Abstract
This chapter details the process of how to become a critical thinker at university. At university, in addition to discipline-based foundational knowledge, you also learn universal skills and develop personal characteristics. Foundational knowledge means that you know things. Learning universal skills means you know how to do things with that knowledge. Developing your personal characteristics gives you the actual ability to do things with that knowledge. You learn from academic faculty, from world-renowned (possibly dead) thinkers, from fellow students, from outside the curriculum, and from yourself. The learning environment at university sees you being independent but not alone, building a strong base, entering a productive struggle, actively engaging, preparing and attending, and embracing group work and assessment. Ultimately, the qualities you can draw on to become a critical thinker are curiosity and an open mind, a growth mindset and grit, and finally focus and willpower.
