...Abstract This paper explores critical thinking skills and teaching them in an educational setting. Teaching critical thinking is highly debatable. Many feel as though it is not a necessary skill that needs to be learned and others feel as though it is not a skill that can be taught. In this paper I will discuss what critical thinking is and ways it can be taught in an educational setting. Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in Schools For many years critical thinking has been an important issue in education. Following the 1948 Convention of the American Psychological Association, Benjamin Bloom, an American educational psychologist, took control over the development of the goals of the educational process. The goals of the educational process included knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Ever since, the debate over critical thinking has been a hot one (Schneider, 2002). What is critical thinking? Well throughout the past decade the definition of critical thinking has somewhat changed and there are numerous definitions to define it. According to Paul Chance, “critical thinking is the ability to analyze facts, generate and organize ideas, defend opinions, make comparisons, draw inferences, evaluate arguments and solve problems” (Chance, 1986). According to Tama Carrol critical thinking is, “a way of reasoning that demands adequate support for one’s beliefs and an unwillingness to be persuaded unless support is forthcoming”...
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...Critical Thinking Essay Critical thinking is a process where the person involved will truly investigate every aspect of a decision or topic to form a conclusion. “Critical thinking is self-directed, self-discipline, self-monitored and self-corrective thinking.” (Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2013) “Critical thinking also includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking. Some skills that critical thinkers have are understanding the logical connections between ideas, solve problems systematically and identify the relevance and importance of ideas.” (Lau and Chan 2004-2014) It has also been said by The Foundation for Critical Thinking that people who think critically will live rationally, reasonably and emphatically. Critical thinking is a learned skill and is an extremely rare quality for people to have. to master critical thinking skills it takes a lot of training. Some ways to become a better critical thinker would be; reshape your character, do not be so quick to judge, and practicing a problem a day and get in touch with your feelings. Critical thinking skills are necessary for jobs with leadership roles; for example, a teacher. As a teacher, they are expected to make decisions, solve problems and guide others into doing the right thing. Teachers who make informed decisions based on research and beliefs tend to avoid thinking and acting on misinformation. As a teacher, they are also faced with challenges with diversity so they have to redefine...
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...Critical Thinking and Making Intelligent Decisions Critical thinking, simply put, is the ability to think objectively about an idea, with awareness to biases and other distortions to perception, and come to a logical and intelligent decision. The ability to analyze the thinking process and understand how people think, or how one’s own thought process works, is an important factor for thinking critically. Not only is critical thinking an asset in daily life, but also particularly beneficial to the workplace. Analyzing other people’s perceptions in addition to one’s own perception is of utmost importance to a successful business. The benefits to critical thinking far surpass any information acquired by an individual, for without the ability to think objectively about the information; the information is futile. The emphasis on critical thinking can assist the decision-making process by understanding the way in which people assess problems and analyze solutions to those problems. Critical thinking is about learning how to think rather than what to think (Schaferson, 1991). By recognizing the way one’s own thought process influences decision-making, an individual embraces critical thinking. Acknowledgment of personal biases and other forms of distortions to perception are not only important to the decision-making process but to self-awareness by the decision-maker. Subconscious biases are common among most people, but by having empathy for others and viewing the situation from...
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...Critical Thinking Critical Thinking The concept of critical thinking explains a process that involves utilising various interrelated skills to integrate, analyse and carefully evaluate what peoples read and hear from some sources. Therefore, critical thinking requires a determination of whether we should accept, reject or suspend judgement regarding a claim to acting in a certain way (Massey, 2015).This essay analyses steps to critical thinking, how emotions affect decisions making and critical thinking in professional and societal responsibilities. Critical thinking include knowledge, comprehension, application, synthesis and evaluation. In critical thinking, knowledge includes the most fundamental level of information. In this step, the individual identifies what the source of the knowledge says, the topic and issue. The next step is comprehension. The step involves having a comprehensive understanding of the idea. A critical thinker should, have an understanding of what is seen and read. The understanding gained by the critical thinkers is important in order to obtain new knowledge by reflecting on what is known. The ability of the individual to form own interpretation and to express it through writing to give it a new significance measures the level of individuals understanding. The application requires the person to know what they have read, heard from the source. Further individuals should have knowledge of how to apply the same knowledge...
