NW –
I have to disagree. Yes, the motivational component is huge – but it is in no way mutually exclusive with teaching “critical thinking” in ways that can transfer.
Again, I will go back to the concept of metacognition – which entails working with students to be deliberate about themselves as learners, and to be aware of themselves as learners and the techniques they use to learn, their areas of strength and weakness, the types of approaches and techniques that are most useful for them, how to employ alternate strategies and evaluate their effectiveness. One way to think of it is working with them to develop an “executive control” over their learning.