We want to help you develop your thinking skills. We want to help you improve your ability to ask good questions and find, evaluate, and use information to make decisions and solve problems. As you gain knowledge in specific subjects, we will help you develop your intellectual muscles so that you can think effectively using that knowledge. Improving your thinking skills will help you:

• Succeed academically;
• Get a job, keep a job, and change careers;
• Be a good citizen; and
• Make better decisions about your life.

This is "learning for life"—the kind of skill that you can take with you when you leave college and use throughout your life. While you might forget some of the knowledge you gained, you should be able to use the skill of thinking well for the rest of your life.

What does it mean to think critically?

A critical thinker:

• Raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely;
• Gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively;
• Comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards;
• Thinks open-mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, if need be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences; and
• Communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems.

--Richard Paul and Linda Elder, The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking

Your SCC instructors will challenge you to think critically about course concepts, going beyond memorization to apply, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize. They will ask you to actively engage in class activities that require you to think through course material, often working in groups with fellow students. They will ask you to write out and refine your thinking in homework assignments, papers, and projects. They will expect your thinking and writing to be clear, precise, accurate, relevant, logical, and fair. They will expect you to go beyond the surface of issues—to think deeply and broadly about complex concepts and topics.

For more information and critical thinking resources for students, visit: The Critical Thinking Community

In addition to teaching specific subjects, SCC instructors are responsible for helping students improve their performance in these general education skills: critical thinking, writing, speaking, reading, quantitative literacy, technology skills, and information literacy. The table below describes these important skills, and the links to critical thinking concepts and scoring sheets (called rubrics) that faculty created to assess students' abilities in these areas.