1. What is Critical Thinking? CSIT58 Asking the Right Questions Chapter 1

2. Information Overload New facts and opinions come at you daily from TV, radio, Internet, books, magazines How do you react?  Accept  Reject  Withhold judgment

3. What do you do? You can blindly accept what you hear and read. OR You can ask questions to reach your own decision about the worth of the information.

4. The Sponge One approach to thinking is to absorb the information. Just concentrate and memorize This method is fine for classes where you need to recall facts and definitions for exams. Or if you are on Who Wants to be a Millionaire!

5. Panning for Gold Question why a claim is made, look for problems in the reasoning, evaluate and form your own conclusion. Use for personal decisions and classes requiring you to do research and compare and contrast ideas and issues.

6. Description of Critical Thinking Critical thinking, or the art of reasoned judgment, is really little more than thinking about how we think in various aspects of our lives. For example, we can shop critically or uncritically. Uncritical shoppers buy what they don’t need and pay too much money. Critical shoppers, on the other hand, think about how to shop, their past errors, buying patterns and impulses. They use their critical thinking skills in a specific way to intervene in their decision about shopping….Critical thinking entails a coherent plan and a test for reasonableness that can be applied to life’s various decisions. From: Andolina, Michael. Practical Guide to Critical Thinking. Albany: Delmar/Thompson Learning, 2002.

7. Critical Questions During the semester we’ll practice “panning for gold” by asking these questions: 1. What is the issue and conclusion? 2. What are the reasons? 3. Which words or phrases are ambiguous? 4. What are the value conflicts and assumptions?

8. More Critical Questions 5. What are the descriptive assumptions? 6. Are there any fallacies in the reasoning? 7. How good is the evidence? 8. Are there rival causes? 9. Are the statistics deceptive?

9. Critical Meaning We’re not using the word critical in the sense of finding fault or criticizing. To be critical also means to be analytical:  Investigate  Question  Reason

10. Thinking and Feeling We bring lots of personal baggage to every decision we make  Experiences  Dreams  Values  Training  Culture

11. Critical Thinking vs. Emotion? Feelings and emotions are a valuable part of each of us. Recognize your feelings and try to put them aside for a bit so you can be open to new ideas. Try to be emotionally involved after you have reasoned something out.

12. What do you think? Decide which of the following are facts (absorb like a sponge) and which are opinion (need critical thinking): 1. Marketers have the right to send out email messages to anyone they want to. 2. People who were sharing music files over the Internet received subpoenas and paid fines. 3. There were 550 computers for student use at Harbor College in 2002. 4. Cloning human beings is a crime against nature. 5. Drivers talking on cell phones account for about 6% of U.S. automobile accidents each year.