The present article deals with the concepts of metacognitive, critical and creative thinking, proposing a revision from the contributions from psychology and cognitive neuroscience, and its impact on both learning and academic performance. As a first objective, a conceptualization of metacognitive, critical and creative thought processes according to classical and current literature is proposed. Second, some didactic actions are suggested to education professionals to stimulate the development of each type of thinking. As a result of the review and reflection, it is concluded that the development of thinking is key to making the teaching and learning processes more efficient, since the student acquires an active role and autonomy in the construction of knowledge and the development of skills, that transcend the different spheres of human development.