|
Experiential learning resources for the innovative educator
 Teaching content alone is no longer enough. This post explores why educators must intentionally teach critical thinking in the era of AI and vast information, and offers practical, experiential strategies to help students question, evaluate, and think critically for themselves. Key Takeaways:
 A few nights a week, my kids and I curl up on the couch and watch funny videos together on YouTube. They’re 9 and 11 now, which means this is one of the ways they’ll still hang out with me willingly, and I’ll take it, with parameters. Sometimes it’s hilarious. Sometimes it’s weird. Sometimes it’s honestly kind of terrifying. The other night, we were watching a video of a guy doing parkour between skyscrapers. I gasped. My oldest rolled his eyes and said, “Mom, that’s AI.” My children, who are still young enough to ask me to open the ketchup bottle, are already better than I am at spotting AI-generated content. They can tell when something “feels off.” They know a video doesn’t have to be real just because it looks real. At the same time, I get to teach them the other half of the equation: Anyone can say or do anything on YouTube. It doesn’t have to be true. It doesn’t have to be accurate. It doesn’t even have to be human. So we pause, we talk, and we ask questions: How do you know it’s AI? How do you know what you're hearing or seeing is true? Who posted this? What is the goal of posting this? What would make this more believable? That’s critical thinking in 2026, and it’s why this conversation matters more now than it ever did when I first wrote this post back in 2019 (this is an updated post on how to teach critical thinking - it's amazing how much has happened in 7 short years).  Critical thinking isn't optional anymore. We used to live in a world where information was slow, filtered, and mostly vetted. That world is gone. Today’s young people are swimming in:
If we want them to grow into capable, ethical, thoughtful adults, we can’t just teach content. We have to teach them how to evaluate, question, analyze, and decide what to trust. Worksheets, lectures, and multiple-choice tests won’t do that. Critical thinking has to be experienced. But how? How do we help young people build this skill? There are a lot of ways, but the points below are some tried and true approaches I've taken, and they all embrace experiential learning. How to Teach Critical Thinking in the Information Age1. Design Learning Experiences That Require Thinking, Not Just Answering Critical thinking doesn’t happen when students are filling in blanks. It happens when they’re grappling with uncertainty. That’s why experiential approaches like:
In problem-based learning, for example, students are asked to solve real-world problems where there is no single right answer. They have to weigh evidence, consider trade-offs, analyze bias, and justify decisions. That’s exactly the kind of thinking they need when reading an article, watching a video, or using AI tools. This is also where things like:
2. Make Question-Asking the Norm One of the most important critical thinking skills students can develop is the ability to ask good questions. Not “What’s the answer?”, but:
When students use AI, consume media, or research online, those questions matter. Learning environments built around inquiry and project-based learning naturally create space for this. Students learn to:
That’s the muscle we want them to build.   3. Teach Students to Observe Carefully Before kids can think critically, they have to learn to notice what feels off, patterns, contradictions, and what’s missing. Whether they’re analyzing:
Those observations become the starting point for deeper thinking. This is why open-ended projects, peer feedback, and media analysis are so powerful. They train students to look closely instead of skimming and making assumptions on snap judgment.   4. Give Students Control Over Their Learning Choice promotes thinking. When students design, coordinate, plan, and carry out their own learning experiences, they are constantly making decisions that require higher-level thinking. They must:
That entire process is critical thinking. It’s messy, reflective, and deeply cognitive. Students aren’t just following directions; they’re weighing options, making their own decisions, and taking responsibility for their learning. When everything is pre-designed and predetermined, that thinking simply doesn’t happen. Students can complete the task without ever truly engaging their minds. Student-led learning changes that. It creates space for uncertainty, iteration, and real decision-making. These are exactly the skills students need to navigate an AI-driven, information-saturated world with confidence and discernment.   5. Build a Culture of Thinkers Critical thinking isn’t something you teach in a single lesson. It’s something you build into the culture of your classroom. If we truly want to teach critical thinking, students need to experience it as an everyday expectation, not an occasional activity. When you consistently:
They begin to see questioning, analyzing, and reflecting as normal parts of learning, not signs that they’re “behind” or “wrong.” This kind of classroom culture is what makes tools like inquiry-based learning safe and powerful. Instead of students blindly accepting information or fearing new technologies, they learn how to evaluate, challenge, and use them responsibly. That’s what it really means to teach critical thinking in a modern, information-rich world.  I’m a science teacher on paper. So I do teach content, but I do that through experiential science. I do that by teaching thinking. In today’s world, content and thinking shouldn't be separated. Our students don’t just need to memorize facts anymore. They need to know how to evaluate information, question sources, analyze credibility, and make sense of what they see and hear, whether it’s coming from a textbook, a social media feed, or an AI chatbot. This is why learning how to think critically is now one of the most essential skills we can teach. When we focus on how to teach critical thinking through inquiry, project-based learning, media analysis, and real-world problem solving, we’re preparing students for a future that is constantly shifting. We’re helping them become not just consumers of information, but thoughtful, informed decision-makers. So I’ll ask it again, with even more urgency than I did in 2019: How are you engaging your learners in critical thinking? I’d love to hear what’s working in your classroom and what you’re still figuring out. Let’s keep learning from one another.  Join our experiential learning Facebook group! Did you know there is an experiential learning Facebook group? Check that out - Experiential Learning Community for K12 Teachers - and join in the discussion about experiential learning ideas! Find us on social media! Follow Experiential Learning Depot on Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram for more on experiential education, and check out my shop for experiential learning resources. More on the Blog!
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Blog IntentTo provide innovative educational resources for educators, parents, and students, that go beyond lecture and worksheets. AuthorSara Segar, experiential life-science educator and advisor, curriculum writer, and mother of two. 
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed