...Critical Thinking Alex Mowry Everyday decisions are made consciously and subconsciously by people. The decisions could be subtle, or big life changing ones. Making a clear reasoned judgment is critical thinking and should be used for you decisions made (Beyer, 1985). Critical thinking isn’t as simple of a process as it sounds. There is a six step process that can be used for critical thinking to make a more efficient decision. Many things can affect the critical thinking process such as emotions and being influenced by others. Mastering the critical thinking process is needed and suggested. Critical thinking is used every day and could be applied to more than one area of a person’s life. There is a 6 step critical thinking process that was made by Benjamin Bloom that can be used to clearly evaluate your thinking. The six steps used are remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. Level one is remembering. Remembering is being able to recall and recognize key points. This will allow you to go back and start the process by recalling it. Level two is understanding. Understanding is being able to explain what you are remembering. Level three is applying. Applying is being able to complete a task from the knowledge you have obtained from the previous steps. Level four is analyzing. Analyzing is taking a step further from understanding by expanding what you know and breaking it down into parts. Level five is evaluating. Evaluating may...
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...Critical Thinking and Ethics Critical thinking and ethics go hand in hand when it comes making decisions or problem solving. Whether the problems needing a solution are in a professional setting or part of a person’s personal life ethics are a huge influence on the course taken by an individual. Learning how to use critical thinking to influence these decisions can be very beneficial to everyone. Critical Thinking and It’s Steps Critical thinking can seem like a very complicated process but with practice it can be applied to everything in life. So what exactly is critical thinking? “Critical thinking is the objective analysis of an issue in order to form judgment” (Ridel, 2015, pg. 7). Although there are many different definitions for it the one above explains more clearly what it consist of. What it doesn’t include is the six steps in the critical thinking process. Step one is remembering, which is simply being able to remember key terms or facts. Step two is understanding, being able to explain in one’s own words what was remembered. Step three is applying, which is using a certain idea to get desired results. Step four is analyzing, being able to break an idea down into parts or steps. Step five is evaluating the quality of a certain idea. Step six is creating, which is being able to create a whole new idea based off the original (Ellis, 2014). Problem Solving Using Critical Thinking Decisions are made every day by everyone to solve problems. Some problems are of monumental...
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...Critical Thinking and Ethics Marlon D. Ector ETH/316 3/23/2015 Kevin Forsberg Critical Thinking and Ethics When looking at critical thinking and ethics they both to me work together hand in hand and assist each other in many ways. When you are using critical thinking, your decisions will require for you to think from both sides of the situation, so that your solution not biased. This brings about you making the very best decision that you can. When understanding Critical thinking you must recognize that it is the process of thinking of possible outcomes, and determining what is the best decision for this situation. A good critical thinker knows how to examine an issue from all sides, so that a rational and ethical decision can be made objectively. Our social responsibility in life is subject to the beliefs and moral values of our individual life that we receive while growing up. As children, we grew up and learned the ways of our ancestors, family, and community, these skills that we learn as you grew up, was to cultivate us as a critical thinker so that we are able to make sound decisions within life’s situations. The one thing that you battle with in life a lot is the area of moral issues and decisions. No matter what cards you are dealt in life the one thing that remains true is that you will have to make moral choices, decisions that reflect your own upbringing and moral compass. Every thought in life will require the process of thinking...
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...Critical Thinking Application Paper Thinking is a very common in every second in life that many people do realize how important thinking is to how people live. How a critical thinking has been done there is always thinking going on. "The best thinkers use their ability to think well in every dimension of their lives" (Paul & Elder, 2006). In this paper, discussing the definition of critical thinking, my personal experiences with critical thinking, and the importance and benefits of critical thinking in the logical decision-making process. "Critical thinking is that mode of thinking- about any subject, content, or problem- in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them" (Scriven & Paul, 2004). As humans are growing up in school or in family, they are taught to think logically about subjects and decisions that are being made. Critical thinking is more in depth thinking and speaking people to think outside of the box and take a hard look at what they are doing and analyze it to come up with a more effective decision. Everything they know and think is based on something that they have learned or observed in their lifetime and it will continue every day. “The best thinkers analyze their thinking, evaluate their thinking and improve their thinking” (Paul & Elder, 2006). When I think back to situations I have been put in I can see that I was not thinking...
