"...before his abrupt passing, compiles his insights into an easily readable pamphlet for general or specialist readers...." Read more

"...It was a fascinating, fun, and quick read , and I'd recommend it to anyone that wants to upgrade their own critical thinking skills." Read more

Customers have mixed opinions about the entertainment value of the book. Some find it fascinating, fun, and quick, while others say it's not very engaging.

"...Bottom line, this is a good book for academics. It is not the best resource for those wishing to improve their own critical thinking skills." Read more

"...It’s fun , exciting, and intellectually dynamic...." Read more

"...the discipline to ancient philosophers, etc, but otherwise, not a very engaging book ." Read more

"...It was a fascinating, fun , and quick read, and I'd recommend it to anyone that wants to upgrade their own critical thinking skills." Read more

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• About Amazon
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell products on Amazon
• Sell on Amazon Business
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Become an Affiliate
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Host an Amazon Hub
• › See More Make Money with Us
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Amazon and COVID-19
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices

• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

Suggestions or feedback?

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Machine learning
• Sustainability
• Black holes
• Classes and programs

Departments

• Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Brain and Cognitive Sciences
• Architecture
• Political Science
• Mechanical Engineering

Centers, Labs, & Programs

• Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
• Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
• Lincoln Laboratory
• School of Architecture + Planning
• School of Engineering
• School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
• Sloan School of Management
• School of Science
• MIT Schwarzman College of Computing

Learning how to learn

Press contact :.

Previous image Next image

Suppose you need to be on today’s only ferry to Martha’s Vineyard, which leaves at 2 p.m. It takes about 30 minutes (on average) to drive from where you are to the terminal. What time should you leave?

This is one of many common real-life examples used by Richard “Dick” Larson, a post-tenure professor in the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), to explore exemplary problem-solving in his new book “Model Thinking for Everyday Life: How to Make Smarter Decisions.”

Larson’s book synthesizes a lifelong career as an MIT professor and researcher, highlighting crucial skills underpinning all empirical, rational, and critical thinking. “Critical thinkers are energetic detectives … always seeking the facts,” he says. “Additional facts may surface that can result in modified conclusions … A critical thinker is aware of the pitfalls of human intuition.”

For Larson, “model” thinking means not only thinking aided by conceptual and/or mathematical models, but a broader mode of critical thought that is informed by STEM concepts and worthy of emulation.

In the ferry example, a key concept at play is uncertainty. Accounting for uncertainty is a core challenge faced by systems engineers, operations researchers, and modelers of complex networks — all hats Larson has worn in over half a century at MIT. 

Uncertainty complicates all prediction and decision-making, and while statistics offers tactics for managing uncertainty, “Model Thinking” is not a math textbook. There are equations for the math-curious, but it doesn’t take a degree from MIT to understand that

• an average of 30 minutes would cover a range of times, some shorter, some longer;
• outliers can exist in the data, like the time construction traffic added an additional 30 minutes
• “about 30 minutes” is a prediction based on past experience, not current information (road closures, accidents, etc.); and
• the consequence for missing the ferry is not a delay of hours, but a full day — which might completely disrupt the trip or its purpose.

And so, without doing much explicit math, you calculate variables, weigh the likelihood of different outcomes against the consequences of failure, and choose a departure time. Larson’s conclusion is one championed by model thinkers everywhere: Leave on the earlier side, just in case. 

“The world’s most important, invisible profession”

Throughout Larson’s career at MIT, he has focused on the science of solving problems and making better decisions. “Faced with a new problem, people often lack the ability to frame and formulate it using basic principles,” argues Larson. “Our emphasis is on problem framing and formulation, with mathematics and physics playing supporting roles.”

This is operations research, which Larson calls “the world’s most important invisible profession.” Formalized as a field during World War II, operations researchers use data and models to try to derive the “physics” of complex systems. The goal is typically optimizing things like scheduling, routing, simulation, prediction, planning, logistics, and queueing, for which Larson is especially well-known. A frequent media expert on the subject, he earned the moniker “Dr. Q” — and his research has led to new approaches for easing congestion in urban traffic, fast-food lines, and banks.

Larson’s experience with complex systems provides a wealth of examples to draw on, but he is keen to demonstrate that his purview includes everyday decisions, and that “Model Thinking” is a book for everyone. 

