Published
Critical Thinking for Life
The Practice Hour
Critical thinking is reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do. Maxims are not enough. You need something to think about, a practice hour you can run this week, and a test that is not the thing. Machines that finish the sentence do not finish the judgment.
Editorial principle
The slogan is named so it can be taken apart. Transfer is hard. The test is not the thing. Leave the page. The reader is the jury.
- Chronology
- 1900–2026
- Length
- ~55,000 words
- Reading time
- ~3.5 hours · 168 pages
Authors
Michael Gannotti
The voices
2 figures across 1900–2026. Each speaks in their own voice, through their own texts.
Robert Ennis
1985–2015Definition
Core question: What is the activity, including what to do?
Reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do
Daniel Willingham
2007Cognitive science
Core question: Is critical thinking a content-free skill?
The bicycle: thinking is intertwined with what you know
Chapters
14 chapters. The disagreement is not resolved.
- Complete
Welcome
Welcome
What is the practice hour still for when a fluent model can finish the sentence?
Voices: ennis · willingham
- Complete
How to Use
How to Use This Book This Week
What can you run on a Tuesday?
Voices: willingham
- Complete
Five Things
If You Only Remember Five Things
What must hold if the rest of the book is ignored?
Voices: ennis
- Complete
The Hour
The Practice Hour
What does a session of thinking actually look like?
Voices: willingham
- Complete
Chapter 1
What we mean
What is the activity, including what to do?
Voices: ennis
- Complete
Chapter 2
You need something to think about
Is critical thinking a content-free skill?
Voices: willingham
- Complete
Chapter 3
Maxims are not enough
Why do slogans not travel?
Voices: willingham
- Complete
Chapter 4
How to practice this week
What does instruction change, and what does it not?
Voices: willingham
- Complete
Chapter 5
The test is not the thing
What do critical-thinking tests measure, and what do they miss?
Voices: ennis
- Complete
Chapter 6
Leave the page
What does the activity look like off the worksheet?
Voices: ennis
- Complete
Chapter 7
Stakes
Where does a wrong belief become a deed?
Voices: ennis
- Complete
Chapter 8
When a machine finishes
What happens when a fluent model does the reflective work for you?
Voices: willingham
- Complete
Chapter 9
Records a stranger can read
What still has to leave the house?
Voices: ennis
- Complete
Chapter 10
Programs, placement, and extra help
Which program fits this hour, and which does not?
Voices: willingham