Critical Thinking demands explicit awareness, monitoring, control, and evaluation of one’s thinking, so add a meta-assignment (grade pass/fail) in which students reflect on and describe their thinking processes (metacognition, self-regulated learning). Sample prompts:

• How did you arrive at your response/solution?
• Describe the process by which you arrived at your solution and determined it was the best. How did you define the task/problem, decide which principles and concepts to apply, develop alternative approaches and solutions, and assess their feasibility, trade-offs, and relative worth?
• How did you conduct your design/problem-solving/research process (steps taken, strategies used, problems encountered, how overcome)?
• How did you set and modify your goals, strategies, and actions in response to other players? (after a simulation or role play)
• What skills did you use or improve, and when will they be useful in the future?
• Evaluate your strategies, performance, and success in achieving your goals.
• What goals and strategies will guide your revision (if applicable)?
• What learning value did this task have? What would you do differently?
• What advice would you give next semester’s students before they do this assignment (preparation, strategies, pitfalls, value)?