What is critical thinking? That is a very interesting question. To be honest, if someone would have asked me this question anytime before Tuesday at 3:30pm I would have give some generic answer or possibly even guessed. It just so happens that I am taking a critical reasoning class this semester and we discussed critical thinking in our first class meeting. I would define critical thinking as the ability to reason logically and apply that reasoning to real life situations. After doing a little investigating I found that "experts" on dictionary.com define it as follows; the mental process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information to reach an answer or conclusion. This definition does not specifically identify a particular process that a person must engage in to think this way. However, I do believe that through this defintion we can see that critical thinking does take much more effort and deeper thought than everyday life events.
Now, how does critical thinking relate to a class titled 'Research Strategies'? I believe that these 2 things are related becasue to do research, and to do it well, a person must engage themselves in critical thinking. Research is not something a person can just breeze by and barely think about it, they have to think much deeper. Doing good research is challenging, but once you finish I feel it is very rewarding to see the great work you created. This course will be challenging and fun and I am looking forward to learning how to become a better researcher.
Hi Shana,
ReplyDeleteThis is a good start to thinking about critical thinking!
Can you unpack the phrase "reason logically" for me? If someone were to reason logically, what actions would they take?
Looking forward to your response...
If someone were to reason logically they would have to take certain steps. I will go over the steps I may take if I were to reason logically. I would first just jot down or take note of some of my first reactions of thoughts to the topic. I would then start to think more in depth about these initial reactions. I may ask myself why I thought that and where that thought could have possibly come from. From this, I may develop some sort of preconceptions. Next I would research the question and my preconceptions. Depending on the situation I could Google it, look it up in a book or newspapers, ask someone more educated in the topic, etc. After I completed my research I would readdress the initial question and again take note of some of my first thoughts. Possibly compare and combine them with the first time, and then formulate a response.
ReplyDeleteHi Shana,
DeleteYou describe a great process here for thinking critically, and evaluating assumptions and evidence. I believe that this is a bit different from "reason logically", though.
See if you can find some information on logical thinking, and compare it to critical thinking...they are a bit different...
Professor Wexelbaum