A diagnosis and evaluation of 276 teaching and learning strategies was conducted to identify whether they facilitate the development of critical thinking and problem solving skills. The problem of this research was the lack of knowledge about the incorporation of critical thinking and problem solving skills in teaching and learning strategies of professors at the University in western Mexico. First, a teacher training course on instructional design was given. During this course, teachers developed strategies to facilitate their students' learning. The students belonged to different undergraduate and graduate programs at this university. Then, an evaluation instrument was developed to diagnose whether the teachers' strategies foster the development of critical thinking and problem solving skills (CTPSS) in students. Likewise, to identify the level of incorporation of these skills into teaching strategies. A quantitative descriptive methodology was used. An evaluation instrument with Likert-type scaling was applied to evaluate the levels of CTPSS to 276 teachers' strategies. The purpose of this instrument was diagnostic and evaluated the level of skills considered in these teaching strategies. The results show that 3.62% reached the very good level in considering the application of the CTPSS; 92% of the teachers were classified at the minimum and good level, and only 3.99% were at the insufficient level. The results of the non-parametric ANOVA reported significant differences between HPCRPs in mean scores (Chi-square = 52.66, p < .0001). The lowest scoring skills were problem solving and critical thinking.

Keywords: Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Skills, Learning Strategies, Higher Education.