[unimpressive]

I'm not sure that this is such a great metric for determining the critical thinking skills of students. I mean; being honest here, who actually liked any of their grade school assignments? (Excepting the odd coincidental collision of interest or interesting elective, I know I'm certainly not enjoying them right now.)

I can't blame high school or even middle school kids giving into temptation and taking the path of least resistance. After all, if the instructor will take that information at face value, then why should the student take it any more seriously?

At any rate, considering that wikipedia ideally cites their sources, there's no reason to cite them unless it's from an inaccessible resource.

[tapneal]

I agree. There is no measure yet on how student research skills tie into critical thinking in the real world.

Regardless, if we are able to foster an environment that encourages critical thinking, and if instructors can effectively demonstrate what this is, student minds can be well tuned to help them think of innovative ideas!