Engaging Freshman Engineers Using the Paul-Elder Model of Critical Thinking

Figure 2. The process of reasoning using the Paul-Elder critical thinking framework
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. 
The eight elements are best shown as eight equal sectors of a circle Figure 3. Analysis of reasoning is 
done by “going around the circle” in order to fully appreciate the impact of each element on the 
reasoning, understanding the elements both individually and collectively, or how they contribute to an 
integrated whole. The analysis portion of critical thinking answers “How has the thinking been done?”
Once a piece of reasoning is understood or analyzed, it must be evaluated. In order to evaluate any 
piece of reasoning, one must “go back around the circle, this time evaluating using the standards”. 
Evaluation answers “How well has the thinking been done?” Nosich
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provides an excellent and easily 
read exposition on both the process of analyzing and evaluating a piece of reasoning. (pp. 67-68, 155-
156).
Introduction to Engineering students were required to read the Nosich text as they completed two 
critical thinking assignments. In the first assignment, students were given an article to analyze by 
identifying the elements of reasoning. They were not required to write detailed or complete sentences, 

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but simply identify with phrases or short sentences each of the eight elements. After identifying the 
elements, which forces one to answer questions about the reasoning itself, it should be possible to 
understand the article as fully as possible. In the second assignment, students were to evaluate the same 
article by applying the standards to the elements to make judgments about the article’s reasonableness.
These two assignments provided the students with a solid foundation of the P-E framework, and critical 
thinking concepts in general.
Figure 3. The eight elements of the Paul-Elder Framework of critical thinking