The Importance Of Critical Thinking

According to Paul & Elder, “critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a vision of improving it.” Their argument for the need to utilize critical thinking is the fact that without focus, most of the thinking done by people is partial, many times uninformed, biased, distorted, and prejudiced. What is not easily recognized is the fact that the very fabric of life is

To survive in such a multifaceted and diverse world we as people must possess the ability to think critically in highly complex situations. The world is an extremely challenging place, all of us are forced to adapt by constantly challenging existing principles and performing certain methods to ensure our growth both physically and mentally. Many claim that contemporary society needs a skill called critical thinking to adapt and survive. Critical thinking is a higher level of intellectual progression that makes use of diverse information, skills and attitudes in interpreting situations and confronting problems. Critical thinking is done

Critical thinking is 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. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness. (Critical thinking community, n.d.)

Critical thought comes from being able to find info on, ultimately know, or to understand a subject well enough to be able to teach someone else the subject. You are capable of critical thought once you have been approached on any subject and have the skills to question and interpret information and then form opinions based on what was found. Dennis Hayes “Let’s Stop Trying to Teach Students Critical Thinking” appears online, on a site called The Conversation. In this essay, Hayes presents the idea that teachers or professors should either teach politically or present a subject objectively which means teach no side. He doesn’t directly mean “stop teaching critical thinking...” he just wants teachers or professor to teach it the right way. Research,

Critical thinking means to think correctly in to find knowledge that is relevant and reliable. In terms of a liberal arts education critical thinking is crucial because a liberal arts education teaches students skills that are needed in the rapidly changing world that usually requires a lifetime of self-learning and understanding. Critical thinking is something that people usually must learn on their own; however, as a liberal arts school it is taught, so we have a better understanding of thinking critically.

In 1990, the American Philosophical Association defined critical thinking as “purposeful, self-regulatory process that results in reasoned judgment”. Critical thinking can be defined in a number of similar phrases that all seem to focus on the importance of conscious analysis. Our text starts off with the working phases of critical thinking as analyzing thinking, evaluating thinking, and improving thinking. The process of critical thought is cyclical and not linear. Being a “fair-minded critical thinker” is not a permanent attribute, and it must be consistently worked at as applying intellectual standards and elements of reasoning instead of emotion can be difficult. Overall, to be a strong critical thinker you must work toward strong intellectual traits such humility, courage, and integrity to better represent issues and or arguments.

self-correcting. Similarly, I believe that critical thinking is judgement, specific to the current situation, that has substance based upon the principles used to critique it. Put another way, critical thinking depends on standards to guide its solution or response; these standards include “clarity, relevance, accuracy, fairness, completeness, precision, depth, breadth, and adequacy.” (Jones, Elizabeth A.|Ratcliff, 1993). I also believe that critical thinking is self-correcting, because it is based in logic and reasoning; vague solutions will always exist, but a sharp critical thinker will always find the correct answer through the precise application of reasoning.

High School students are not being adequately educated about these skills in classrooms. Be as it may, many students do not engage in enough higher thinking. Notwithstanding the importance many educators have stressed, it continues to be an educational concern. In our education system instructors are not advocating enough critical thinking in High School classrooms as the curriculums intended there to be. The challenge of polishing critical thinking in classrooms is that teachers must learn how to interpolate these skills into the academic curriculum. These skills are not only important in Reading, English and Writing but in all subjects including History and Social Science. In need, High School classrooms do not provide enough opportunities for students to develop critical thinking skills. The opportunities

A crucial skill in critical thinking is learning to distinguish inference from assumption. An inference is an act of concluding that something is true or seems to be true. An assumption is an act of assuming something based on previous beliefs. Everyone has their own point of view, therefore, they have different assumptions about what the see. For example, if two people see an overweight person at the gym, one might infer, "There's a lazy person." The other might infer, "That person is taking control of their health." These inferences are based on different assumptions about the conditions under which overweight people end up in the gym; these assumptions are connected to the point of view about people that each has formed. The first person

Critical Thinking is interpreted as actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information based on observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication (National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking 1987). I believe that critical thinking opens the mind and ensures you to see things in unfamiliar ways. It creates a creative mindset and can lead to many accomplishments in the future if you master these skills while you are young. Children are already naturally critical thinkers; therefore, teachers should assist children in honing these skills and use them constructively. I infer that if we took an initiative to teach critical thinking at a young age and have it consistently taught all the way until the end of high school, more children would leave the K-12 system more prepared for higher education

In today’s current school systems, the question of whether or not schools are correctly teaching students the right curriculum is coming up for debate. In the Article,"Teaching Critical Thinking by Marcia Clemmitt, she goes into extensive research of the U.S. Department of Education’s crisis of standardized testing. Most learning activities include standardized testing which lacks many students to express creative and critical thinking. Critical thinking is defined as the examination and evaluation of ideas, events and arguments in their contexts which introduces students to interrogate assumptions and identifying biases (Clemmitt)Pure critical thinking involves investigating a text more than just memorizing, but to apply theirself in other ways of techniques, meaning schools should stimulate more analytical methods of teaching. This would not only free students from a sheltered test culture,but will allow students to think in a deeper,more passionate way than before.

I think critical thinking is important because it means reasoning, evaluating, analyzing, decision-making, and problem-solving. We need critical thinking in our everyday life, for us to make any little decision we need to think about it wisely, and how it will affect us. Someone with critical thinking skills can understand the logical links between ideas. For example, during my night shift at the ER, we use triage, which is to decide who is the most urgently in need, and whose injuries are less severe and can

Critical thinking is a vital task that must be done in our everyday lives. In “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking” found at criticalthinking.org, Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Paul explain critical thinking as “the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances”. Even tough there are many different types of methods to achieve a better quality of critical thinking, Dr. Elder and Dr. Paul discuss four specific ones in the article. All strategies, however, force you to put yourself in an uncomfortable and difficult position to develop a better quality of thinking.

There are proposed reasons for the emphasis that is currently on critical thinking. Many factors can be related to this emphasis. They include the societal factors of economic shifts

What is critical thinking to you? To some it may mean making wiser choices, taking time to critically analyze a situation, or to just put greater thought in your everyday life. According to Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Pauls’ article, “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking”, critical thinking is defined as the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances. To us, critical thinking is a very important aspect of life and something we can all improve on. It allows us to think outside the box and put ourselves in others shoes and really look at things differently. We made sure to think about our own thinking habits while discussing these articles and to notice if we were ever being close-minded.