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CRITICAL THINKING

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. ~ George Orwell

What is Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is reflective reasoning about beliefs and actions. It is a way of deciding whether a claim is always true, sometimes true, partly true, or false. Critical thinking can be traced in Western thought to the Socratic method of Ancient Greece. Socrates was a Philosopher, born c. 470 BCEc.399 BCE, in Athens GreeceThe Socratic tradition in which probing questions were used to determine whether claims to knowledge based on authority could be rationally justified with clarity and logical consistency http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thin king

Socratic method is defined as "a prolonged series of questions and answers which refutes a moral assertion by leading an opponent to draw a conclusion that contradicts his own viewpoint.

Sumner's Definition of Critical Thinking


What is Critical Thinking? (William Graham Sumner 1906)

[Critical thinking is] . . . the examination and test of propositions of any kind which are offered for acceptance, in order to find out whether they correspond to reality or not. The critical faculty is a product of education and training. It is a mental habit and power. It is a prime condition of human welfare that men and women should be trained in it. It is our only guarantee against delusion, deception, superstition, and misapprehension of ourselves and our earthly circumstances.

{Sumner, W. G. (1940). Folkways: A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals, New York: Ginn and Co., pp. 632, 633.}

Consequential Validity: Using Assessment to Drive Instruction

Critical thinking is that mode of thinkingabout any subject, content, or problemin which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully analyzing, assessing, and reconstructing it. Critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. It presupposes assent to rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use.

Critical thinking is the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances. When we think critically, we realize that in every domain of human thought, it is possible and important to question the parts of thinking, and the standards for thought.
http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/consequentialvalidity-using-assessment-to-drive-instruction/790

The great masses of the peoplewill more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one. ~ Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1933
We learn from history that we do not learn from history. ~ George Wilhelm Hegel

Definitions

Different sources define critical thinking variously as: "reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do"[2] "the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action"[4][page needed] "purposeful, self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based"[5] "includes a commitment to using reason in the formulation of our beliefs"[6]

Cites from previous page of Definitians

2) Ennis, Robert (20 June 2002). "A Super-Streamlined Conception of Critical Thinking". faculty.education.illinois.edu. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
4) Scriven, M., and Paul, R.W., Critical Thinking as Defined by the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking (1987) 5) Facione, Peter A. Critical Thinking: What It is and Why It Counts, Insightassessment.com, 20011, p. 26 6) Mulnix, J. W. (2010). Thinking critically about critical thinking. Educational Philosophy and Theory. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-5812.2010.00673.x, p. 471

Educations purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one. ~ Malcolm S. Forbes

History and etymology


The critical thinking philosophical frame traces its roots in analytic philosophy and pragmatist constructivism which dates back over 2,500 years.

Meaning

Critical thinking clarifies goals, examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, accomplishes actions, and assesses conclusions.

Skills

The list of core critical thinking skills includes observation, interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, explanation, and meta-cognition. There is a reasonable level of consensus among experts that an individual or group engaged in strong critical thinking gives due consideration to establish: In addition to possessing strong criticalthinking skills, one must be disposed to engage problems and decisions using those skills. Critical thinking employs not only logic but broad intellectual criteria such as clarity, credibility, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, significance, and fairness.

Evidence through observation Context skills Relevant criteria for making the judgment well Applicable methods or techniques for forming the judgment Applicable theoretical constructs for understanding the problem and the question at hand

Procedure

Critical thinking calls for the ability to:


Recognize problems, to find workable means for meeting those problems Understand the importance of prioritization and order of precedence in problem solving Gather and marshal pertinent (relevant) information Recognize unstated assumptions and values Comprehend and use language with accuracy, clarity, and discernment Interpret data, to appraise evidence and evaluate arguments Recognize the existence (or non-existence) of logical relationships between propositions Draw warranted conclusions and generalizations

Put to test the conclusions and generalizations at which one arrives Reconstruct one's patterns of beliefs on the basis of wider experience Render accurate judgments about specific things and qualities in everyday life

Any formal attack on ignorance is bound to fail because the masses are always ready to defend their most precious possession their ignorance. ~ Hendrik Van Loon
In sum: "A persistent effort to examine any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the evidence that supports it and the further conclusions to which it tends.( b Edward M. Glaser (1941). An Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University. ISBN 0-404-55843-7.)

Experiment in the Development of Critical Thinking. New York, Bureau of

Habits or traits of mind

The habits of mind that characterize a person strongly disposed toward critical thinking include a desire to follow reason and evidence wherever they may lead, a systematic approach to problem solving, inquisitiveness, evenhandedness, and confidence in reasoning.[16] When individuals possess intellectual skills alone, without the intellectual traits of mind, weak sense critical thinking results. Fairminded or strong sense critical thinking requires intellectual humility, empathy, integrity, perseverance, courage, autonomy, confidence in reason, and other intellectual traits. Thus, critical thinking without essential intellectual traits often results in clever, but manipulative and often unethical or subjective thought.

Men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in their readiness to doubt. ~ H. L. Mencken

16) The National Assessment of College Student Learning: Identification of the Skills to be Taught, Learned, and Assessed, NCES 94286, US Dept of Education, Addison Greenwod (Ed), Sal Carrallo (PI). See also, Critical thinking: A statement of expert consensus for purposes of educational assessment and instruction. ERIC Document No. ED 315423

Example thinker

raises important questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards thinks open-mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, as need be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems, without being unduly influenced by others' thinking on the topic.

Critical Thinking as Defined by the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking, 1987

A statement by Michael Scriven & Richard Paul, presented at the 8th Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking and Education Reform, Summer 1987. 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. It entails the examination of those structures or elements of thought implicit in all reasoning: purpose, problem, or question-at-issue; assumptions; concepts; empirical grounding; reasoning leading to conclusions; implications and consequences; objections from alternative viewpoints; and frame of reference. Critical thinking in being responsive to variable subject matter, issues, and purposes is incorporated in a family of interwoven modes of thinking, among them: scientific thinking, mathematical thinking, historical thinking, anthropological thinking, economic thinking, moral thinking, and philosophical thinking.

http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766

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