Saturday 11 January 2014

THINKING



Critical thinking is a way of deciding whether a claim is true, partially true, or false. Critical thinking is a process that leads to skills that can be learned, mastered and used. Critical thinking is a tool by which one can come about reasoned conclusions based on a reasoned process. This process incorporates passion and creativity, but guides it with discipline, practicality and common sense. It can be traced in the West to ancient Greece with its Socratic method and in the East to ancient India with the Buddhist kalama suttaand abhidharma literature. Critical thinking is an important component of many fields such as education, politics, business, science and the arts.
Critical thinking has been defined as:
·        "the mental process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information to reach an answer or conclusion" [2]
·        "disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence" [3]
·        "reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do"[4]
·        "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]
·        in critical social theory: commitment to the social and political practice of participatory democracy, willingness to imagine or remain open to considering alternative perspectives, willingness to integrate new or revised perspectives into our ways of thinking and acting, and willingness to foster criticality in others.[7]
·        the skill and propensity to engage in an activity with reflective scepticism (McPeck, 1981)
·        disciplined, self-directed thinking which exemplifies the perfection of thinking appropriate to a particular mode of domain of thinking (Paul, 1989, p. 214)
·        thinking about one's thinking in a manner designed to organize and clarify, raise the efficiency of, and recognize errors and biases in one's own thinking. Critical thinking is not 'hard' thinking nor is it directed at solving problems (other than 'improving' one's own thinking). Critical thinking is inward-directed with the intent of maximizing the rationality of the thinker. One does not use critical thinking to solve problems - one uses critical thinking to improve one's process of thinking.[8]


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
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."[10]

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, even-handedness, and confidence in reasoning.[11]
According to a definition analysis by Kompf & Bond (2001), critical thinking involves problem solving, decision making, metacognition, rationality, rational thinking, reasoning, knowledge, intelligence and also a moral component such as reflective thinking. Critical thinkers therefore need to have reached a level of maturity in their development, possess a certain attitude as well as a set of taught skills.

Edward Glaser proposed that the ability to think critically involves three elements:[10]
1.   An attitude of being disposed to consider in a thoughtful way the problems and subjects that come within the range of one's experiences
2.   Knowledge of the methods of logical inquiry and reasoning
3.   Some skill in applying those methods.
Educational programs aimed at developing critical thinking in children and adult learners, individually or in group problem solving and decision making contexts, continue to address these same three central elements.
Contemporary cognitive psychology regards human reasoning as a complex process that is both reactive and reflective.[12]
The relationship between critical thinking skills and critical thinking dispositions is an empirical question. Some people have both in abundance, some have skills but not the disposition to use them, some are disposed but lack strong skills, and some have neither. A measure of critical thinking dispositions is the California Measure of Mental Motivation.[13]
In schooling
John Dewey is one of many educational leaders who recognized that a curriculum aimed at building thinking skills would benefit the individual learner, the community, and the entire democracy.[14]
Critical thinking is significant in academics due to being significant in learning. Critical thinking is significant in the learning process of internalization, in the construction of basic ideas, principles, and theories inherent in content. And critical thinking is significant in the learning process of application, whereby those ideas, principles, and theories are implemented effectively as they become relevant in learners' lives. Good teachers cultivate critical thinking (intellectually engaged thinking) at every stage of learning, including initial learning. This process of intellectual engagement is at the heart of the Oxford, Durham, Cambridge and London School of Economics tutorials. The tutor questions the students, often in a Socratic manner (see Socratic questioning). The key is that the teacher who fosters critical thinking fosters reflectiveness in students by asking questions that stimulate thinking essential to the construction of knowledge.
Each discipline adapts its use of critical thinking concepts and principles (principles like in school). The core concepts are always there, but they are embedded in subject-specific content. For students to learn content, intellectual engagement is crucial. All students must do their own thinking, their own construction of knowledge. Good teachers recognize this and therefore focus on the questions, readings, activities that stimulate the mind to take ownership of key concepts and principles underlying the subject.
In the UK school system, Critical Thinking is offered as a subject that 16- to 18-year-olds can take as an A-Level. Under the OCR exam board, students can sit two exam papers for the AS: "Credibility of Evidence" and "Assessing and Developing Argument". The full Advanced GCE is now available: in addition to the two AS units, candidates sit the two papers "Resolution of Dilemmas" and "Critical Reasoning". The A-level tests candidates on their ability to think critically about, and analyze, arguments on their deductive or inductive validity, as well as producing their own arguments. It also tests their ability to analyze certain related topics such as credibility and ethical decision-making. However, due to its comparative lack of subject content, many universities do not accept it as a main A-level for admissions.[15] Nevertheless, the AS is often useful in developing reasoning skills, and the full Advanced GCE is useful for degree courses in politics, philosophy, history or theology, providing the skills required for critical analysis that are useful, for example, in biblical study.
There used to also be an Advanced Extension Award offered in Critical Thinking in the UK, open to any A-level student regardless of whether they have the Critical Thinking A-level.Cambridge International Examinations have an A-level in Thinking Skills.[16]
From 2008, Assessment and Qualifications Alliance has also been offering an A-level Critical Thinking specification;[17]
OCR exam board have also modified theirs for 2008. Many examinations for university entrance set by universities, on top of A-level examinations, also include a critical thinking component, such as the LNAT, the UKCAT, the BioMedical Admissions Test and the Thinking Skills Assessment.
In its 2012 platform, the Republican Party of Texas rejected the teaching of "Higher Order Thinking Skills... critical thinking skills and similar programs," giving as a reason that this sort of teaching has "the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority." Media ridicule led to a response from RPT Communications DirectorChris Elam that the inclusion of the term "critical thinking skills" was an oversight which cannot be corrected until 2014, when the next state convention will occur.[18][19]

