Creative & Critical Thinking

Use this Master Student Map to ask yourself, WHY? The ability to think creatively and critically helps you succeed in any course. WHAT? Power Process: Find a bigger problem Thinking: Moving from “aha!” to follow through Ways to create ideas Creative thinking at work Become a critical thinker Ways to fool yourself: Common mistakes in logic Thinking critically about information on the internet Overcome stereotypes with critical thinking Asking questions – learning through inquiry Gaining skill at decision making Four ways to solve problems Master Student: Irshad Manji HOW? to read, write, speak, and listen more effectively to learn strategies to enhance problem solving to apply thinking to practical decisions WHAT IF? ...you could solve problems more creatively and make decisions with more confidence?

Find a Bigger Problem Video: In Show Mode click image above

Find a Bigger Problem Problems have a purpose. They provide opportunities to participate in life. They stimulate and pull us forward. Goal: Find problems that are worthy of us. Problems challenge us to: Think Define our goals Consider our values

Find a Bigger Problem Video: In Show Mode click image above

Thinking: Moving from “aha!” to follow-through Use creative thinking to cultivate “aha!” Generate lots of ideas; open up alternatives. New, original ideas burst out of you! Use critical thinking to follow through. Pick and choose from ideas; combine & refine them. Narrow down choices to come up with new and exciting ways to think and do things. Continue to use critical thinking to narrow down choices and creative thinking to generate new ones.

Ways to Create Ideas Conduct a brainstorm. Focus and let go. Cultivate creative serendipity. Keep idea files. Collect and play with data. Create while you sleep. Promote creative thinking in groups. Refine ideas and follow through. Trust the process.

Creative thinking at WORK Physical space Solitary time Group time

Becoming a Critical Thinker

Becoming a Critical Thinker Gaining Critical Thinking Skills Find various points of view Look for assertions Look for at least 3 viewpoints Practice tolerance Look for logical evidence Consider the source Watch for hot spots Be willing to be uncertain Write about it Notice your changing perspectives Students have had too little experience thinking critically. This article provides strategies that help students think more deeply about the issues they are considering. You might break students up into groups, give them a current issue problem, and assign a different critical thinking skill to each group. Give them 15 minutes and then ask each group to give a one minute summary report to the class.

Ways to Fool Yourself: common mistakes in Logic Jumping to conclusions Begging the question Thinking in all-or-nothing terms Sliding a slippery slope Appealing to authority Creating a straw man Distracting from the real issue Basing arguments on emotion Appealing to tradition Confusing fact and opinion Attacking the person Creating a red herring Pointing to a false cause Using a faulty analogy Appealing to “the people”

Thinking critically about information on the Internet Distinguish between ideas and information Look for overall quality Look at the source Look for documentation Set an example

Overcome stereotypes with critical thinking Look for errors in thinking Create categories in a more flexible way Test generalizations through action See your own stereotypes

Asking questions - learning through inquiry Ask questions that create possibilities. Ask questions for critical thinking. Discover you own questions. Ask questions to promote social change. Ask what else you want to know.

Gaining skill at decision making Recognize decisions. Establish priorities. Base your decisions on a life plan. Balance learning styles in decision making. Choose an overall strategy. Use time as an ally. Use intuition. Evaluate your decision. Think choices.

Four ways to solve problems Experiment with the four Ps Define the problem Generate possibilities Create a plan Perform your plan

Four ways to solve problems WHY? Why is one solution more workable than another? WHAT? What is the problem? HOW? How would this possible solution work? WHAT IF? What if there are several possible solutions?