Does College Teach Critical Thinking? A Meta-Analysis

Source: Review of Educational Research, 86(2), p. 431-468, June 2016.

This meta-analysis synthesizes research on gains in critical thinking skills and attitudinal dispositions over various time frames in college.

The results suggest that both critical thinking skills and dispositions improve substantially over a normal college experience. Furthermore, analysis of curriculum-wide efforts to improve critical thinking indicates that they do not necessarily produce incremental long-term gains.