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LANE-462-FA-HA-
Term 2- 2011
By:By:By:By:
Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. ShadiaShadiaShadiaShadia YousefYousefYousefYousef BanjarBanjarBanjarBanjar
http://SBANJAR.kau.edu.sa/
http://wwwdrshadiabanjar.blogspot.com
Critical Thinking
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 1
Everyone thinks; it is our nature to do so. But
much of our thinking, left to itself, is biased,
unclear, partial, uninformed or down-right
prejudiced. Yet the quality of our life and that
of what we produce, make, or build depends
Everyone thinks …..
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 2
of what we produce, make, or build depends
precisely on the quality of our thought. Poor
thinking is costly, both in money and in
quality of life. Excellence in thought,
however, must be systematically cultivated.- Richard Paul
Critical Thinking History
2,500 years ago Socrates established the
importance of asking deep questions,
seeking evidence, analyzing basic concepts
before we accept ideas as worthy of
•Socrates – 400 BC
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before we accept ideas as worthy of
beliefs .
Socrates
• Questioning
• Inquiring
• Search for meaning
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• Search for meaning
• Search for truth
Plato, Aristotle, and Greek skeptics
emphasized that things are often very
different from what they appear to be and
that only the trained mind is prepared to see
•Plato, Aristotle, Greek skeptics
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that only the trained mind is prepared to see
though the way thing look to us on the
surface.
Thomas Aquinas (Sumna Theologica)
ensures that his thinking met the tests of
critical thinkers by answering criticisms of his
In the middle ages
•Thomas Aquinas (Sumna Theologica)
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critical thinkers by answering criticisms of his
ideas.
(Colet, Erasmus, More in England)
started thinking critically about religion, art,
society, human, law, and freedom.
15th & 16th C.
(Renaissance)•European scholars
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society, human, law, and freedom.
Francis Bacon in England
• wrote The Advancement of Learning,
the 1st book in critical thinking.
•argued for the importance of studying
the world empirically.
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the world empirically.
•laid the foundation for modern science
with his emphasis on the information-
gathered process.
Francis Bacon
• Father of the Scientific Method
• “We must become as little children in order to
enter the kingdom of science”
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Descartes in France
• wrote the 2nd book Rules for the Direction of the Mind
- developed a method of critical thought based on the
principle of systematic doubt.
50 years later •Descartes in France•Sir Thomas More in England
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principle of systematic doubt.
•In the same period, Sir Thomas More:
- developed a model for a new social order Utopia in
which every domain the present world was subject to
critique.
16th &17th C. Hobbes & Locke
- not to accept the traditional cultural beliefs
dominant in the thinking of their day as being
rational and normal.
- everything in the world should be explained
by evidence and reasoning.
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by evidence and reasoning.
17th & 18th C.
• Robert Boyle & Isaac Newton in Chemistry &
nature
• other French thinkers in sociology & politics
Adam Smith produces Wealth of Nations in
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Adam Smith produces Wealth of Nations in
economics
19th C.
• Darwin's Descent of Man in the biological
domain focused on the history of human
culture and the basis of biological life
• Sigmund Freud study in the unconscious
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• Sigmund Freud study in the unconscious
domain.
•Plus other studies in the Anthropological &
Linguistics domains.
20th C.
•Number of thinkers have increased in every
domain of human thought and within which
reasoning takes place.
•Dewey – 1930’s
•Ennis – 1980’s
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•Ennis – 1980’s
Dewey
Reflective Thinking
• Dispositions of thinking
– Open mindedness
• Native Resources
– Curiosity
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– Open mindedness
– Whole heartedness
– Intellectual Responsibility
– Curiosity
– Suggestion
– Orderliness
Ennis
• Critical thinking is “reasonable, reflective
thinking focused on deciding what to believe or
do.”
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Ennis - Actions a learner usually must take in order to think critically
• Judge the credibility of sources
• Identify conclusions, reasons and assumptions
• Judge the quality of an argument including the
acceptability of its reasons, assumptions, and evidence
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acceptability of its reasons, assumptions, and evidence
• Develop and defend a position on an issue
Ennis - Actions a learner usually must take in
order to think critically
• Ask appropriate clarifying questions
• Plan experiments and judge experimental designs
• Define terms in a way appropriate for the context
• Be open-minded
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• Be open-minded
• Try to be well-informed
• Draw conclusions when warranted, but with caution
Thus…Students in school should be taught how to think critically. Classes should be designed based on reasoning and
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be designed based on reasoning and rational grounds and not as series of facts.
