Critical Thinking and Assessment

Critical thinking is a key and all-pervasive skill that we want graduates to have, but how do we try and explicitly build this into our assessment?  Historically we often ask students to critically evaluate information and then produce an output (such as an essay, report or presentation) that draws together their reasoned conclusions.  We then assess this output, rather than assessing the critical thinking process.  In an era of constant improvements in generative AI, and concerns over the academic integrity of such assessments, perhaps it’s time to rethink what we do and find ways to assess the critical thinking process behind the final product. 

Critical Thinking Framework 

Helping students understand critical thinking and how to hone their skills can be difficult.  To address this problem, I worked with my students to co-create a critical thinking framework (McCallum, 2026).  This identifies important processes (such as identifying assumptions and evaluating information from different perspectives), but it also recognises two important recursive steps that should be constantly applied.  These are: 

• Use others to expand your thinking 

• Critique your own thinking or performance 

The first of these, using others to expand your thinking, is commonly enacted within learning and assessment: for example, group-based tasks and assessments, or peer review exercises.  However, it is much less common to have inbuilt opportunities to critique your own thinking or performance and effectively map your critical thinking journey.  So how can we build this in to learning and assessment? 

How did I change my assessment? 

In the past I gave students an issue to investigate (in groups) and asked them to submit their conclusions in a report.  I awarded a grade for the report (the output), but this told me nothing about the critical thinking journey of each student.  I therefore redesigned my course’s assessment and added an additional (individual) submission to fill this gap.  For the individual task I asked my students to: 

Discuss your initial assumptions and how they were confirmed or altered during the process of creating the report.  You should set this out using three headings: 

• Initial assumptions 

• Group discussion of assumptions 

• Final perspective 

I provided prompts within the assessment brief to help my students tackle this very unfamiliar task, and to ensure they had recorded all the information they needed to complete the individual assignment.   

• The first prompt was to write down their initial thoughts on the question (before meeting with their group).  This ensured they have a record of their initial assumptions.   

• Students were then prompted to meet with their group and discuss their ideas.  They were asked to think about (and make notes on): 

• Similarities and differences in initial assumptions 

• Any resulting awareness of biases or limitations in their individual approach 

• Any changes in their initial thinking  

Students might also have noted the diversity/lack of diversity of their group.  This could lead to a narrow view and potential bias or many perspectives being shared (depending on the group’s composition).     

After these initial steps, the groups completed their research work and generated their reports, engaging in most of the processes in the critical thinking framework.  As it is a group-based task, students have used others (their group) to expand their thinking; but many may not have explicitly critiqued their own thinking or performance.  To ensure all students addressed this requirement, the final prompt asked students to revisit their initial thinking and assumptions and consider whether their view had changed as a result of the research undertaken. 

The advantages of critiquing your own thinking (self-review)  

Completing this individual assessment task had many advantages.  Firstly, by mapping their critical thinking processes and making their critical thinking journey visible, students could see how their thinking progressed over time.  This helped them focus on how to apply the critical thinking framework and hone their skills (with some students noting they will apply the assessment approach in other tasks and on other courses). 

The need to reflect and critique their own critical thinking journey also encouraged students to engage in preparing the assessed group report.  The individual assessment focused on the process of critical thinking development and not just the final product (report), therefore if students did not engage (or tried to produce answers by relying on AI) they would have nothing to discuss in their individual assessment.   

Student perceptions were incredibly positive.  Most of the class completed a questionnaire, and those who did unanimously agreed that the assessment was useful and it helped them develop their critical thinking skills.  From my (educator) perspective, it helped me see how my students had progressed, and this assignment was much more interesting to grade.  So, there are many advantages to this approach, and with a little investment in time you could adopt it too.     

Advice for the future 

As we all grapple with assessment, using tasks that map students’ critical thinking processes can be a useful tool.  You can start with small steps, such as asking students to identify assumptions (and potential bias) at the beginning of a task.  This applies to both narrative and problem-solving tasks.  It is however necessary to return to these assumptions and help students think about how they have reaffirmed or challenged their assumptions by the end of the task (recognising the importance of the critical thinking steps in-between these two positions). 

This is not an approach that needs to be confined to assessments.  I wholeheartedly believe we should be encouraging students to take such steps on a regular basis within the learning and teaching space.  Students need much more than just knowledge in a modern business world, so let’s start developing their potential while we have them in our classes.  

If you are still struggling with where to start, I suggest discussing the critical thinking framework with students (or develop your own co-created version).  Try to use this frequently in class.  This gives you a good starting point to then consider your current assessment and how you could modify and improve it in future. 

Reference: 

McCallum, S. (2026) From Mystery to Mastery: a Framework to Unlock Critical Thinking Skills https://bafa.ac.uk/subgroups/special-interest-groups/accounting-education/conversations/from-mystery-to-mastery-a-framework-to-unlock-critical-thinking-skills.html