My favorite classes in
my undergraduate studies related to rhetoric and epistemology. Through my minor
in Editing, Writing, and Media I took my first look at critical thinking as we
analyzed the origins of knowledge. My personal definition of critical thinking
is reflecting on how and why we come to the conclusions that we do in order to
ensure we are making the best decision with the information at our disposal.
This definition aligns quite closely with Richard Paul’s definition as
described in Learning to Think Things
Through; “Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking, while you’re
thinking, in order to make your thinking better.” This definition resonates with me as it homes in on the
metacognitive nature of critical thinking and highlights the relationships
between epistemology and critical thinking (Nosich, 2012). This kind of
reflection is central to thinking critically.
Having arrived at some
basic understanding of how critical thinking operates in my studies, my results
are on par with how I interpret my own understanding of critical thinking
concepts. The Online Critical Thinking Basic Concepts Test reflects that I have
a strong understanding of some basic critical thinking insight, answering 92%
of the questions in this category correctly. That is to say that I understand,
broadly, what critical thinking is and isn’t. The section about recognizing
important distinctions in critical thinking shows that I lack understanding of
more nuanced elements of critical thinking, having only answered 53% of those
questions correctly. This is an opportunity for me to grow and learn, as I am
not familiar with the terminology related to different parts, abilities,
traits, obstacles, and intellectual standards as they relate to critical
thought. The discussion around fallacies earlier this week reflect how
important recognizing obstacles to, and the parts of critical thinking can be.
In my example about purchasing an HP printer based solely off my friend’s
experiences, I see how my own personal experience can be an obstacle to
critical thinking. It also shows just how manipulative politics and advertising
can be; they prey on our tendency to rely on shortcuts, feelings, and
non-reasoning to earn our vote, or our money. By reflecting on the media that
we consume, and how we make decisions we can become better critical thinkers
and thus exercise more control over our lives. Having these real-life examples
of how I personally fail to exercise critical thinking can help me to anchor
the topics to something tangible and find alternative ways to move through the
experiences of life.
I see that the
Foundation for Critical Thinking is a wealth of knowledge about critical
thinking and reinforces the assigned readings for the course. This Foundation
was in fact founded by major contributors to the development of the discipline.
In particular, the Elements and Standards Learning Tool at criticalthinking.org
is a useful online model to help me conceptualize the elements of critical
thinking as I read ahead to the next set of assigned readings. I hope to gain a
strong understanding of the more nuanced elements of critical thinking
throughout the Master of Science in Leadership Program by using these resources
as well as additional scholarly articles that I can find through the Hunt Library.
References
Nosich, G. M. (2012). Learning to think things through: A guide to critical thinking across the curriculum (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
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