Challenges to improving higher education students' critical thinking capacity in China

Abstract Drawing on data from the 2016 National Assessment of Collegiate Capacity in China, the study on which this article reports explored the value‐added effects of critical thinking capacity in higher education. Specifically, the analysis was developed using the difference in residuals model based on the Hierarchical Linear Modelling approach. The results show that, first, critical thinking capacity is malleable and can be improved through undergraduate education. Second, the results demonstrate that the value‐added effects of undergraduate education on college students' critical thinking capacity are heterogeneous. Only half of the value‐added effects achieved in higher education in China were positive. Third, the size of value‐added effects was not fully aligned with the level of the institutions. High‐ranking universities did not always perform well in achieving high value‐added effects on critical thinking capacity. This study analyses the reasons why some universities in China face insurmountable challenges in efforts to improve college students' critical thinking capacity. Challenges are highlighted from multiple perspectives. Corresponding improvement strategies are proposed in the concluding discussion.