Critical Thinking
Critical thinking at Irwin means students are challenged to analyze, question, test ideas and persist through complex tasks. Students are expected to explain their thinking, revise strategies and apply learning in new situations, building resilience, independence and intellectual curiosity.
How Students Practice Critical Thinking
Solving Difficult Tasks
Students regularly engage in productive struggle through multi-step problems and open-ended questions. These tasks require reasoning, explanation and perseverance, helping students build confidence in tackling challenges.
Ozobots
Students code and debug Ozobots to solve challenges, strengthening logic, sequencing and problem-solving skills. Debugging encourages students to analyze mistakes and refine solutions.
Rocket Challenges
Students design, build, test, and refine rockets to analyze results and making data-driven improvements. This process emphasizes experimentation, revision and evidence-based decision-making.
Case Studies
Students examine real-world problems, analyze information, propose solutions and justify decisions using evidence. Case studies help students apply learning beyond the classroom.
Project Lead The Way (PLTW)
Through PLTW units, students engage in engineering design processes that require planning, testing, revising and reflection, developing both technical skills and critical thinking habits.
- Robotics and coding challenges
- Design-thinking cycles
- Engineering notebooks
- Student presentations and defenses of learning