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...Critical Thinking The term critical thinking refers to the thought processes used to evaluate information and the practice of using such conclusions to guide behavior. The process of critical thinking is associated with accuracy, logic, depth, fairness, credibility, and intellectual clarity. The word “critical” is not used to imply negativity or pessimism. Critical thinking merely means that one must not automatically accept the validity of the information he or she is given. Someone who has strong critical thinking skills has a sense of curiosity and is interested in finding innovative solutions to problems. He or she is willing to examine previously held beliefs, opinions, or assumptions and objectively weigh them against facts—admitting when a lack of understanding or information impairs the decision making process and adjusting conclusions as needed to accommodate the introduction of new information. In this way, a person with strong critical thinking skills can be described as self-directed, self-monitored, and self-disciplined. Critical thinkers analyze situations and suspend judgment until all available data has been gathered and considered. This approach will make you more competitive in the workplace, since the ability to make logical decisions based on an analysis of all available data is an important part of success in the business environment. Throughout your college career in the Malcolm Baldrige School of Business at Post University you will be exposed...
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...Critical Thinking and Decision Making Inessa Arutunyan Linda Iacoboni Anisha Lalwani Dan Sarbu MGT/350 November 7, 2011 James Chatterton Critical Thinking and Decision Making Critical thinking is thinking comprised with careful judgment. One gathers facts and evidence then analyzes the data to come to an objective conclusion. Decision-making is the process of arriving at an agreement through careful analysis without bias. When applying the process of critical thinking sound and solid decisions evolve. Several types of thinking can enhance or inhibit critical thinking when one is moving toward a decision. For example, emotional thinking or, sometimes referred to as emotional intelligence. Emotions are "a state of consciousness having to do with the arousal of feelings” (Webster’s New World Dictionary). Feelings can be pleasant or unpleasant that one can react to when in action or thinking. Intelligence is a measure of the amount a person can favorably (or unfavorably) apply sound judgment and reason to a situation while deciding their feelings to the situation (Elder, 1996). Critical thinking is the ability to advance ones thinking toward logic and the capacity to analytically reason. Emotions can cause a defect in critical thinking. Emotions are one’s internal gauge, letting one know how he or she is doing in any...
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...following: Define critical thinking. Critical thinking is defined as making reasoned judgments that are logical and well thought out. It is a way of thinking in which you don't accept all arguments and conclusions you are exposed to but rather have an attitude involving questioning such arguments and conclusions. Critical thinking can be divided into three core skills: Curiosity- The desire to learn more information. Skepticism- Having a healthy questioning attitude about new information. Humanity- The ability to admit that your ideas or opinions are wrong, when faced with new convincing evidence. * Discuss how the following terms relate to critical thinking: bias, issues, arguments, and relativism * Bias: A bias is based on emotional distortional cognition and decision making due to emotional reasoning. Being bias blocks a person from critically thinking on making decisions. * Issues: A question, when critically thinking a person has to ask a series of questions to come up with the rite solution. * Arguments: Arguments are closely related to critical thinking because arguments is the reasoning behind critical thinking arguments is a key component to critically thinking. * Relativism: Has no absolute truth or validity, having only relative, subjective value according to differences in perception and consideration. * Describe a decision or argument you recently made which was influenced by bias Reviewing Ch. 1 of Critical Thinking, share what type of...
