Learn Turkish: Klasik teorik kitaplardan ziyade eleştirel düşünceyi öğreniyoruz. - Rather than classical theoretical books, we learn critical thinking.

The word ziyade translates to "rather than" or "more than". It always requires the preceding noun or infinitive to take the ablative case (-dan/-den). Here, kitaplar (books) takes the suffix to become kitaplardan to link with ziyade.

I recognize eleştiri as "criticism". How does it become eleştirel (critical)?

It uses the adjective-forming suffix -sel/-sal (or its variant -el/-al). This suffix attaches to nouns to mean "related to". Just like bilim (science) becomes bilimsel (scientific), eleştiri adapts this suffix to become eleştirel (critical).

Why is it düşünceyi with the accusative suffix instead of just düşünce?

The phrase eleştirel düşünce (critical thinking) is the direct object of öğreniyoruz (we are learning). Because it is a specific, well-defined concept rather than a general or indefinite object, it requires the specific direct object marker (the accusative case), giving us düşünceyi.

Could I use yerine (instead of) here instead of ziyade?