critical thinking company

critical thinking company

Enhancing Critical Thinking Skills

1. Introduction

These questions jog upon our minds, create a lot of confusion, and inevitable frustration. We need a better and effective method to teach students how to think critically. This method must be sound and replicable; results must be consistent. These were the thoughts going through our minds when we set out to create a generic method to enhance critical thinking skills. This essay is a humble attempt to share with you some of those thoughts. Let me tell you that we are not enlightened individuals; neither are we in a position to rigorously test and measure the impact of our methods. So the assumptions we make regarding this topic will not be stated as universal truths; they are simply our thoughts at a particular point in time. This essay is aimed at sharing with you, and receiving feedback on, our present work.

This is a section 1 (Introduction). The introduction states that the lack of critical thinking skills among students is stifling, and the existing methods of teaching are not helping produce better critical thinkers. So the question which arises is how do we effectively improve critical thinking skills? The answer lies in an age-old formula: instruction in thinking. The theory is good, but what is the reality behind it? How exactly can we instruct in thinking?

2. Understanding Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is one of the highly valued attributes a person can possess as it leads to better decision making and problem-solving. Employers are seeking to hire persons with critical thinking skills because they are looked as a valuable asset to any company. Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking. Someone with a critical thinking mindset will have confidence in their belief. In order to be successful, critical thinkers must be open to new ideas. This is essential so they can find the best solution available. Truth seeking is a trait of critical thinkers, they are on a continuous quest for understanding and they are willing to admit they are wrong if presented with adequate support of contradictory information. They look to ascertain whether the belief, the statement or the argument is true or strong enough. These types of thinkers are looking to reach a conclusive answer and are not satisfied with unanswered questions. This is when the critical thinker comes to an educated decision. After all, critical thinking is about making good decisions. Critical thinkers are also self-directed learners. They continuously strive to upgrade their intellect and they are willing to admit disadvantages and mistakes in order to get at the best decision. High-quality thinking requires a conscious attempt to learn, as the unreflective thinker many times is not aware of basic problems in their thinking. Finally, the thinker will evaluate the issue from multiple perspectives. In and out of the box thinkers will make their best effort to achieve a comprehensive and fair-minded understanding of the issue at hand. They are aware of their own bias and they do not allow this to hinder seeking out the best info on an issue whether it’s supported or unsupported.

3. Strategies for Developing Critical Thinking

As we mentioned earlier, critical thinking is a mode of thinking where the thinker improves the quality of his/her thinking by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them. Critical thinking is autonomous in that it is self-directed. Critical thinkers reject the role of a passive recipient of knowledge, while assuming only the receiving of thoughts that may further one’s understanding. Critical thinking is characterized by considerations of fair-minded thinking where one thinks in a self-disciplined manner that ensures assessment for clarity, accuracy, relevance, depth, breadth, and logicalness of anything done in thought. In accomplishing this, one must also be mindful of possible errant and divergent thinking, understanding the varying possible alteration of a sequence of events in one’s thoughts, realizing the potential manipulation of the thinker, realization of potential for change in thought, and realization of consequences of a change of thought (Taken from “Defining Critical Thinking” by Michael Scriven and Richard Paul). Because of this, critical thinking differs across a wide variety of situations and thus there is no clear-cut strategy that ensures the development of critical thinking when applied across all contexts.

4. Applying Critical Thinking in Various Contexts

Critically thinking is something which can be done anywhere and what be done anywhere should be done somewhere. Consider Winston Churchill: writing, a way of fostering with evidence and a line of reasoning, and on the basis of the sort of analysis requires that it’s essential to react to others’ views. Let’s see how to think critically in the various areas or domains of life. There is a complicated relationship between critical thinking and change of ideas and values that for improving one’s thinking one must not only assess a set of past thinking using intellectual tools at hand but actively work at improving it. Step seven the tactical phase. In VB decision making this phase is stated in terms of plans or actually implementing the solution to a problem. If the implementation could have damaging consequences then it would be wise to turn to the final step. But implementation is not the end of the thinking process. It is still possible to assess the solution and come up with a better one. But this will only happen if a person has a careful plan for reviewing the thinking and quality of the decision so that he can learn from his mistakes. Lawyers use critical thinking to amass a case. At the preparatory phase they critically think about elements of the case and the probable stuff of evidence to decide whether the case will be strong enough to win on sum judgement. Let’s go back to student life where the capability to critically think about subjects and getting better grades is an attractive option. A student employ the thinking tactic to assess whether it is beneficial to take some part-time work to pay off study debts. This student will assess possible future improvements in job and wage with the possibility of declining academic performance. This present decision can be placed into a hypothetical case containing action cause and effect and evaluative outcome. This relative to the complexity of the matter would require high order thinking involving interpretation and assessment of the work and academic cause and effect before a general decision of the relative worth of the pt job.

5. Conclusion

This essay was quite difficult to write because of the extensive research and thought that had to go into it. It was difficult for the reader to read because of the technical jargon and extensive thought required. I tried to balance the essay with citations from institutions and also with research done from general figures in the workplace. I wanted it to be credible but also simple in facilitating understanding for the reader. I learned much about critical thinking, empirical evidence, and the nature of logic in making this essay. The main problem I found was trying to keep the essay on track with the thesis. There were many interesting points about the subject worth exploring, but I feel that they in some way take away from the initial purpose of the essay, which was aiming to improve the work environment. Anyhow, I am happy to have further explored the subject of critical thinking and hope my research will help develop more concrete logic for the future.