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...Critical Thinking Evangelina Villela GEN200 February 11, 2015 Critical Thinking Critical Thinking is a learned skill developed by broadening your viewpoints through clear thinking. It is the process of evaluating issues to form rational, open-minded conclusions to solve problems better. A psychologist named Benjamin Bloom named six levels of thinking. He called them a taxonomy of educational objectives (Ellis & Toft, 2015). The six levels are Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating are the six levels in the critical thinking process. Emotions from the loss of my daughter have affected me and my decision-making process. As a professional in the United States Army, I had to evaluate this life changing event to determine whether to continue my tenure or retire. I could no longer accept the responsibility of teaching, coaching, and mentoring young Soldiers to become future leaders and better citizens of society. Remembering is the process of recognizing or recalling key terms, facts, or events that you have experienced in the past. This step can be used to grasp an understanding and identifying the central issue of what is being communicated. Upon finding the topic, determining the point is the next step. The issue is the question in which the author asks and answers. Applying this step can help you draw factual information to reach an answer or conclusion in evaluating your ideas, and obtain the knowledge of what is communicated. Remembering...
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...Critical Thinking as defined by the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking: “The intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.” (Scriven & Paul, 1987). A generalization of critical thinking is taking a step back and performing the most reasonable action after analyzing every possible solution. Critical Thinking can be broken down into three phases: Discipline- the ability to stop action; Conceptualize- gather information; and Decision- take the appropriate action. Phase one in critical thinking, Discipline, is the ability to stop from making a decisive action without critical forethought. Everyone does not have the discipline to stop and think of the repercussion of his or her immediate action. Phase two is Conceptualization, which is the gathering of information and analyzing all possible solutions. For example during phase two, a person will perform analysis of the immediate situation, observation of the surrounding, and will visualize all viable solutions prior to committing to an action. The final phase is the action phase, taking the appropriate action decided upon. To further elaborate the three phases of critical thinking, I will break down the example in an Internet video, Callahan (2103) states that, “We all have Emotional...
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...Everyone thinks. However much of our thinking is biased, critical, or uninformed. When our thinking is not clear is can have a direct impact in the quality of our lives. However thinking that is not biased, critical or uninformed is developed over time and not something that can be processed overnight. Critical thinking therefore is a type of thinking in which a person improves the quality of their life through careful analyzation and assessment. It requires a high degree of mindfulness. Critical thinking must involve effective communication and the ability to look beyond individual opinions and biases. To be effective in critical thinking there are several steps that must be followed. One must have knowledge of the subject. To have knowledge about the subject this entails knowing the main topic, the thesis and issue. Comprehension is the second step in the critical thinking process. Understanding what you read, hear and see are crucial to thinking objectively. Third is application of the subject. You must know what the key points are and know how those key points can be applied. Once the key points are sorted out you must be able to analyze and breakdown the key points individually. Once analyzation is complete the next step is combing these points and make sure they all make sense as a whole. Lastly is evaluation. This last step is done once you have understood, analyzed and evaluated what has been said or written. In the evaluation you determine if you agree, disagree and...
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...Critical Thinking April S. Fitzpatrick University of Phoenix Monica Griffin Abstract Critical thinking is the ability to think the problem over and to make a big decision on what is the force and conclusion implement the decision. There are many ways that management makes the decisions without taking these steps and the wrong decisions which are not made. People should make sure that the person in their controlling positions that makes critical decisions that would affect a person are a good critical thinker. Critical thinking is a type of thinking used to come to a great sound decision in their personal life, job, and college. One example of getting a person to use critical thinking is in their writing skills. The instructors would give their students a paper to write, where the students need to use an idea how to read their paper. Critical thinking helps us to acquire our knowledge and solving our problems. Personal Experience in my Workplace On personal experience I had learned that critical thinking was a performance that my boss controls me. It was about that how to present the team concept, diversity issues and the organization policies to the employees at on of our town halls that only included all the areas of our department. I had to find a way to make this presentation where it was not boring, it got the message across and everyone would understand it. I decided the best way to make the presentation and be able to keep my audience’s attention would be to...
