Sticking to familiar ideas feels safe, but learning stalls when students refuse to question what they think they know. Encouraging them to confront their assumptions is essential for academic growth. By breaking away from mental comfort zones, they uncover new insights and gain the courage to embrace complexity in their studies and personal interactions. Below, we explore confirmation bias, explain why it disrupts critical thinking, and offer practical ways to help students challenge their established beliefs.
What Is Confirmation Bias?
Confirmation bias is the inclination to favor information that supports one’s existing viewpoints while dismissing or ignoring information that conflicts with those views. This happens when someone decides that certain assumptions are correct before gathering all the facts. Students might focus on sources that reinforce their opinions, or they may discount evidence that points in a different direction. This is also referred to as “cherry picking.
This tendency is common and not limited to one age group or academic field. Even so, adolescents and young adults in school are especially vulnerable because they often seek validation from social circles, academic performances, and online communities. If their immediate reaction is to accept only what aligns with their own perspective, they may miss key pieces of the puzzle.
How Confirmation Bias Undermines Critical Thinking and Classroom Collaboration
Unchecked confirmation bias can seep into learning and teamwork, undermining both individual reasoning and the collective spark of the classroom by:
- Narrowing the evidence pool: Students cherry-pick sources that echo their beliefs, overlooking data that could reshape — or even overturn — their conclusions. The result is a research process that confirms hunches rather than tests them.
- Stalling intellectual growth: When students never test a claim against disconfirming evidence, they miss the mental stretch that refines judgment and powers true critical thinking. Research on cognitive biases in science education finds that this habit leaves learners prone to persistent misconceptions and shallow reasoning.
- Feeding classroom echo chambers: Strong confirmation bias pushes students toward like-minded peers and discourages dissent, creating small information bubbles that amplify one viewpoint while muting others. Network-model studies show that, under these conditions, group knowledge stalls or even regresses.
- Skewing peer feedback: Biases seep into project reviews, where students may praise arguments that align with their own thinking and dismiss well-founded counterpoints. This turns what should be constructive critique into subjective affirmation, undermining the learning cycle.
- Eroding collaborative creativity: Group projects thrive on varied ideas. When confirmation bias dominates, brainstorming sessions recycle the same safe concepts, making innovative solutions rare and limiting collective achievement.
- Dampening classroom morale: Students who feel their perspectives are consistently sidelined may disengage, lowering participation and eroding the respectful culture essential for deep learning
Recognizing and resisting confirmation bias gives students the intellectual agility to weigh evidence honestly, adjust opinions quickly, and respect dissenting voices — all of which strengthen class discussions, fuel creativity, and prepare them to lead responsibly in an age of rapid-fire information (and misinformation).
Strategies for Teaching Students to Challenge Their Assumptions
Try these techniques to help students see beyond their preconceived notions:
- Promote reflective exercises where students ask themselves: “Is my opinion based on solid evidence or just my own preference?”
- Have them write down their assumptions before they start a project or reading assignment, then revisit those assumptions afterward to note any changes.
Use Opposing Viewpoints
- Assign debates that require students to argue from both sides.
- Invite them to analyze articles or studies with contradictory conclusions to practice evaluating multiple angles.
Provide Real-World Examples
- Show how confirmation bias can affect historical events or scientific discoveries.
- Explain how ignoring data or alternative explanations has led to flawed decisions in politics, finance, or public health.
- Share your own process of investigating various sources when forming an opinion on complex topics.
- Demonstrate how you handle contradictory information in a calm, rational way.
Encourage Peer Review
- Have students give constructive critiques of classmates’ work.
- Emphasize that respectful, evidence-driven feedback fosters better outcomes.
Teach Research Literacy
- Instruct students on how to check credibility, identify partiality in media outlets, and interpret data accurately.
- Show them how to differentiate between reputable journals and unverified sites.
Create a Classroom Culture of Inquiry
- Allow learners to voice uncertainties and pose open-ended questions.
- Remind them that change is not a weakness but a sign of intellectual agility.
Build Critical Thinking Skills With THINKING PRO
Developing habits of evidence-based reasoning in students requires structured, real-world practice. THINKING PRO supplies that framework through a 20-video interactive suite that adapts to individual pace, models expert thinking moves, and tracks growth so instructors can monitor progress with precision.
Our three versions of THINKING PRO are designed to align with a range of schedules and goals:
- Essentials: This is a self-paced track that folds easily into existing units. Students complete the video series independently, making it ideal for enrichment blocks or asynchronous study with minimal teacher preparation.
- Short Curriculum Unit: This five- to six-week, instructor-led module pairs our interactive learning videos with guided discussion, source evaluation, and a concise document-based capstone. It replaces a traditional research unit with a richer, inquiry-driven experience.
- Intensive Curriculum Unit: This comprehensive enrichment unit lasts 10-12 weeks and is designed for targeted intervention, GED preparation, or college-readiness courses — especially those aimed at addressing reading gaps, pandemic-related learning loss, and the needs of multilingual learners. Learners tackle extended projects that weave all 20 videos into scaffolded writing, peer review, and a multi-format capstone.
Whichever version you choose, THINKING PRO equips students to interrogate sources, weigh competing claims, and defend conclusions with clarity — skills that neutralize confirmation bias and support lifelong learning.
Here at Thinking Habitats, we use thinking tools to empower young people to lead successful lives and contribute to the well-being of their communities. Our online platform has helped students improve their critical thinking, reading comprehension, and news media literacy and has had significant individual and community impacts. Get THINKING PRO today, and enable students to feel more empowered in decision-making, more mindful of their news engagement, and more connected to their local community!
Friedman, H. H. (2017). Cognitive Biases that Interfere with Critical Thinking and Scientific Reasoning: A Course Module. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2958800
Gabriel, N., & O’Connor, C. (2024). Can confirmation bias improve group learning? Philosophy of Science, 91(2), 329–350. https://doi.org/10.1017/psa.2023.176