Robert H. Ennis' Academic Web Site

This site was last edited July 25, 2006.  Please send questions and suggestions to rhennis@uiuc.edu.

My academic interests lie primarily in the areas, critical thinking, philosophy of science, (especially causality), and analysis of educational concepts. Click on any underlined item of interest to you for references, expansion, and unpublished thoughts. A number of references appear under more than one heading:

1.  Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking Definition: Includes concerns with assumption ascription or identification, logical competence, best-explanation reasoning, definition, credibility of sources, and critical thinking dispositions.
See A Super-Streamlined Conception of Critical Thinking for a very brief outline of my most recent unexemplified version of a conception of critical thinking. See An Outline of Goals for a Critical Thinking Curriculum and Its Assessment  for some elaboration of the super-streamlined conception (including some criteria, but still no examples). See my Critical Thinking (Prentice Hall, 1996) for a more thorough presentation of criteria and examples. I seek comments and suggestions regarding all three items.
Critical Thinking Assessment: How do we assess critical thinking?
Critical Thinking Teaching/Curriculum: How should we teach critical thinking and incorporate it in a curriculum?

2.  Philosophy of Science
Includes concerns with causality and best-explanation inference; philosophy of educational research, including test reliability and validity; and science education.

3.  Analysis of Educational Concepts
Includes concerns with assumptions, bias, causality, equality of educational opportunity, neutrality, and readiness.

A comprehensive record of my academic activities and publications (c.v.)is available.

Addresses:  email: rhennis@uiuc.edu. Postal: 3904 Trentwood Place, Sarasota, FL 34243, USA; phone: (941) 358 0906. Also: Educational Policy Studies, College of Education, 1310 S. 6th St., Champaign, IL 61820, USA; phone: 217 333 2446.