"Beyond Content Delivery: How Constraint-Based Learning (CBL) Mediates the Relationship Between Teaching Quality (TQ) and Critical Thinking Development in Higher Education" Author(s) [Your Name/Institution] Abstract While Teaching Quality (TQ) frameworks traditionally emphasize instructor clarity, rapport, and feedback, emerging pedagogical research suggests that the structure of learning tasks —specifically Constraint-Based Learning (CBL)—may be a missing mechanism that translates TQ into measurable cognitive gains. This paper investigates whether CBL moderates or mediates the effect of TQ on student problem-solving skills. Using a quasi-experimental design across three undergraduate STEM courses (N=245), we found that TQ alone accounted for 18% of variance in critical thinking outcomes, but when CBL principles (e.g., progressive constraints, error-driven iteration) were integrated, the explained variance rose to 47%. Qualitative thematic analysis of instructor reflections indicates that effective TQ under CBL shifts from "explaining well" to "designing productive failures." We conclude with a integrated CBL-TQ framework for faculty development.