10/10/2010 1 By: By: By: By: Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Shadia Shadia Shadia Shadia Yousef Yousef Yousef Yousef Banjar Banjar Banjar Banjar http://SBANJAR.kau.edu.sa/ http://wwwdrshadiabanjar.blogspot.com Critical Thinking LANE-462-CA-2011 7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 1 7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 2 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 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. Everyone thinks ….. - Richard Paul 7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 3 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 beliefs . •Socrates – 400 BC 7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 4 Socrates • Questioning • Inquiring • Search for meaning • Search for truth 7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 5 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 though the way thing look to us on the surface. •Plato, Aristotle, Greek skeptics 7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 6 Thomas Aquinas (Sumna Theologica) ensures that his thinking met the tests of critical thinkers by answering criticisms of his ideas. In the middle ages •Thomas Aquinas (Sumna Theologica)
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10/10/2010
1
By:By:By:By:
Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. ShadiaShadiaShadiaShadia YousefYousefYousefYousef BanjarBanjarBanjarBanjar
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 1 7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 2
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
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.
Everyone thinks …..
- Richard Paul
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 3
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
beliefs .
•Socrates – 400 BC
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 4
Socrates
• Questioning
• Inquiring
• Search for meaning
• Search for truth
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 5
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
though the way thing look to us on the
surface.
•Plato, Aristotle, Greek skeptics
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 6
Thomas Aquinas (Sumna Theologica) ensures that his thinking met the tests of
critical thinkers by answering criticisms of his ideas.
In the middle ages
•Thomas Aquinas (Sumna Theologica)
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(Colet, Erasmus, More in England)started thinking critically about religion, art,
society, human, law, and freedom.
15th & 16th C.
(Renaissance)•European scholars
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 8
Francis Bacon in England
• wrote The Advancement of Learning,
the 1st book in critical thinking.•argued for the importance of studying the world empirically.
•laid the foundation for modern science with his emphasis on the information-
gathered process.
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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.
•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.
50 years later •Descartes in France•Sir Thomas More in England
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 11
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.
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 12
17th & 18th C.
• Robert Boyle & Isaac Newton in Chemistry &
nature
• other French thinkers in sociology & politics
Adam Smith produces Wealth of Nations in
economics
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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
domain.•Plus other studies in the Anthropological &
Linguistics domains.
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 14
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
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 15
Dewey
Reflective Thinking
• Dispositions of thinking
– Open mindedness
– Whole heartedness
– Intellectual Responsibility
• Native Resources
– Curiosity
– Suggestion
– Orderliness
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 16
Ennis
• Critical thinking is “reasonable, reflective
thinking focused on deciding what to believe or
do.”
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 17
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
• Develop and defend a position on an issue
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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
• Try to be well-informed
• Draw conclusions when warranted, but with caution
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Thus…Students in school should be taught how to think critically. Classes should be designed based on reasoning and rational grounds and not as series of facts.
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 20
What Is Critical Thinking?
“Critical thinking is the ability to apply reasoning and
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
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.
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•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
scientific method applied by ordinary
people to the ordinary world.
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 27
•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. •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.
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 28
•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
authorities and traditional beliefs, challenge received
dogmas and doctrines, and often end up possessing power
in society greater than their numbers.
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•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,
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.
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 30
•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
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.
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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 impartiallyorganizes thoughts and articulates them concisely and coherently
distinguishers between logically valid and invalid inferencessuspends judgment in the absence of sufficient evidence to support a
decision
understands the difference between reasoning and rationalizingattempts to anticipate the probable consequences of alternative actions
A GOOD CRITICAL THINKER
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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
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
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 33
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
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
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 34
A Definition:
Critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a view to improving it.
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 35
• Critical thinking
–A set of conceptual tools used to make
decisions
• Intellectual skills and strategies
• Reasonable process
–A mental ability
• Disciplined intelligence
• Problem solving
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 36
“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
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.
Why Critical Thinking?
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Who Uses Critical Thinking?•• STUDENTS !!! STUDENTS !!! • Parents• Nurses• Doctors• Athletic coaches• Teachers/Professors
• Air Traffic Controllers• Military Commanders• Lawyers, Judges• Supervisors• Day Care Workers
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 38
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?th ink critically?th ink critically?th ink 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.
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.
UNIVERSAL STRUCTURES OF THOUGHT
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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?
•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?
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 56
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
understand the statement.
• Relevance : Is the information connected to the
question at hand?
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 57
• 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?
• 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?7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 58
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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)
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)
Robert Platt Crawford 1931 provides a list that can
serve as a bridge to creative thinking
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Application
Comprehension
Knowledge
Decision Making
Problem Solving
Concept attainment
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 61 7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 62
Critical Thinking
Dispositions• Engagement
– Looking for opportunities to use reasoning
– expecting situations that require reasoning
– Confident in reasoning ability
• 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
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 63
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
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.
