Critical Reading and Writing
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Dan Kurland’s www.criticalreading.com
Everyone complains that students cannot read well… and yet most high schools and colleges offer no course in critical reading. This is the website for just such a course… Criticalreading.com shows you how to recognize what a text says, what a text does, and what a text means by analyzing choices of content, language, and structure. It shows you what to look for, and how to think about what you find.”

Teaching Critical Thinking Through Writing, Dartmouth College Composition Centre
Nice short piece on improving critical thinking through writing exercises in the context of an undergraduate subject.  Perhaps the best part is the description of an example, “Professor Jernstedt’s Psych 22”.  See also their Teaching Argument.

Battling the Six Evil Geniuses of Essay Writing by Charles King, Georgetown University
Excellent. “University students are smart, sometimes too smart by half. They have learned several tricks of the essay-writing trade and are all too willing to employ them… These tricks are all, however, inspired by one of at least Six Evil Geniuses of Essay Writing…This article exposes the work of these devilishly clever fiends and offers hints for students and professors on how to resist their wiles.” [3 Jan 04]

Understanding Research Papers
Translates common phrases in scientific research papers, e.g., “Three of the samples were chosen for detailed study…” means “The results of the others didn’t make sense and were ignored…” [2 Jan 04]

Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay by Timothy Burke
Wise and useful thoughts on good critical writing from a history instructor.  [29 Mar 04]