Learning to Think Things Through: A Guide to Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum. Gerald M. Nosich.  For Curriculum Specialists and Principals. 244 pages.  $24.75  Amazon.com

Harry Grover Tuttle

Nosich has created a model for using critical thinking in any curriculum. His overall model is called QEDS.  A student looks at the question (Q) through the elements (E) and the central concepts of the discipline (D). The student assesses and revises the thinking based on the standards (S).

Two primary ingredients turn students' thinking into critical thinking: reflective thinking and thinking that meets high standards (is done well). Furthermore, critical thinking consists of asking questions, answering the questions by reasoning them out, and believing the results of the reasoning.  In order to ask questions, students need to SEE-I which is to state the issue (S), elaborate or explain it( E), exemplify with an example (E), and illustrate it with a diagram or analogy (I).

Once the question is defined, the students look at the question through each of the  elements of reasoning. There is no order to these elements but all of them have to answered. The element of Purpose makes sure the learners know the desired outcome or goal; they ask “What is the purpose of (this experiment, this paper)?”  They keep focused on the purpose as they work through all the details.  Another element, Question at Issue, focuses on identifying the specific question to address the purpose such as “What is the best way to solve the math problem?”  When students think about Assumptions about the question or topic, they ask questions like “What are the authors' assumption?” and  “What are my assumptions?” In the element of Implications and Consequences, the students consider questions such as “What are the consequences, both positive or negative of making this decision?” Likewise, for the element of Concepts, the learners ponder items like “What is the key concept that the argument turns on?”  In addition, these pupils think through the Conclusions and Interpretations of the question or the topic. They ask questions such as “How are you interpreting this?” and “What conclusions are being drawn?” Another element for students to consider is Point of View. In this element they ask “From what viewpoint is this issue being addressed?” and “What other viewpoints exist on this topic?”

For the element of Alternatives, they consider many other possibilities such as “What other questions should I be considering?” or “What other ways of thinking about this issue are there?”  Noisch also has the element of Context as a thinking point such as “What is the background in which this reasoning is being done?”

The author focuses on seven standards that thinking has to meet for it to be critical. Students are to be clear in their reasoning (“Have I said what I meant?”), accurate (“Have I supported the accuracy of my claims?”), important and relevant (“Have I presented my reasoning in a way that displays what is important?”), sufficient (“Have I said enough to show my audience that it is reasonable to come to my conclusion?”), deep and broad (“Have I presented my reasoning so that it shows depth and breadth?”), precise (“Have I stated the degree of exactness that my audience needs?”) and reasonable overall (Have I presented my reasoning in a reasonable overall case?”).

Nosich presents many examples of his model in action from a wide variety of subject areas. Since he has also intends this book to be used by students, there are many activities which are found in gray shaded boxes throughout the text. To make his model easy to understand he uses a visual of a  question going through one pie chart sheet of the elements, through a screen for each standard and through a final circle for the discipline.

This reviewer who teaches a Critical Thinking course appreciates that all the Nosich's critical thinking parts neatly fit together into a coherent plan; this coherency is lacking in most critical thinking books. Students can see how all of the parts fit together to help them to be critical thinkers.

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