Critical Thinking What it is and what it isn’t

Defining Critical Thinking  Define critical thinking as you understand it.  What does “critical” mean in terms of thinking?  How does critical thinking work?

“Thinking leads man to knowledge.”*  Thinking: “the action of using one's mind to produce thoughts” (Merriam-Webster)  Knowledge: “the fact or condition of being aware of something; the circumstance or condition of apprehending truth or fact through reasoning” (Merriam-Webster)  Reason: “the power of comprehending, inferring, or thinking especially in orderly rational ways” (Merriam-Webster) *J ohann Heinrich Pestalozzi (18 th century Swiss educator)

Absorbing vs. Thinking vs. CT  If we understand what we are told  If we do what we are told  If we think about what we are told by making connections to other information  If we create new or additional knowledge by asking questions, making connections, and reflecting

What constitutes knowledge?  Knowledge: “the fact or condition of being aware of something; the circumstance or condition of apprehending truth or fact through reasoning” (Merriam-Webster)  What does “apprehending the truth or fact through reasoning” entail?

What does it mean to reason?  Reason: “the power of comprehending, inferring, or thinking especially in orderly rational ways” (Merriam-Webster)  What does “inferring, or thinking especially in orderly rational ways” mean?

Knowledge is made, not given  To acquire knowledge you must think about what you have learned, reason through its meaning and importance, decide how you feel about it, and thus it becomes yours.  Owning knowledge means you have interpreted the information and compared it to other ideas; you have made sense of how things fit together and are in charge of what you think.

Take Charge  Take control of whether you accept on faith what you hear and read and learn.  Winthrop gives you the tools through CRTW to become an active thinker and learner and to take charge of what you think to make it your own.  After that, it’s up to you....

Why take charge?  Empowers you; your thoughts, beliefs, and ideas are yours to control.  Removes power from others who tell you what to think, believe, and do.

Memorizing (passive) vs. Knowing (active)  Memorizing facts and figures to repeat on exams merely makes your mind a repository of data bites, much like tossing items into a junk drawer. You know the item is in there; you just have to find it among all of the other bits and pieces.  To have thought about what you apprehend means to have taken ownership of the information, to have ordered it and appropriated it for yourself for your own use.

Three Components to Think Critically 1. Recognize that questions need to be asked. 2. Use facts and logic (sound reasoning) to answer questions. 3. Trust in your reasoning.

Responding Uncritically to Questions 1. Accept someone else’s answers 2. Say what you always have said (w/o knowing why, the root of your auto-response) 3. Guess 4. Give opinion (reflects your personality) 5. Say the 1 st thing that pops into your mind (no thought behind it)

Features of Critical Thinking  Reflective  Measure against standards  Deals with authentic issues: real life vs. philosophical  Reasonable  Non-emotional to a degree  Withhold judgment