What are some effective ways to improve your mentee's critical thinking skills?

1 Ask open-ended questions

One of the simplest and most powerful ways to improve your mentee's critical thinking skills is to ask open-ended questions that challenge them to explain, justify, or explore their assumptions, perspectives, and decisions. Open-ended questions are those that cannot be answered with a yes or no, but require more elaboration and reasoning. For example, instead of asking "Did you use a thematic analysis for your data?", you could ask "How did you choose a thematic analysis for your data and what were the advantages and disadvantages of this approach?" Open-ended questions encourage your mentee to think critically about their own research process and outcomes, and to articulate their rationale and evidence.

4 Encourage multiple perspectives

A fourth way to improve your mentee's critical thinking skills is to encourage multiple perspectives, by exposing them to different sources, methods, theories, and viewpoints that are relevant to their research topic and question. Encouraging multiple perspectives can be done by recommending or providing diverse and credible resources, by introducing or discussing alternative or competing frameworks or approaches, and by challenging or supporting your mentee's assumptions or claims. For example, you could suggest your mentee to read or watch a different source that contradicts or complements their argument, to try or compare a different method that suits or challenges their data, or to consider or defend a different perspective that agrees or disagrees with their conclusion. Encouraging multiple perspectives helps your mentee to broaden their horizons and to appreciate the complexity and uncertainty of research.

5 Promote self-reflection

A fifth way to improve your mentee's critical thinking skills is to promote self-reflection, by asking them to monitor and evaluate their own research progress, performance, and learning. Promoting self-reflection can be done by setting or reviewing research goals and expectations, by facilitating or requesting self-assessment and feedback, and by encouraging or documenting learning outcomes and achievements. For example, you could ask your mentee to write or share a research plan, to rate or comment on their own research skills or products, or to summarize or demonstrate what they have learned or improved. Promoting self-reflection helps your mentee to become more aware and responsible for their own research process and outcomes, and to recognize and address their own strengths and weaknesses.

6 Foster curiosity

A sixth way to improve your mentee's critical thinking skills is to foster curiosity, by stimulating and supporting their interest and enthusiasm for research. Fostering curiosity can be done by choosing or suggesting research topics or questions that are relevant and meaningful to your mentee, by creating or facilitating research opportunities and challenges that are engaging and rewarding, and by praising or rewarding research efforts and achievements that are innovative and impactful. For example, you could ask your mentee to explore or propose a research topic or question that they are passionate or curious about, to participate or present in a research event or competition that they are excited or motivated by, or to celebrate or share a research outcome or impact that they are proud or inspired by. Fostering curiosity helps your mentee to develop a positive and proactive attitude towards research, and to pursue and enjoy research as a lifelong learning journey.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?