“Everybody uses models, whether they realize it or not,” he says. “If you have a bunch of errands to do, and you try to plan out the order to do them so you don’t have to drive as much, that’s more or less the ‘traveling salesman’ problem, a classic from operations research. Or when someone is shopping for groceries and thinking about how much of each product they need — they’re basically using an inventory management model of their pantry.”

Larson’s takeaway is that since we all use conceptual models for thinking, planning, and decision-making, then understanding how our minds use models, and learning to use them more intentionally, can lead to clearer thinking, better planning, and smarter decision-making — especially when they are grounded in principles drawn from math and physics.

Passion for the process

Teaching STEM principles has long been a mission of Larson’s, who co-founded MIT BLOSSOMS (Blended Learning Open Source Science or Math Studies) with his late wife, Mary Elizabeth Murray. BLOSSOMS provides free, interactive STEM lessons and videos for primary school students around the world. Some of the exercises in “Model Thinking” refer to these videos as well.

“A child’s educational opportunities shouldn’t be limited by where they were born or the wealth of their parents,” says Larson of the enterprise. 

It was also Murray who encouraged Larson to write “Model Thinking.” “She saw how excited I was about it,” he says. “I had the choice of writing a textbook on queuing, say, or something else. It didn't excite me at all.”

Larson’s passion is for the process, not the answer. Throughout the book, he marks off opportunities for active learning with an icon showing the two tools necessary to complete each task: a sharpened pencil and a blank sheet of paper. 

“Many of us in the age of instant Google searches have lost the ability — or perhaps the patience — to undertake multistep problems,” he argues.

Model thinkers, on the other hand, understand and remember solutions better for having thought through the steps, and can better apply what they’ve learned to future problems. Larson’s “homework” is to do critical thinking, not just read about it. By working through thought experiments and scenarios, readers can achieve a deeper understanding of concepts like selection bias, random incidence, and orders of magnitude, all of which can present counterintuitive examples to the uninitiated.

For Larson, who jokes that he is “an evangelist for models,” there is no better way to learn than by doing — except perhaps to teach. “Teaching a difficult topic is our best way to learn it ourselves, is an unselfish act, and bonds the teacher and learner,” he writes.

In his long career as an educator and education advocate, Larson says he has always remained a learner himself. His love for learning illuminates every page of “Model Thinking,” which he hopes will provide others with the enjoyment and satisfaction that comes from learning new things and solving complex problems.

“You will learn how to learn,” Larson says. “And you will enjoy it!”

Share this news article on:

Related links.

• Richard Larson
• MIT BLOSSOMS
• Institute for Data, Systems, and Society

Related Topics

• Books and authors
• STEM education
• K-12 education
• Education, teaching, academics

Related Articles

Testing sewage to home in on Covid-19

Making high-quality education accessible to all

LINC Conference addresses the changing face of education

Improving prevention of and responses to flu outbreaks

Study aims to shorten Election Day lines

Previous item Next item

More MIT News

Keeping the cosmos clean

Read full story →

Sam Madden named faculty head of computer science in EECS

Remembering Mathieu Le Provost: AeroAstro researcher, adventurer, and friend

Nanostructures enable on-chip lightwave-electronic frequency mixer

3 Questions: Evidence for planetary formation through gravitational instability

Enabled by a significant gift, MIT’s Security Studies Program launches the Center for Nuclear Security Policy

• More news on MIT News homepage →

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA

• Map (opens in new window)
• Events (opens in new window)
• People (opens in new window)
• Careers (opens in new window)
• Accessibility
• Social Media Hub
• MIT on Facebook
• MIT on YouTube
• MIT on Instagram

• Critical Thinking

Critical thinking: Definition and Structure

• February 2020
• Affiliation: Australian Council for Educational Research

• Australian Council for Educational Research

• This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.

Abstract and Figures

Discover the world's research

• 25+ million members
• 160+ million publication pages
• 2.3+ billion citations
• Educ Inform Tech

• Michael Rasell
• Rouven Seebo

• AL-Shaimaa Abdullah El-Maghraby

• Jeffrey Scheuer

• Richard Paul
• Linda Elder

• Merritt J. Schenk

• Goodwin Watson
• Edward M. Glaser
• Anthony Flew
• John E. McPeck

• Recruit researchers
• Join for free
• Login Email Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google Welcome back! Please log in. Email · Hint Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google No account? Sign up

• DSpace@MIT Home
• MIT Libraries
• Graduate Theses

AI Enhanced Reasoning: Augmenting Human Critical Thinking with AI Systems

Terms of use

Date issued, collections.

Show Statistical Information