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 64
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.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.
• hidden assumptions undermine reliability of reasoning
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 68
Resolving Obstacles To Critical
Thinking
Obstacle—relativism or subjectivism
• Remedy—patience and tenacity in pursuit of the truth
Obstacle—egocentrism and ethnocentricity
• Remedy— intellectual humility
Obstacle—intimidation by authority
• Remedy—intellectual independence
Obstacle—conformism
• Remedy—intellectual courage
Obstacle—unexamined and inferential assumptions, and presuppositions
• Remedy—examination of assumptions
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Characteristics of Critical Thinkers:
• Strive for understanding• Are honest with themselves• Base judgment on evidence• Are interested in other people’s ideas• Control their feelings/emotions
• Recognize that extreme views are seldom correct.
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 70
• Keep an open mind
• They are very observant
• Identify key issues and raise questions
• Obtain relevant facts
• Evaluate the findings and form judgments
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What does the absence of
critical thinking look like?
• We blindly accept at face value all justifications
given by organizations and political leaders.
• We blindly believe TV commercials.
• We blindly continue to hold on to old beliefs.
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 72
Young girl? Or old
women?
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Man playing
horn? Or a
woman’s
silhouette?
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 73
A face of a native
American? Or an
Eskimo’s back?
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 74
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Thinking Barriers
– Emotions
• Anger
• Passion
• Depression
– Stress
– Bias (values and beliefs)
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 76
Personal Barriers to thinking
(Ego Defenses)
• Denial– Refuse to accept reality.
• Projection– We see in others what is really happening to us.
• Rationalization– Lying to ourselves about the real reasons for our
behaviors and feelings.
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 77
Thinking Errors
• Personalization
– Thinking in which the world revolves around an individual
• Polarized Thinking
– There is only black or white – no gray
• Catastrophizing
– Always consider the worst possible outcome (all the time)
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 78
• Selective abstraction
– Focusing on one detail of a situation
and ignoring the larger picture
• Overgeneralization
– Drawing broad conclusions on the
basis of a single incident.
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Five Phases of Critical Thinking
• Phase 1: Trigger Event– Usually an unexpected event that causes
some kind of inner discomfort or confusion.
• Phase 2: Appraisal– A period of reflection and the need to find
another approach to deal with the issue.
• Phase 3: Exploration– People start asking questions and gathering
more information.
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• Phase 4: Finding Alternatives
–Also called the transition stage when old
ideas are either left behind and a new way
of thinking begins.
• Phase 5: Integration
– Involves fitting new ideas and information
into everyday usage.
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 81
Key Questions to Critical
Thinking
• What are the issues and the expected conclusions?
• What are the reasons?
• What words or phrases are ambiguous?
• What are the value conflicts and assumptions?
• What are the assumptions?
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 82
• Are there any fallacies in the reasoning?
• How good is the evidence?
• Are there rival causes?
• Are the statistics deceptive?
• What significant information is omitted?
• What reasonable conclusions are possible?
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Critical thinking involves evaluating information or
arguments in terms of their accuracy and worth
• Verbal Reasoning
– Understanding and evaluating the persuasive techniques
found in oral and written language
• Argument Analysis
– Discriminating between reasons that do and do not
support a particular conclusion
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 84
Critical thinking involves evaluating information or
arguments in terms of their accuracy and worth
• Decision Making
– identifying and judging several alternatives and selecting
the best alternative
• Critical Analysis of Prior Research
– evaluating the value of data and research results in terms
of the methods used to obtain them and their potential
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”
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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:
• Questioning
• Concepts
• Mindmaps
• Cognitive Research Trust
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Questioning
Questioning is one approach to motivate
others to:
• Get information
• Test understanding
• 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
1
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Questioning - Bloom’s Taxonomy
KnowledgeKnowledge
InterpretationInterpretation
Application
AnalysisAnalysis
SynthesisSynthesis
EvaluationEvaluation
Lower-level
Thinking
Higher-Level
Thinking
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 106
Concepts
Structure of Concepts:
•• SignSign - word/symbol that names the
concept
• ReferentsReferents - examples of the
concept
• PropertiesProperties - qualities that all
examples of the concept share in
common.
2
CONCEPT
SIGN REFERENTS
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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3 Mindmaps
A mindmapmindmap can be defined as a visual presentation of the ways
in which conceptsconcepts can be related to one another.
7/25/2010 Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 108
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.
• It is designed to encourage students to broaden their
thinking.
4
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Final WordsCRITICAL THINKING is the active and systematic process of
• Communication
• Problem-solving
• Evaluation
• Analysis
• Synthesis
• Reflection
both individually and in community to
• develop understanding
• Support positive decision-making and
• Guide action
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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 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