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...Critical Thinking Application When people rely on research rather than just their emotions; this is the basis of critical thinking. Critical thinking is more than just giving two looks at a situation and following a gut feeling, it is taking the time to research and plan, to strive for the most beneficial answer possible. The importance and benefits of critical thinking has most likely affected everyone’s personal or professional life at one time or another, maybe even daily. A moment of critical thinking worthy of discussing in which the nine steps of decision making became a valuable tool was the decision to remain on active duty in the United States Navy. After eight years of honorable service the military had given a choice; change jobs within the organization or take the money offered and run. This creates a problem because of the want to retire in the chosen profession was a personal career goal. Many questions along with various thoughts and feelings became extremely intense. However, there were three months ahead before a final decision had to be made. This was more than enough time to implement ones critical thinking skills and put the decision making process into effect. The first step in any situation is to identify the issue or cause for critical thinking. In this case it was to remain in the military and change jobs, possibly running the risk of being unhappy with the new career or to separate and to attend college while also becoming the mother who was desired...
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...Critical thinking is a process that many people use on a daily basis. The website Criticalthinking.org defines critical thinking as 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, 2007). Critical thinking helps in making rational and better decisions in life. When used correctly the process of critical thinking can, among other things, help solve problems, help make minor choices, and help make major life changing decisions as well. The more that an individual uses critical thinking, the better that the individual will improve and develop in their critical thinking skills (Carter, Bishop, Kravits, 2007). When issues and conflicts arise the use of critical thinking can give a great help and be a huge benefit in finding the best way to successfully handle and resolve the problem. Critical thinking has been a tremendous benefit to the writer over the years especially at the workplace, which is currently at a recreation center. The writer must use critical and rational thinking almost every single day at the workplace. Tasks such as coming up with productive, entertaining and appropriate activities for children of all different age ranges, takes much in depth and thorough thought. Through observation and fairness, which are two...
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...Running head: CRITICAL THINKING Critical Thinking Application Paper University of Phoenix MGT/350 Critical Thinking: Strategies in Decision Making Richard E Botelho Sr. Bruce A. Fanger Sr. 06/27/11 There are many benefits and specific characteristics as well as important aspects to critical thinking and it has a direct impact on decision-making. In making decisions, the critical thinking process is important and your success and happiness in life will be increased by your ability to think critically. The process in which facts, information, and theories are gathered and analyzed is critical thinking. Effective decisions are made by using the critical thinking process. Critical thinking separates facts from opinions and also evaluates options, and is a valuable process which should be used by everyone. Critical thinkers demonstrate some characteristics such as courage, humility, empathy, integrity, and fair-mindedness. A critical thinker uses these characteristics to help them to make positive decisions that they will be happy about in the future. Critical thinkers know the limitations of their decisions when they are humble. Critical thinkers are also courageous enough to trust their own reasoning skills and they are empathetic enough to comprehend the weight of their decisions on others. Critical thinkers also hold integrity, which demonstrates honesty and realistic perception of end results. An important characteristic of critical thinkers is fair-mindedness...
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...Denise Johnson Class: PHL/320 Instructor: Jose Rodriguez Due Date: 01/25/2016 Title: Critical thinking discussion and summary The way I define critical thinking is to evaluate an issue and determine a conclusion without putting personal judgements and thoughts in to the situation. What makes a person a critical thinker? To be able to think logically and come to conclusions based off facts. Making wise choices also comes from critical thinking because in order to make a wise choice there is a lot of effort and thought behind it. Critical thinking has helped me so much in my life for example I believe it was my critical thinking that had me enroll into college and get a degree. I asked myself how I will be able to have a decent living and good earnings. I am a single mother to three and working three jobs in order to provide for my family. I believe that if I earn a degree and educate myself I will be able to land a good job making way more than minimum wage. My ideal goal is to gain a degree and eventually work only one job that will help me be financially stable and secure. I expect to learn how to be a better critical thinker and to be able to make better choices with the help of this course. I want to be able to think before I act so I do not have to suffer from consequences of my actions because I did not think beforehand. I believe enhancing my critical thinking skills and being better at making decisions will save me disappointment in my future....
