Answer: The skills that we need in order to be able to think critically are observation, analysis, interpretation, reflection, evaluation, inference, explanation, problem solving, and decision making. Specifically we need to be able to: Think about a topic or issue in an objective and critical way.
I just think it means to think clearly and be rational and try understand the question or situation from the given information and facts to try to figure out the solution.
This isn't enough to avoid plagiarism because you listing your cites might help your teacher know where you found your information, but you still may have copied from the source.