Book Nook - Thinking Critically in College: The Essential Handbook for Student Success

This spring millions of anxious and excited high school seniors across the U.S. are eagerly awaiting college acceptance letters. Those who get into their top choices will be elated.  But that doesn't mean they're prepared for what's ahead.

Nearly every first-year college student discovers that college courses are more academically challenging than they expected, and certainly harder than classes in high school.  Instead of just absorbing material and regurgitating it on tests, students are now expected to analyze and synthesize it, to consider multiple perspectives, to evaluate conflicting evidence, and then to apply what they’ve learned in new contexts.

Most high schools, even college prep schools, don't adequately prepare students for these academic challenges.  And most college professors don't explain these expectations to new students clearly enough.

"College instructors assume that students will learn these things just by completing their assignments and fulfilling their general education requirements, but that's not necessarily so," says Louis E. Newman, PhD, former Dean of Academic Advising and Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at Stanford University and John M. and Elizabeth W. Musser Professor of Religious Studies, Emeritus, at Carleton College.

Newman is author of the recently released book, Thinking Critically in College: The Essential Handbook for Student Success, the first college success book that walks students through these essential academic skills, including examples from actual college assignments. "Even students who have taken college-prep and AP courses are unprepared for the type of learning that will take place in college.  Thinking Critically in College is poised to help all students at all types of institutions develop the dispositions and skills necessary for success in college," says Lynn Pasquerella, President of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U).

He adds, “First generation college students and students entering college from lower socio-economic backgrounds are particularly in need of this academic support, since they often arrive on campus from less well-resourced schools, haven't had expensive private tutoring, and can't rely on their parents' experience to help them navigate the challenges of college."

Thinking Critically in College also includes guidance about how to make the most of your college experience, based on Newman's forty years of experience as a college professor and academic advisor.  "Students often fail to take full advantage of the opportunities afforded by a college education because they view the goals of their education too narrowly, or focus on grades rather than deepening the process of learning."  Academic advising in college can help guide students, but those programs are frequently under resourced.  In addition to his book and a summer pre-college bootcamp ("Ready, Set, Think"), Newman also offers individualized, private college coaching to supplement the support that colleges provide. 

The absence of critical thinking has reached crisis proportions in recent years, Newman says.  "Everywhere we look, people are uncritically consuming and spreading information that is distorted, misleading, and sometimes intentionally deceptive.  Conspiracy thinking is rampant--QAnon, Alex Jones and the Sandy Hook shooting, Pizzagate, and unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud are just a few of the most notorious examples.  The very foundations of our democracy are arguably at risk when millions are willing to believe irrational and unfounded claims."