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...Title “Poetry Essay” I. Introduction A. The influence of decision making process in human life. B. The problem faced by the speaker in the poem. II. Body A. Theme B. Symbolic setting C. Significance of the title D. Rhyme scheme and metrical devices III. Conclusion A. The lyrical elements of the poem B. All the elements of the poem support its overall meaning. Poetry Essay The Road Not Taken, the poem by Robert Frost is related to the dilemmatic situation of decision making in human life. To be specific, one’s decision in critical situations transforms one’s life into success or failure. Besides, wise decision at apt situations leads to success in life. But human beings are not ready to take decisions based upon their free will. This creates much tension in future life because false decisions lead to failure, which cannot be changed. In this poem, the speaker faces the same problem faced by human beings for generations. Theme: As pointed out, the theme of the poem is related to making a choice in one’s life or simply decision making. The speaker is not ready to choose the well-worn path because he is aware of his power to choose his own way and not to follow others. Frost states that “I took the one less treaded by, and that has made all the difference” (10). In short, the courage to take risk in one’s life/ the decision to explore new horizons is the main theme of the poem. Symbolic...
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... Continuing Academic Success Academic success begins with knowing what you want to achieve and who you want to become. Going back to school after a long time can be frightening and intimidating however we are all capable of success by utilizing our strengths and being aware of our weaknesses. We have many skills that we can use to aid in learning that we have developed though everyday life. There are methods to learning that if used correctly can greatly increase the chances for success such as making future goals. The ability to think critically is essential to becoming a good student. By having good critical thinking skills you will produce great schoolwork and make better choices. The University of Phoenix has a vast amount of resources to aid in student learning. There are strategies to learning and tools to be explored at the university library and writing center. While everyone has different learning styles, establishing educational goals, exploring university resources, employing academic integrity, and developing excellent critical thinking skills leads to academic success. In order to be successful educational goals must be established. Koch and Nafziger (2011) believed that goals affect people’s perceptions of the future. Having goals keeps you on track and makes it clear what it takes to achieve them. According to Koch and Nafziger (2011), “We show that setting a challenging goal for future performance makes future selves strive harder:...
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...Critical Thinking Application Paper Critical Thinking Application Paper The purpose of this paper is to explain critical thinking and decision-making by different examples, such as models, method examples and show how it is used in everyday life. The three components of every decision are made, and they are 1. Criteria- the standards by which decision makers evaluate alternatives, 2. Alternatives- specific courses of action or options, and are considered “positions” 3. Cause and effect beliefs-cause and effects belief are cognitions linking specific alternatives to specific criteria. These are often referred to as models, theories, assumptions, beliefs, or alternative attributes. Platoon Hierarchy is needed to understand how certain decisions ca affect many areas and how critical thinking is needed and used by all involved in the military. An Army leader is any one who by virtue of assumed role or assigned responsibility inspires and influences people both inside and outside of the Chain of Command to pursue actions, focus thinking and shape decisions for the greater good of the organization. One can solve soldier complaints, concerns and questions, in a timely manner through perfecting critical thinking. This will help the leader make responses and answers tailored to the individual soldier, and it will make soldiers feel more satisfied and cared about by their chain of command. Possessing a strong ability to think critically is viewed by the company commanders...
