It Works for Me with Critical Thinking

Authors:

Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe, & Russell Carpenter

When asked, “What’s your elevator pitch for higher education?” Cornell University Professor of Economics Robert Frank offered an explanation that underscored the significance of critical thinking:

"When you meet somebody who’s well trained in critical thinking, it’s immediately apparent to you. We’re living in a world now where people can doctor photographs. They can shout fake news. They can spin a conspiracy theory. If you’re not equipped to think skeptically about the arguments people make to you, then you’re ever more at risk in the environment we inhabit now."

Critical thinking has become the central topic of many higher education conversations. And just as Elvis pushed for “a little less conversation, a little more action,” so has academia. The purpose of this book is to provide a venue for that action, to allow our colleagues from across the country to share what works for them.

Simply put, the academy must become better at instilling critical thinking so that for graduates it becomes a habit of mind.

In this book, the twelfth in our “It Works for Me Series,” you will find the selections are more evidence-based and focused than when we began twenty years ago, and our contributors seem to be applying more critical thinking to their own writing.

Charlie Sweet, Ph.D. (Florida State University, 1970), is the Co-Director of the Teaching & Learning Center at Eastern Kentucky University.  With Hal, he has collaborated on over 1200 published works, including 17 books, literary criticism, educational research, and ghostwriter of the lead novella for the Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine.

Hal Blythe, Ph.D. (University of Louisville, 1972), is the Co-Director of the Teaching & Learning Center at Eastern Kentucky University.  With Charlie, he has collaborated on over 1200 published works, including 17 books (eight in New Forums’ popular It Works For Me Series), literary criticism, and educational research. 

Russell Carpenter, Ph.D. (University of Central Florida, 2009), directs the Noel Studio for Academic Creativity and Minor in Applied Creative Thinking at Eastern Kentucky University where he is also Assistant Professor of English. He is the author or editor of several recent books including The Routledge Reader on Writing Centers and New Media (with Sohui Lee), Cases on Higher Education Spaces, Teaching Applied Creative Thinking (with Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe, and Shawn Apostel), and the Introduction to Applied Creative Thinking (with Charlie Sweet and Hal Blythe). He serves as President of the Southeastern Writing Center Association and Past Chair of the National Association of Communication Centers.