What Is Critical Thinking?
“Critical thinking is the ability to apply reasoning and
logic to unfamiliar ideas, opinions, and situations.
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logic to unfamiliar ideas, opinions, and situations.
Thinking critically involves seeing things in an open-
minded way. This important skill allows people to look
past their own views of the world and to adopt a more
aware way of viewing the world.”What is Critical Thinking?
and creatively sort through this information, reason
logically from this information, and come to reliable
and trustworthy conclusions about the world that
enable one to live and act successfully in it. •Children are not born with the power to think
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•Children are not born with the power to think
critically, nor do they develop this ability naturally
beyond survival-level thinking. Critical thinking is a
learned ability that must be taught. Most individuals
never learn it.
•Critical thinking cannot be taught reliably to
students by peers or by most parents.• Trained and knowledgeable instructors are
necessary to impart the proper information and
skills. •Critical thinking can be described as the
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•Critical thinking can be described as the
scientific method applied by ordinary
people to the ordinary world.
•This is true because critical thinking mimics the well-known
method of scientific investigation: a question is identified, an
hypothesis formulated, relevant data sought and gathered,
the hypothesis is logically tested and evaluated, and reliable
conclusions are drawn from the result.• All of the skills of scientific investigation are matched by
critical thinking, which is therefore nothing more than
scientific method used in everyday life rather than in
specifically scientific disciplines or endeavors. •
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specifically scientific disciplines or endeavors. •Critical thinking is scientific thinking. •A scientifically-literate person, such as a math or science
instructor, has learned to think critically to achieve that level
of scientific awareness. But any individual with an advanced
degree in any university discipline has almost certainly learned
the techniques of critical thinking.
•Critical thinking is the ability to think for one's self and
reliably and responsibly make those decisions that affect
one's life. •Critical thinking is also critical inquiry, so such critical
thinkers investigate problems, ask questions, pose new
answers that challenge the status quo, discover new
information that can be used for good or ill, question
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information that can be used for good or ill, question
authorities and traditional beliefs, challenge received
dogmas and doctrines, and often end up possessing power
in society greater than their numbers.
•It may be that a workable society or culture can tolerate only a
small number of critical thinkers, that learning, internalizing, and
practicing scientific and critical thinking is discouraged. Most
people are followers of authority: most do not question, are not
curious, and do not challenge authority figures who claim
special knowledge or insight. Most people, therefore, do not
think for themselves, but rely on others to think for them. Most
people indulge in wishful, hopeful, and emotional thinking,
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believing that what they believe is true because they wish it,
hope it, or feel it to be true. Most people, therefore, do not think
critically.
•Critical thinking has many components. Life can be
described as a sequence of problems that each
individual must solve for one's self. Critical thinking skills
are nothing more than problem solving skills that result
in reliable knowledge. Humans constantly process
information. Critical thinking is the practice of processing
this information in the most skillful, accurate, and
rigorous manner possible, in such a way that it leads to
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rigorous manner possible, in such a way that it leads to
the most reliable, logical, and trustworthy conclusions,
upon which one can make responsible decisions about
one's life, behavior, and actions with full knowledge of
assumptions and consequences of those decisions.
Raymond S. Nickerson (1987) characterizes a good critical thinker in
terms of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and habitual ways of
behaving.
Here are some of the CHARACTERISTICS of such a thinker:
uses evidence skillfully and impartially
A GOOD CRITICAL THINKER
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uses evidence skillfully and impartially
organizes thoughts and articulates them concisely and coherently
distinguishers between logically valid and invalid inferences
suspends judgment in the absence of sufficient evidence to support a
decision
understands the difference between reasoning and rationalizing
attempts to anticipate the probable consequences of alternative actions
understands the idea of degrees of belief
sees similarities and analogies that are not superficially apparent
can learn independently and has a long-lasting interest in doing
so
applies problem-solving techniques in domains other than those
in which learned
can structure informally represented problems in such a way that
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formal techniques, such as mathematics, can be used to solve
them
can strip a verbal argument of irrelevancies and phrase it in its
essential terms
habitually questions one's own views and attempts to
understand both the assumptions that are critical to those views
and the implications of the views
is sensitive to the difference between the validity of a belief
and the intensity with which it is held
is aware of the fact that one's understanding is always limited,
often much more so than would be apparent to one with a
noninquiring attitude
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noninquiring attitude
recognizes the fallibility of one's own opinions, the probability
of bias in those opinions, and the danger of weighting evidence
according to personal preferences
This list serves to indicate the type of thinking and approach to
life that critical thinking is supposed to be
A Definition:
Critical thinking is the art of analyzing and
evaluating thinking with a view to improving it.