Research in efficiency of critical thinking instruction

In 1995, a meta-analysis of the literature on teaching effectiveness in higher education was undertaken.[20] The study noted concerns from higher education, politicians and business that higher education was failing to meet society's requirements for well-educated citizens. It concluded that although faculty may aspire to develop students' thinking skills, in practice they have tended to aim at facts and concepts utilizing lowest levels of cognition, rather than developing intellect or values.

Importance

Critical thinking is an important element of all professional fields and academic disciplines (by referencing their respective sets of permissible questions, evidence sources, criteria, etc.). Within the framework of scientific skepticism, the process of critical thinking involves the careful acquisition and interpretation of information and use of it to reach a well-justified conclusion. The concepts and principles of critical thinking can be applied to any context or case but only by reflecting upon the nature of that application. Critical thinking forms, therefore, a system of related, and overlapping, modes of thought such as anthropological thinking, sociological thinking, historical thinking, political thinking, psychologicalthinking, philosophical thinking, mathematical thinking, chemical thinking, biological thinking, ecological thinking, legal thinking, ethical thinking, musical thinking, thinking like a painter, sculptor, engineer, business person, etc. In other words, though critical thinking principles are universal, their application to disciplines requires a process of reflectivecontextualization.
Critical thinking is considered important in the academic fields because it enables one to analyze, evaluate, explain, and restructure their thinking, thereby decreasing the risk of adopting, acting on, or thinking with, a false belief. However, even with knowledge of the methods of logical inquiry and reasoning, mistakes can happen due to a thinker's inability to apply the methods or because of character traits such as egocentrism. Critical thinking includes identification of prejudice, bias, propaganda, self-deception, distortion,misinformation, etc. Given research in cognitive psychology, some educators believe that schools should focus on teaching their students critical thinking skills and cultivation of intellectual traits.[citation needed]
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."[21] Critical thinking skills through Socratic method taught in schools help create leaders. Instructors that promote critical thinking skills can benefit the students by increasing their confidence and creating a repeatable thought process to question and confidently approach a solution. Students also accomplish follower-ship skills that can be used to probe the leader's foundations. Critical thinking skills through Socratic method serve to produce professionals that are self-governing. However, Socratic method for critical thinking skills can become confusing if an instructor or leader uses the method too rigidly, the student may not know what the instructor or leader wants from him. An instructor or leader may disillusion the students if he uses particular style of questioning. Instructors must reveal their reasoning behind the questions in order to guide the students in the right direction. "Socratic method can serve twenty-first-century leaders to instruct students, mentor protégés, motivate followers, advise other leaders, and influence peers."[21]
Critical thinking skills can be used to help nurses during the assessment process. Through the use of critical thinking, nurses can question, evaluate, and reconstruct the nursing care process by challenging the established theory and practice. Critical thinking skills can help nurses problem solve, reflect, and make a conclusive decision about the current situation they face. Critical thinking creates "new possibilities for the development of the nursing knowledge."[22] Due to the sociocultural, environmental, and political issues that are affecting healthcare delivery, it would be helpful to embody new techniques in nursing. Nurses can also engage their critical thinking skills through the Socratic method of dialogue and reflection. This practice standard is even part of some regulatory organizations such as the College of Nurses of Ontario Professional Standards for Continuing Competence (2006). It requires nurses to engage in Reflective Practice and keep records of this continued professional development for possible review by the College.
Critical thinking also is considered important for human rights education for toleration. The Declaration of Principles on Tolerance adopted by UNESCO in 1995 affirms that "education for tolerance could aim at countering factors that lead to fear and exclusion of others, and could help young people to develop capacities for independent judgement,critical thinking and ethical reasoning."[23]
There is currently a growing recognition that the Western emphasis on critical thinking has a broader and deeper impact than relates simply to cognitive skills. Le Cornu (2009) argues a case which links critical thinking to a heightened individualism which she considers is not so prevalent in the East, and suggests that education at all levels should train people in three principal types of thinking and reflection: receptive, appreciative and critical.[citation needed]

