critical thinking training

critical thinking training

The Importance of Critical Thinking Training

1. Introduction

Choosing skilled and competent leaders is listed as a priority for multinational organizations. In consultation with general competency studies, the ability to think critically and solve problems is paramount in the marketplace. The firm that is a key player in the economics of technology has recognized its market need for critical thinking and operating decisions. Hewlett Packard has listed its internal analyst candidates as the ones who can filter huge amounts of information and knowledge into a simplified decision, drawn from the value of information in relation to a predefined goal or objective planned into the situation formulation phase. This cause and effect thinking is exactly what separates the end result in two different decisions; one is more desirable than another. HP is also looking for leaders who are able to identify problems and suggest solutions (Hewlett, 1980). Economic difficulties are essentially problems that stem from previous decisions, such as the recent global downturn due to the worldwide spread of COVID-19. Whether an MBA graduate or a high school student, the awareness and the relevance of making decisions with long-term consequences is made clear. In times of uncertainty, people will turn to individuals who can demonstrate clear thinking and confidence in their decisions.

Specialized training is needed because most people do not understand critical thinking. For instance, in a study of critical thinking and decision making in the Journal of Management Development, of 215 graduating MBA students at 7 institutions, over 50% demonstrated a misunderstanding of basic critical thinking concepts and principles (Moore & Parker, 2005). Another 25% demonstrated a lack of development in critical thinking skills. People are not born as good critical thinkers, nor do they always stay that way. It is important for an individual to think critically and make decisions, in one’s personal life and as a professional. Through good analytical and problem-solving skills, an individual will make reliable decisions that will lead to the most desired consequence. Whether a student or a professional, the individual who can think critically and understands the link between decisions and consequences will be a valuable asset to themselves and to others (Pare and Stenhouse, 2001). Although critical thinking is a desired characteristic as an individual, these skills are not daily exercised. With the fast-paced technology advancement, minimum competency legislation, and the never-ending changes to the social and global economics, critical thinking ability ranks among the crucial leadership competencies.

2. Benefits of Critical Thinking Training

What will also be seen is an improvement in the quality of student dissertations and essays. The second study cited below was conducted on students in higher education. Participants on a psychology course were randomly allocated to a control group or a group that was given a two-hour weekly seminar in critical thinking for one academic year. Measures of critical thinking performance and belief in CT were taken at the beginning and end of the year. Development of critical thinking skills was assessed with the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (Watson & Glaser, 1980). Quality of dissertations was assessed over the same time period. This was done by examining the relationship between critical thinking performance and dissertation quality, and by a direct comparison of dissertations from the two groups. An improvement in critical thinking performance was seen as expected. A greater surprise was the relationship between the quality of dissertations and critical thinking performance. In the control group, no significant association between the two was found. In the CT group, there was a strong relationship between critical thinking performance and dissertations, and the between-group comparison showed significantly better performance on dissertations in the CT group. This suggests that at least in the more academic end of the educational continuum, there is an expectation from teachers to demonstrate higher order thinking skills that is not always being met. Improved performance and an expectation of its demonstration upon completion of a CT course would see to change this.

The positive results occur on two main fronts. Firstly, critical thinking task performance improves. Previously, it was shown that performance in tasks that require critical thinking is improved following a course of critical thinking training. The improvement was shared in particular by students with poorer grades and from less advantaged backgrounds. These results are particularly important in education. Unfortunately, the poorer student and student from a minority ethnic group will often shy away from tackling a subject that requires critical thinking. In this case, improvement of their critical thinking skills is more an issue of encouragement and self-belief than of competence. A strong demonstration that the improvement is achievable may well lead to raised expectations in these individuals and a subsequent change in their approach to subject selection. This, in turn, may increase their educational attainment and quality of learning in later life.

3. Key Components of Critical Thinking Training

There are four key components of critical thinking training which are often addressed: emphasis on cognitive skills, the integration of critical thinking skills into subject matter, the building of motivation and self-esteem, and the teaching of critical thinking principles. The first is the most general one as it involves the teaching of critical thinking to students and others. This component involves teaching the critical thinking approach to solving a problem: a) awareness that a problem exists, b) knowledge of what the problem consists of, c) the ability to make orderly judgments and decisions, d) the ability to implement a solution, and e) finally having the ability to review or evaluate the solution and the process employed if any at all. This approach allows a person to solve problems in a more effective manner by using these elements in a systematic order thus building the skills to analyze a problem and assess which type of thought and action would be most effective for the problem at hand. The next component involves taking the cognitive skills taught in the first one and applying them to subject matter. This is done by teaching the students to analyze and evaluate the information and arguments from various perspectives in a specific subject area. This could be done in a specific subject such as teaching the biology student to evaluate the claims made by an article in a newspaper suggesting the use of a certain diet to improve health, or in an all-purpose critical thinking approach, have the students evaluate an argument in terms of its consistency, credibility, relevance, and significance. An important element of this component is teaching the students how to determine what the issue is and to construct a well-informed and detailed judgment on it. This component is the most effective in providing students with the ability to think for themselves and become more in control of their own lives by making wiser decisions on what is truth. The teaching of critical thinking principles is designed to give the students the concepts involved in critical thinking so that they can continue to apply them in the future.

4. Effective Strategies for Critical Thinking Training

In educational programs aimed at thinking on the job, an approach to critical thinking training is to identify the cognitive skills specific to the domain and teach those cognitive skills as part of the domain content. This can be done by the infusion method, teaching the critical thinking skills within the traditional subject matter content; by the integration method, teaching the critical thinking skills separate from the subject matter content but teaching them through the use of the subject matter content; or by the teaching of a composite course, one that focuses on critical thinking within a specific subject matter domain. These strategies have been shown to effectively enhance the transfer of critical thinking to the domain and are more likely, as a result, to be enduring learned abilities. An important area of research is the development of effective methods and materials for teaching the thinking skills specific to a subject or domain and for teaching those skills within the subject matter content.

To a great extent, critical thinking is a domain-specific skill. Every field, from engineering to educational psychology, requires cognitive operations or processes for which critical thinking is crucial. The general critical thinking skill is not useful by itself, because it has no anchor in subject matter content. The ability to think critically is more likely to transfer to the domain in which the general thinking skill has been learned if the instruction in critical thinking is accompanied by instruction in that domain.

5. Conclusion

Critical thinking is an utmost important part of creativity, and we often need critical thinking to help us in developing these ideas. In order to think critically, we need a certain level of self-esteem. From this research, it can be suggested that an effective way to develop critical thinking from an early age would be to create a positive thinking environment within a child. It is suggested that if children are praised for the thinking process they undertook, i.e. finding the best strategy to do something, than for the end result, they will develop a higher level of critical thinking. It can be concluded that this scheme would have incredibly beneficial effects if the teachers themselves undergo training. If teachers have a grip on the subject content and know the best strategies to encourage students to think creatively, the environment would be further enhanced. The creativity of the teachers themselves would create an added effect on the students. Considering learning is a transferring of knowledge and skills from one who knows to one who does not, to best foster creative thinking in students, teachers should exemplify creative thinking themselves.