One of the primary goals of attending college is to become a critical thinker. As students evolve
into lifelong learning they will have to navigate an incredible amount of information related to
their studies and personal lives. The ability to explore their world will be dependent on their
research and information literacy skills. In fact, when employers were asked about the information
skills desired in new employees, they “placed a high premium on graduates’ abilities for searching
online, finding information with tools other than search engines, and identifying the best solution
from all the information they had gathered” (Head, 2012).
Critical Thinking in Academic Research will introduce students to the techniques and principles
of critical thinking. However, a commitment to lifelong learning is required for critical thinking,
it takes more that a single course or reading a book. In order for students to develop their own
arguments, they need to find supporting evidence. This text provides guidance on developing
research questions and finding resources to answer the questions.