Mock Trials and Critical Thinking

Abstract

A mock trial can be used to introduce students to the principles of critical thinking and to provide them with an opportunity to practice it. A number of writers (Baker and Anderson 1987; Ber lage and Egelman 1993; Walton 1990) have published texts and treatises on vari ous models of critical thinking in sociol ogy, the social sciences, and across disci plines. Blending journalism and sociology, Baker and Anderson (1987, xii) have identified five core topics of critical reasoning: definition, evidence, cause and effect relationships, value assertions and assumptions, and logical consistency in the line of reasoning about solutions. Mock trials can direct student thinking toward