Teaching Tomorrow's Leaders

Integrating Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

Picture this: You're standing in front of your 10am class, asking them to analyze a case study. Silence. Finally, one brave soul raises a hand: "Do we need to know this for the midterm?"

Sound familiar? That's the moment when it becomes crystal clear that telling students to "think critically" means absolutely nothing to them. It's like telling someone to "just be funnier" or "try being more insightful." Cool, thanks for that.

But here's the thing—there are strategies that actually work. And they don't require tearing apart your syllabus or learning some complicated new teaching method.

Just Keep Asking "Why" (Until They Want to Scream)

This sounds stupid simple, but it works. A student gives you an answer—any answer—and you just ask "why do you think that?" And then you do it again. And again.

Student says social media is bad for democracy. Okay, why? Well, because of misinformation. Interesting, but why is that specific to social media? Well... and then you're actually getting somewhere.

The first answer is always surface-level. Always. The good stuff is three "whys" deep, minimum. Yeah, they'll look uncomfortable. That's kind of the point.

Make Them Argue Against Themselves

This one's a little evil, but in a good way. After students stake out a position, make them argue the complete opposite for five minutes.

The catch? They have to actually try. No half-assing it with weak arguments they can easily knock down. They have to make the best possible case for something they disagree with.

Try this with any debate topic and watch the lightbulbs go off. When you have to really inhabit the other perspective, you can't just dismiss it anymore. Plus, it shuts down the whole "waiting for my turn to repeat my point louder" thing that usually passes for discussion.

Throw Them a Messy Problem (No Right Answer Included)

Once a week, save the last 15 minutes for what one teacher calls "messy problem time." Give them something real and complicated with no clear answer.

Like: "Your biggest competitor just cut their prices by 40%. You're in the Monday morning executive meeting. What do you do?"

Or: "You're a hospital administrator. ICU is at capacity. Two patients need the one available bed. How do you decide?"

Nobody likes these at first. They want you to tell them the "right" answer. But that's the whole point—most important problems don't have a clear right answer. They have tradeoffs and competing values and incomplete information. You know, like actual life.

After a few weeks of this, something shifts. They stop looking to you for the answer and start looking at the problem instead.

Ditch the Essay, Seriously

Instead of another 5-page paper that everyone will hate, try having students create things that would actually convince a real skeptic.

Write a one-page memo to your boss who thinks your idea is terrible. Make a 60-second video explaining this concept to people who think you're wrong. Write talking points for a hostile interview.

The difference is huge. They can't just dump information and call it a day. They have to think about audience, anticipate objections, structure an argument. You know, things they'll actually need to do in their jobs.

Plus, these are way less boring to grade.

Two Minutes That Changes Everything

Before diving into any major topic, give students two minutes to write down all their assumptions. What are we taking for granted here? What do we think we already know?

It takes literally no prep, and it immediately changes how they approach the material. Instead of just receiving information, they're examining their own thinking.

Try this with any controversial topic—criminal justice, climate change, artificial intelligence. The assumptions that come out become the actual curriculum. Spend the unit examining whether they hold up.

Use Real Failures (They're Way More Interesting Anyway)

You don't need fancy case studies from Harvard. Just grab a news article about something that went wrong in your field and ask four questions:

What happened? Why did it happen? What should've happened differently? How does this connect to what we're learning?

Success stories tend to make things look inevitable and simple. Failures show you all the complex factors and competing pressures and human errors that make real decisions hard.

Ban Jargon (At Least Sometimes)

Every few weeks, make students explain something complex using only normal language. Like they're explaining it to their roommate who's majoring in something completely different.

If they can't do it without the technical vocabulary, they don't actually understand it. They've just memorized words.

This is hard for them at first. Really hard. But it's also way more useful than being able to recite a textbook definition. In the real world, you need to explain your expertise to people who aren't experts. That's literally the job.

Leave Them Hanging (On Purpose)

Try occasionally ending class without wrapping everything up.

"So we've looked at three theories today, and they all kind of contradict each other. Think about that this week. We'll talk Tuesday."

Some students hate this. They want the answer. They want you to tell them which theory is correct. But sitting with confusion and ambiguity—that's where actual thinking happens. If you tie it all up in a neat bow for them, they don't have to do any cognitive work.

The discomfort is the point.

The Hardest Thing: Stop Giving Them the Answer

This is the one everyone struggles with. A student asks a question, and you know the answer, and you want to just tell them. You have a PhD in this stuff. You spent years learning it. Shouldn't you share that knowledge?

But here's the truth: Every time you solve the problem for them, you steal a learning opportunity.

So try this: at least half the time when a student asks something, throw it back. "What do you think?" or "How would you figure that out?"

They'll hate it at first. But they get better at thinking. Which is kind of the whole point of education, right?

Just Start Somewhere

Don't try to do all of this. Seriously, don't. Pick one thing. Try it for a few weeks. See what happens.

Start with just asking "why" more often. That's it. That could be your whole strategy for an entire semester. And it'll make a difference.

You're not trying to become some master teacher overnight. You're just trying to create a few more moments where students actually have to think instead of just absorbing and regurgitating information.

That's what they'll need in whatever jobs they end up doing. Not more facts stuffed into their heads, but practice actually using what's already there.

So yeah. Pick one thing. Try it. See what happens.

And if you've got strategies that work, share them with your colleagues. We're all figuring this out as we go.