Now that you have a better understanding of how you can use your critical thinking skills to raise additional questions, think about your assumptions, and move “outside the box,” let’s come back to the relationship between critical thinking and your writing in college.

Sometimes, in high school, your writing tasks may have discouraged critical thinking. Perhaps you were asked to regurgitate information. Perhaps you were expected to believe everything you read, or at least not to question the texts you examined. Perhaps you focused on explaining why the writers you read were great, rather than thinking critically about those texts and authors. In college, your ability to think critically is much more likely to be welcomed and rewarded in many, if not all of your classes.

So don’t be afraid to question assumptions, disagree with the professor, and criticize the reading material—just be sure to use your critical thinking skills to try to judge whether the instructor welcomes this kind of critical thinking! And remember to be respectful in your critiques.