References
1. See wikt:critical
2.                Dictionary.com, "critical thinking," in Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon. Source location: Dictionary.com, LLC. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/critical thinking. Available: http://dictionary.reference.com. Accessed: June 22, 2013.
3.                Dictionary.com, "critical thinking," in Dictionary.com Unabridged. Source location: Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/critical thinking. Available: http://dictionary.reference.com. Accessed: June 22, 2013.
4.                Ennis, Robert (20 June 2002). "A Super-Streamlined Conception of Critical Thinking"http://faculty.education.illinois.edu/rhennis/SSConcCTApr3.html Retrieved January 18, 2013.
5.                Facione, Peter A. Critical Thinking: What It is and Why It Counts,Insightassessment.com, 2011, 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
7.                   Raiskums, B.W. (2008). An Analysis of the Concept Criticality in Adult Education.Capella University. ISBN 0549778349[page needed]
8.                    Carmichael, Kirby; letter to Olivetti, Laguna Salada Union School District, May, 1997
9.                   See NCES 95-001,[vague] page 14–15.
10.                 Jump up to:a b Edward M. Glaser (1941). An Experiment in the Development of Critical Thinking. New York, Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University. ISBN 0-404-55843-7.
11.                 The National Assessment of College Student Learning: Identification of the Skills to be Taught, Learned, and Assessed, NCES 94–286, 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 315–423
12.                 Solomon, S.A. (2002) "Two Systems of Reasoning," in Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment, Govitch, Griffin, Kahneman (Eds), Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-79679-8Thinking and Reasoning in Human Decision Making: The Method of Argument and Heuristic Analysis, Facione and Facione, 2007, California Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-891557-58-3
14.  Dewey, John. (1910). How we think. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath & Co.
15.   Critical Thinking FAQs from Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations
16.   "Thinking Skills", University of Cambridge Local Examinations
17.  "New GCEs for 2008", Assessment and Qualifications Alliance
18.                 Strauss, Valerie. "Texas GOP rejects ‘critical thinking’ skills. Really." Washington Post, 9 July 2012.
19.                  Lach, Eric. "Texas GOP's 2012 Platform Accidentally Opposes Teaching Of 'Critical Thinking Skills' TPM Muckraker, 29 June 2012.
20.                 Lion Gardiner, Redesigning Higher Education: Producing Dramatic Gains in Student Learning, in conjunction with: ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education, 1995
21.                 Jump up to:a b Leadership by the Socratic Method(2007)http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj07/sum07/tucker.html
22.                 Catching the wave: understanding the concept of critical thinking (1999)doi:10.1046/j.1365-2648.1999.00925.x
23.                 Declaration of Principles on Tolerance, Article 4, 3


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