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• Critical thinking
–A set of conceptual tools used to make
decisions
• Intellectual skills and strategies
• Reasonable process
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• Reasonable process
–A mental ability
• Disciplined intelligence
• Problem solving
“It is human irrationality, not a lack of knowledge that threatens human
potential” (Nickerson cited in Kurfiss, 1986).
It . . .• underlies listening and speaking, reading and writing, the basic language
Why Critical Thinking?
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• underlies listening and speaking, reading and writing, the basic language
skills.• plays an important part in social change. All institutions in any society:
courts, governments, schools, businesses, are the products of critical
thinking.• plays a key role in technological advances.• frees the human mind from false beliefs and deceptions.
Who Uses Critical Thinking?•• STUDENTS !!! STUDENTS !!! • Parents• Nurses• Doctors• Athletic coaches•
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•• Teachers/Professors• Air Traffic Controllers• Military Commanders• Lawyers, Judges• Supervisors• Day Care Workers
W ho W ho W ho W ho SH O U L D SH O U L D SH O U L D SH O U L D th ink critically?think critically?think critically?think critically?
8. Implications & Consequences (Where does this thinking
lead? What will result if this thinking is turned into action?)
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Whenever we think,
we think for a purpose,
within a point of view,
based on assumptions,
leading to implications and consequences.
UNIVERSAL STRUCTURES OF THOUGHT
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We use data, facts, and experiences,
to make inferences and judgments,
based on concepts and theories,
in attempting to answer a question or solve a problem.
QUESTIONS IMPLIED BY THE UNIVERSAL
STRUCTURES OF THOUGHT: [Use these questions
when beginning work]
•What is my fundamental purpose?
•What is the key question I am trying to answer?
•What information do I need in order to answer my
question?
•What is the most basic concept in the question?
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•What is the most basic concept in the question?
•What assumptions am I using in my reasoning?
•What is my point of view with respect to the issue?
•What are my most fundamental inferences or
conclusions?
•What are the implications and possible consequences
of my reasoning (if my reasoning is valid?
Universal Intellectual Standards
• Clarity : If a statement is unclear we cannot
evaluate its fit with the other standards.
• Accuracy : Accuracy = TRUTH. Is it true?
• Precision : Is there enough detail to completely
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• Precision : Is there enough detail to completely
understand the statement.
• Relevance : Is the information connected to the
question at hand?
• Depth: Does the statement, fact, etc. address the complexity of the issue?
• Breadth: Are there other points of view or other ways to consider this question? Are you considering the key factors?
• Logic: Does it make sense? Can you make that conclusion based on the information and evidence?
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• Significance: Is this the most important problem to
consider? Is this the central idea to focus on? Which of
these facts are most important?
• Fairness: Do I have any vested interest in this issue?
Am I sympathetically representing the viewpoints of
others?
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1. The intent of Crawford’s Attribute Listing was to enable students
to operate at the creativity or synthesis level of Bloom’s
Cognitive Taxonomy. Additional cognitive operations, however,
are needed to implement the four-step process. The steps are:
2. Select a problem, product, or system (problem designation)
Robert Platt Crawford 1931 provides a list that can
serve as a bridge to creative thinking
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2. Select a problem, product, or system (problem designation)
3. Break it into key attributes or stages or parts
(analysis/synthesis/creative thinking)
4. Identify various ways to achieve each attribute or part
(brainstorming or any idea-generating technique)
5. Design or create a solution by manipulating and recombining the
variables (structured synthesis)
Application Decision MakingEvaluationApplication
Comprehension
Knowledge
Decision Making
Problem Solving
Concept attainment
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
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Critical Thinking
Dispositions• Engagement
– Looking for opportunities to use reasoning
– expecting situations that require reasoning
– Confident in reasoning ability
• Innovativeness
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• Innovativeness
– Intellectually curious
– Wants to know the truth
• Cognitive maturity
– Aware that real problems are complex
– Open to other points of view
– Aware of biases and predispositions
To understand reasoning properly, however, we need to
understand how it differs from mere thinking.
•When we are merely thinking our thoughts simply come to us,
one after another: when we reason we actively link thoughts
together in such a way that we believe one thought provides
support for another thought.
•This active process of reasoning is termed inference.
