If we wish to advance and discover new wondrous solutions to the plethora of problems

surrounding us then we must push teachers to develop critical thinking in their students
from a young age.
Here is a list of ways teachers may generate powerful critical thinking skills in their
students which will serve them to develop critical thinking abilities which later will enable
them to deal with different problems they encounter in their school arena .

Open-ended questions; Open-ended questions help students to develop skills towards

prevailing problems which by then make them to analyze and apply the results to
come up with solutions to problems and new questions to answer. This process is
higher order thinking. It is more than com ing up with a simple answer to a question .
To create critical thinking abilities, the first step is to ask students open-ended questions
which force them to think. For example, a physics teacher could ask his students to why a
ship is able to float over water while a needle or coin sinks soon after being placed in
water? Such kind of questions make students to think and wonder; thus, creating
hypothesis about the question (Gholami & Karimzadeh, 2012).). They might ask
themselves:

“I wonder how would this happen …?”

“What can be the possible cause of this to happen…. ?”

“How is this related to density…...?”

These questions spur curiosity and further exploration , testing and thinking. This is
how students become little scientists or philosophers!

Problem solving technique; Problem solving is at the core of human evolution. It is the methods
we use to understand what is happening in our environment, identify things we want to change and
then figure out the things that need to be done to create the desired outcome. Problem solving is
the source of all new inventions, social and cultural evolution, and the basis for critical thinking.
It is the basis for continuous improvement, communication and learning (Smith, 1996).
As a teacher, applying a Problem-solving technique enables students to observe what is going on
in their environment; identifying things that could be changed or improved; diagnosing why the
current state is the way it is and the factors and forces that influence it; developing approaches and
alternatives to influence change; making decisions about which alternative to select; taking action
to implement the changes; and observing impact of those actions in the environment (Ibid).

For example, the best way to boost critical thinking is to challenge your students with a
tricky problem. They will learn to use the resources at hand to produce creative solutions.
Something they can relate to would be good. Asking Physics questions related to general
relativity between changes in motion of celestial bodies enable students to relate different
phenomena related to the school environment problems (Rum, 2017).

Integrate Interactive games; These games are often called brain games because they push
the player (students) to think deeply and win them. If he/she succeed to win the game,
winning is like a reward she/he will be encouraged to repeat it several times by so doing
this will them critically. The teacher can use either of these games as Smore, Free Thinking
Games and Exquisite Minds. These Games with enticing rewards are
excellent motivation for the development of critical thinking among learners (Ibid.)

Encourage the sense of creativity; For students being creative provides opportunities for trying
out new ideas, and new ways of thinking and problem-solving. Creative activities help
acknowledge and celebrate children's uniqueness and diversity. It encourages them to express
themselves openly and without judgment. When students create, it gives them the opportunity to
engage with the world without judging themselves thus granting them permission to take risks, try
new things, and strip away inhibitions in a healthy way. Furthermore, creativity is the route to
authenticity that lead students to take time and energy to develop their own ideas, trust and respect
their inner self which in turn enable them to better express themselves (Krulik & Rudnick, 1996).

For example, a teacher can make his or her students engage in projects works through which they
follow specified procedures. This in turn make them to develop new ideas in dealing with different
problems which were not yet discovered or invented in their school arena or society at large.
Being creative is meditative. Taking the time to use their hands, minds, and energy doing
something they enjoy and that makes them happy. Creativity is fun, and doing anything that brings
joy reduces stress levels and improves their quality of think tanks.

Encourage demonstrations; Is a teaching method used to communicate an idea with the idea of
visuals such as flip charts, posters and PowerPoint. A teacher may use some examples of
greater critical thinkers which in one way or another may inspire students to think critically.
Also, a teacher may employ the following techniques so as to enhance greater thinking
capability for the students such as brainstorming, practical demonstration of problem
identification and evaluation of options, this will help students to reach their highly
effective decisions (Daluba, 2013).

Learner centered approach; Student-centered learning has been found to promote critical
thinking as compared to teacher-centered. This is congruent with Mathews (1989) who stated that
student- centered approach supports the development of the 21st century skills such as critical
thinking, problem solving and collaboration. If you give the students the answer to a question
yourself every time then you make them dependent on you for all answers. They will not
be able think well in a point when they needed to do so (Ibid.).

For example, the teacher can ask the logical and tactical questions to the students and
wanting them to respond to those questions by giving the reasonable answers which in
actual sense will not be able to be obtained without them to think critically. Thou gh the
Student-centeredness was the most prominent theme that emerged from the data collected.
Students were instructed to work in groups for activities, such as group presentation and group
discussion. This method is congruent to Socratic Method which promoted the use of questions to
study values, principles and beliefs of students and at the same time help students to think critically
(Paul, 1990).

Facilitation of instruction with Ideal examples; The teacher may give an example which in their
environment not available. Example a teacher to narrate students on how Albert Einstein
developed nuclear bombs which were dropped in Nagasaki and Hiroshima and giving effects that
are still experienced by Japanese. Through this example students will be thinking of how these
bombs were made and they are having long way effects. Albert Einstein he was awarded a noble
prize due his excellent work, would make students to get motivated and eager to be like him for
trying to do various innovations (Rum, 2017).

Conclusively, as it has been outlined above, there are several ways for teachers to instill in their
students critical thinking skills. In fact, the sole and primary reason of education is to create
graduates with critical and creative thinking skills that will fit in solving different problems
prevalent in the society. Hence, it becomes the most important of teachers’ objectives to prioritize
the imparting of critical thinking skills in their students. As such, every instruction carried out in
any educational setting demands a teacher who is proficient in enabling students to do more than
superficial and dependent thinking.
 REFERENCES

Paul, R. (1990). Critical thinking, what every person needs to survive in rapidly changing world.
Rohnert Park, CA: Center for Critical Thinking and Moral Critique, Sonoma State
University.

Mathews, D. (1989). The Effect of a Thinking -Skills Program on the cognitive Abilities of Middle
School Students. The Clearing House, 62(5), 202-04.

Daluba, N. E. (2013). Effect of demonstration on students’ achievement in agricultural

science. World Journal of Education, 3 (6):1-7.

Gholami, T. M. & Karimzadeh, S. (2012). The effect of computer games on creativity and its
relationship with psychological adjustment. Journal of New Ideas in Educational Sciences.
7 (1), 55-68.

Krulik, S. & Rudnick. J. A. (1996). The new source book for teaching reasoning and problem
solving in junior and senior high schools. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Mathews, D. (1989). The Effect of a Thinking -Skills Program on the cognitive Abilities of Middle
School Students. The Clearing House, 62(5), 202-04.

Paul, R. (1990). Critical thinking, what every person needs to survive in rapidly changing world.
Rohnert Park, CA: Center for Critical Thinking and Moral Critique, Sonoma State
University.

Rum, T. (2017). How to develop critical thinking skills in your students. Smile Tutor: Singapore

Smith, K. A. (1996). Cooperative Learning: Marking “Groupwork” New Directions

for teaching and Learning (67)71-82.