CE101: Critical thinking Asst.Prof.Dr. Phanida Saikhwan

What is critical thinking? Critical thinking is thinking that Goes beyond the basic recall of information but depends on the information recalled. Focuses on the important, or critical, aspects of the information. Critical thinking = taking in information, questioning it, and then use it to Create new ideas, solve problems, make decisions, construct arguments, make plans, and refine your view of the world

Thinking critically or not? Your role Situation Uncritical response Critical response Student Instructor is lecturing on the causes of the Vietnam war. Assume everything your instructor says is true. Consider what the instructor says, write questions about issues you want to clarify, discuss them with the instructor or classmates.

Thinking critically or not? Your role Situation Uncritical response Critical response Neighbour People who differ from you move in next door Think their way of living is weird. Respectfully explore your differences. Consumer Want to buy a car Decide on a brand new car and have no plan of how to pay for it. Comparing buying a new car vs. a used car; decide what kind of payment you can handle each month.

A discussion point: thinking critically If you were an employee and your supervisor is angry with you, what should be your response as a critical thinker? Give yourself 5 minutes to think about this. What would you do? You determine what caused your supervisor to be angry with you. You talk with your supervisor about what happened and why.

Critical thinking process Ask questions Take in information Use information What you hear, see, read, and, experience What you say, do, write, and create.

Step 1: Taking in information The information you receive is your raw material. The most important part of taking information is: to do so accurately without judgement. Because you want the clearest, most complete information to think about.

An example: Taking in information You are drowsy one day in your management course and you copy a management principle inaccurately from the board. During a test later in the semester, you write a response to an essay question on this principle and feel confident about your work. You then are shocked when you get your test back and receive no points for what you thought was a well-constructed, thoughtful essay. This is because the “material” you worked with was inaccurate.

Step 2: Questioning information After taking in information completely, accurately, and without judgement, you can begin to sift through it-to discover its important or critical aspects through questioning. Crucial to the questioning process (and you need all of them) are Knowing what questions to ask Knowing when to ask Wanting to ask

An example: questioning You face a number of problems-financial strain, parenting on your own, and being an older student. As a critical thinker you will examine the situation with questions such as What exactly are my obstacles? recall Who has problems similar/different from mine? find difference/similarity What is an example of someone who has had success despite obstacles? ideas to examples: you take in ideas and then think of examples

An example: questioning What conclusion can I draw from all information I have? examples to ideas: from examples, you develop a general idea Why am I worried about this? cause-and-effect evaluation: look at cause and effect How do I evaluate the effects of my worries? evaluation

Using information After taking in and examining information, a critical thinker tries to transform it into something they can use. In this stage of the critical thinking process, you synthesize what you know and have learned and present something completely new, such as an idea, a product, a process, or an approach.

Who is a critical thinker? A critical thinker is Observant Curious Empathic Attentive Honest with self Willing to reason and reflect A critical thinker Works to avoid assumptions Resists manipulation Takes time Looks for connections Judges based on evidence Asks questions Are you a critical thinker?

How to develop critical analytical thinking? This is like you are developing a detective like-mind by working in a critical way. By questioning, questions you might ask yourself are: Why? How far? How much? How often? To what extent? How do we know this is true? How reliable is this source? What could be going on below the surface? What do we not know about this? Which is preferable? For what reasons?

Let’s test You saw this set of bells is found on a wall in kitchen of one castle in France. Will you ask any question? What will you ask?

Let’s test You saw this sculpture in a castle…. Will you ask any question? What will you ask?

Quiz 1 A4  4 pieces Write your student ID Which statement represents a judgment instead of a fact? Give your reason supporting your answer briefly. a. My presentation was excellent. I am sure my boss will promote me now. b. My presentation was excellent. The clients all told me they liked it. c. My presentation was excellent. It won an award from management. d. My presentation was excellent. It was cited as such on my peer evaluation.