2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Critical thinking (CT) skills are essential to undergraduate engineering education, yet despite the association of an engineering degree with CT ability, studies indicate that traditional engineering curriculum fail to create gains in students’ CT aptitude. This study introduces an innovative structured "deep dive" literature analysis exercise aimed at enhancing CT skills in engineering students. Conducted over a semester with a graduate-level biomedical engineering class, the exercise focused on interpreting, analyzing, and questioning primary literature. Using a mixed-methods approach, we assessed students' perceived CT abilities across six dimensions using a shortened form of the Critical Thinking Self-Assessment Scale (CTSAS) and open-ended responses. Results indicate a significant improvement in students' perceived CT skills, with 87-93% of participants reporting enhanced abilities across all dimensions of CT. These exercises appeared equally helpful across gender, indicating the deep dives do not induce inequality. Additionally, qualitative analysis of open-ended responses revealed positive emotional engagement and highlighted specific CT skills gained, including improved evaluation, inference, and explanation. This exercise advances engineering pedagogy by offering a readily adaptable tool to improve their student’s CT skills while covering course-appropriate content through primary literature.