1. Creative & Critical Thinking

2. 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?

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

4. 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

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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. Creative thinking at WORK
Physical space
Solitary time
Group time

9. Becoming a Critical Thinker

10. 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.

11. 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”

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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.

15. 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.

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

17. 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?