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...What Is Critical Thinking CRT/205 Our decisions reflect our conclusions in life. So it is best that we make sure we have the right conclusions so we do not make bad decisions. We can do this through critical thinking. Beliefs come from conclusions that we have made. When we have concluded something is the way it is, we believe it. And when we tell someone this belief it is known as a claim. A claim can be true or false. So if I tell someone the tv is broken and is no good it is true for that moment but the tv may still be good. Someone else could reattach a loose wire and the tv would be back as good as new. Another thing in critical thinking are issues. Issues are basically another word for questions. When thinking or in an argument there are usually issues. Everytime you question if something is true or if it’s the best option, this is an issue. Issues are good in critical thinking to help you get the conclusion you need on a topic. When we give ourselves reason to except a claim we have produced an argument. The reason for accepting a claim is called a premise. And an argument is where the premise is intended to prvide a reason for accepting the conclusion. So if I am thinking about buying a car, the issue I have is should I buy one and can I afford it. I tell myself I make x amount of money and I am responsible so I should get the car. Now I have an argument. But if I sit back and think into more detail I may find that buying this car may not be exactly what I need...
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...Critical Thinking Worksheet • A position opens in your department at work. You recommend to a coworker and friend in another department that she should apply. You previously consulted with this person on small projects, and she appears knowledgeable and responsible. In fact, you became friends through these work contacts. Your friend appreciates your recommendation and arranges a meeting to ask you more details about the work done by your department. The meeting is productive, and your friend takes notes to help with the application process. Your friend stops by your desk a few days later to thank you for your help, because the application was long and detailed. She confides that some of the information she included on the application is not entirely accurate. Some of her work experience did not match the job requirements and needed to be reworded for a better fit. Your friend thanks you again and says, “I hope we’ll be working together soon!” Part A: Write five questions you need to ask yourself to help you think through the situation and determine a course of action. 1. Is she qualifying enough for this position? 2. Why did she did not tell truth on the application? 3. If I help her how it will affect my work if anyone find out? 4. How is that going to look when my employer find out that I recommended her? 5. What would happen if employer decides hire someone with more experience and knowledge? Part B: Questioning yourself, as you did in the exercise...
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...Critical Thinking and Ethics: Critical thinking and ethics are such an important topic in today's business world. With an idea that is always developing it is important to understand what these mean, and how these work. Let us look at critical thinking first. Critical thinking's definition is: being able to apply knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation in everyday problems (Athanassiou). Knowledge is to recall what is previously learned, comprehension shows awareness of material, the application uses data to answer questions, analysis breaks down material, synthesis recombines information from the analysis, and evaluation displays one's judgment of the value of information received (Athanassiou). This process should apply to many everyday situations. When you are dealing with children, it can be a very busy situation. It is best to know each child you deal with; everyone has different emotions. You can use the knowledge and understand how to treat a child in a manner that helps the child behave in the best manner possible for you. By doing this, you would ask; how do I get my child to behave in a good manner? At this point, you recall that they acted well after using energy at the park, so you proceed to the park. Next you would give simple instructions to see how well they can listen; if they can follow simple instructions its a success. Next, you would understand that if your child arrives at the park this would allow them to burn their...
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...Critical Thinking Stage 1: The Unreflective Thinker I would describe the unreflective thinker as a person in a ship without a sail. In other words, they just go with the flow of life without any guide or direction to where they want to go. The unreflective thinker is lost but because they find comfort and safety in their boat they never look at a map or compass for direction. An unreflective thinker feels the way they are going is the right and only way to go according to their point of view. Stage 2: The Challenged Thinker A Challenged Thinker is a person that has become awakened and they are starting to ask questions that can lead to life changing experiences. They are beginning to ask the right questions that will challenge the old way of thinking. There is the realization that old way of thinking no longer effective, and they are preparing to move forward to the next level of critical thinking. A challenged thinker is someone who is examining themselves with honesty, so they can become deliberate and in control of their thinking pattern. At this stage a challenged thinker will either decide to press on to the next level or revert back to the old egocentric way of thinking. Stage 3: The Beginning Thinker The Beginning thinker is someone that is honest and they realize there are problems with the way they think. As a beginning thinker you start to question your beliefs and search for the answers outside of yourself. You begin to investigate and dig deeper...
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