• Inference involves a special relationship between different
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• Inference involves a special relationship between different
thoughts: when we infer B from A, we move from A to B because
we believe that A supports or justifies or makes it reasonable to
believe in the truth of B.
The difference between mere thinking and reasoning or inference is easy to
understand through examples. Consider the following pairs of sentences:
1. Alan is broke, and he is unhappy.
Alan is broke, therefore he is unhappy.
2. Anne was in a car accident last week, and she deserves an extension
on her essay.
Anne was in a car accident last week, so she deserves an extension on
her essay.
3. This triangle has equal sides and equal angles.
This triangle has equal sides; hence it has equal angles.
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This triangle has equal sides; hence it has equal angles.
Notice that the first sentence in each pair simply asserts two thoughts but
says nothing about any relationship between them, while the second
sentence asserts a relationship between two thoughts. This relationship is signaled by the words therefore, so, so, and hence. hence. These are called inference
indicators: words that indicate that one thought is intended to support (i.e., to
justify, provide a reason for, provide evidence for, or entail) another thought.
that is focused on deciding what to do and what to
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that is focused on deciding what to do and what to
believe” OR “interpreting, analyzing or evaluating
information, arguments or experiences with a set of
reflective attitudes, skills, and abilities to guide our
thoughts, beliefs and actions” OR “examining the
thinking of others to improve our own”
Thinking Tools
• A Thinking ToolThinking Tool is an instrument that can help us in using our minds systematically and effectively.
• With the use of thinking tools, the intended ideas will be arranged more systematically, clearly, and easy to be understood.
There are 4 types of THINKING TOOLS:
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There are 4 types of THINKING TOOLS:
• Questioning
• Concepts
• Mindmaps
• Cognitive Research Trust
Questioning
Questioning is one approach to motivate
others to:
• Get information
• Test understanding
1
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• Develop interest
• Evaluate the ability of individuals
towards understanding certain things.“A person who asks “A person who asks
questions questions is a person who thinks.”’is a person who thinks.”’
- William Wilen
Questioning - Bloom’s Taxonomy
AnalysisAnalysis
SynthesisSynthesis
EvaluationEvaluation
Higher-Level
Thinking
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KnowledgeKnowledge
InterpretationInterpretation
Application
AnalysisAnalysis
Lower-level
Thinking
Concepts
Structure of Concepts:
•• SignSign - word/symbol that names the
2
PROPERTIES
ConceptsConcepts are general ideas that we use to identify and
organize our experience. Words are the vocabulary of
language; Concepts are the vocabulary of thought.
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•• SignSign - word/symbol that names the
concept
• ReferentsReferents - examples of the
concept
• PropertiesProperties - qualities that all
examples of the concept share in
common.
CONCEPT
SIGN REFERENTS
3 Mindmaps
A mindmapmindmap can be defined as a visual presentation of the ways
in which conceptsconcepts can be related to one another.
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Cognitive Research Trust
Thinking Method
• The essence of the (Cognitive Research Trust) Thinking
Method is to focus attention directly on different
aspects of thinking and to crystallize these aspects into
definite concepts and tools that can be used
deliberately.
4
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deliberately.
• It is designed to encourage students to broaden their
thinking.
Final WordsCRITICAL THINKING is the active and systematic process of
• Communication
• Problem-solving
• Evaluation
• Analysis
• Synthesis
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• Synthesis
• Reflection
both individually and in community to
• develop understanding
• Support positive decision-making and
• Guide action
References
•Crawford, R. P. (1964). The techniques of creative thinking: How to use your ideas to achieve success. Burlington, VT: Fraser Publishing Co. •Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. New York: D. C. Heath.•Ennis, R. (1993). Critical thinking assessment. Theory Into Practice, 32(3). Retrieved October 25, 2006, from Academic Search Premier database.•Johnson, S. (1998). Skills, Socrates, and the Sophists: Learning from history. British Journal of Educational Studies 46(2). Retrieved March 23, 2009, from JSTOR database.•Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2006b). The miniature guide to critical thinking concepts and tools (4th ed.). Dillon Beach, CA: Foundation for Critical
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 110
•Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2006b). The miniature guide to critical thinking concepts and tools (4th ed.). Dillon Beach, CA: Foundation for Critical Thinking.•Pedersen, O. (1997). The first universities: Stadium Generale and the origins of university education in Europe. New York: Cambridge University Press.
•Foundation for Critical Thinking. Critical Thinking: Basic Theory and