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...Heather Diehl Critical thinking and ethics Professor Collum 6th September 2015 Critical thinking and ethics I think a lot of our decisions on a day to day basis are because of critical thinking and ethics. I also think ethics is sort of a step in the critical thinking process. When making a decision something you’re going to ask yourself is if the decision is going to break any ethical values? A good example of this would be to say a student was invited to a party. Then the student finds out that the party is going to have drugs and underage drinking involved. The student wants to go because all of his/her friends are going but does not want to go because it could end up bad. The first thing the student is going to think about when deciding to go or not would be their own personal ethics or values. This is the same for all problem solving, decision making and career/social responsibilities. Critical thinking and ethics do and always will go hand in hand. The definitions of both critical thinking and ethics are important in understanding the way they impact the steps through critical thinking. Critical thinking is defined as the objective to analysis and evaluates an issue to form a judgment. An example of this would be my decision to attend online or traditional based college. Before starting online school I thought critically about the pros and cons of the two main different types of colleges. I analyzed and evaluated my different choices until I came up with a solution...
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...Critical Thinking Reflection Leah Kuester HUM/115 Sept 14, 2015 Cathie Alder Critical Thinking Reflection Our daily lives are filled with decisions, opinions, lessons and experiences. Happiness is something I believe we all wish to feel on a daily basis but do we always make the right choices that will lead us to this? Are we making decisions based on emotion or are we taking the time to weigh out our options, think critically and make the right choice based on fact? We can all benefit from thinking critically in our everyday lives as it is a tool to find clarity, independence and a way to truly have control of your own path in life. Barriers to Critical Thinking There is no question that when you want to change the way you think, it is going to take some practice. We are used to being a certain way and whether we want to change or not, our thoughts and actions are simply controlled by emotion at times. In order to think critically you have to learn to overcome such barriers and change the way you approach a situation. Dr. Ridel says, “Our ability to think critically isn’t certain- it’s under constant siege by forces that would rather us not.” (Ridel, 2015) In other words, it isn’t easy to think critically in a world full of barriers to doing so. He mentions that the two types of barriers are internal and external barriers. (Ridel, 2015) External referring to family, friends, teachers and the media. All figures in our lives that have a mass influence on our thoughts...
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...Entrepreneurial Decision Making In every successful organization there comes a time when decisions have to be made. Some decisions can be a risk and some may not. In one’s current profession, life decisions are made on a daily basis. The decisions must be taken seriously as the impacts could be devastating. In one’s organization, the major decisions are made from the top down and during team meetings. “T” is explained the current decision making process, consisting from five stages, 1. Framing the Problem, 2. Identifying Alternatives, 3. Analyzing Alternatives, 4. Making the Choice, Ratifying the Choice. The decision process is not conducted by Senior management team as a whole, except the stage “Framing the Problem”, which is done in the second-hour of Monday management team meetings. The other stages are conducted by “subgroup”, consisting from two to four senior managers and president of the ASC division. In the case there is explained that the decision making process should be improved. Current situation is rationalized – that it is caused by managerial style of current president of the ASC division, who does not want its managers to be involved into conflicts and prefers off-line handling them. As the population in the world grows, so do the poverty levels, depression, violence, crime, family dysfunction, and addiction. The world is full of people needing help, assistance, and life skills. When someone offers help to someone else, this is service. Usually in a pro-social...
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...Critical Thinking Andrea Butler GEN200 02/10/2015 Lisa Delman Critical Thinking According to Halpern, critical thinking is “thinking that is purposeful, reasoned, goal oriented. (Moore, 2010) Critical thinking brings together analyzed different information to help makes decisions. Usually, a well analyzed situation leads to better decision which is why critical thinking is important. Steps in Critical Thinking Critical Thinking has six unique levels which include 1) Remembering, 2) Understanding, 3) Applying, 4) Analyzing, 5) Evaluating, and 6) Creating. (Ellis & Toft, 2015). All the levels of thinking can be used independently for simple decisions that require lower levels of thinking. For example at levels one through three where one may be looking for few decision options. (Ellis & Toft, 2015). However, for critical thinking, all the levels need to work together because you need to discover or create complex solutions. Explanation of How Emotion Influence Your Decision Making When making decision, you need be aware and check for attitude, logic and evidence. (Ellis & Toft, 2015). These three are strategies used with all level of thinking. But an emotion can significantly affect them. Because when emotion is introduced rational thinking is sometimes pushed aside. For example, when you and your mate are angry at each other you may say or do things that normally you would not do. Then when everyone has calmed down and started to think about what he...
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