KEY POINTS
Critical thinking is an essential ‘real life’ skill and ‘higher level’ educational skill
There are standardised tests available for measuring critical thinking skills
You can develop your critical thinking skills
The Triple A model is a working definition of critical thinking: Acquaint, Analyse and Advance
The LEOR model, Logic, Emotion, Omission and Research, is useful for analysing information
There may be factors that can impede or facilitate critical thinking
INTRODUCTION
Why is education so important? What is its purpose? Are you trying to perfect your memory skills? Or master the ‘perfect’ exam technique? Or work successfully with others? Or learn to think?
Many would claim that transferable skills such as ‘working with others’ and ‘learning to think’ are the greatest benefits of higher education. It’s not unusual to hear successful adults claim they have forgotten the subject matter they studied at university and, although some job roles require specific subject knowledge, many do not. In these
cases graduate trainees, often with different academic backgrounds, typically acquire company-relevant knowledge through a combination of formal learning and practical experience. Such recruits are valued for their generic skills such as problem-solving and critical thinking rather than degree discipline alone.
In this chapter we’re going to explore the topic of critical thinking through four questions:
1. What is ‘critical thinking’? 2. Am I a critical thinker?
3. How can I improve my critical thinking? 4. Are there any barriers to critical thinking?
By the end of the chapter, you should be able to use your critical thinking skills to refine your own opinion on the purpose and value of education.
Have you ever watched a comedy show in which one actor talks increasingly loudly, in the hope that the foreign listener will eventually understand what is being said? It’s funny only because we all know that raising the volume does not improve comprehension!
Yet, in our experience something similar often happens in education. Does any of the following feedback sound familiar?
‘Good work, although very descriptive – you needed to include more critical appraisal.’
‘A sound summary, but lacking thorough critical evaluation.’ ‘Good as far as it goes – the next step is to increase the
amount of critical comment.’
If you’re ever received similar feedback how did you feel? We’d guess that the most common reactions include:
‘But I thought I had been critical. . . .’ ‘I don’t understand what I’m meant to do.’
‘I worked so hard on that essay – it must have deserved a better grade.’
Just as talking more loudly cannot increase language comprehension so repeated requests for more critical reasoning cannot ensure it happens. In both instances there is a skill to be learnt.
TRY THIS
In order to identify the skills required, let’s think about the meaning of the phrase ‘critical thinking’. Take a look at some of the definitions of critical thinking presented here and try to identify the key ideas contained in each.
Critical thinking is. . . .
Reasonable and reflective thinking that is focused upon deciding what to believe or do.
(Norris & Ennis 1989) The art of thinking about thinking while thinking to make thinking better. (Paul & Heaslip 1995) Thinking that is purposeful, reasoned and goal directed – the kind of think- ing involved in solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods and making decisions when the thinker is using skills that are thoughtful and effective for the particular context and type of thinking task. (Halpern 1995) An investigation whose purpose is to explore a situation, phenomenon, ques- tion or problem to arrive at a hypothesis or conclusion about it, that inte- grates all available information and that can therefore be convincingly justified. (Kurfiss 2000) An awareness of a set of interrelated critical questions, plus the ability and willingness to ask and answer them at appropriate times.
There are numerous definitions of ‘critical thinking’, but what do they have in common? Drawing on your own experience, and the key ideas identified above, have a go at writing your own definition of critical thinking.
How did you do? Your definition should aim to show what critical think-
ing involves and perhaps how it differs from other forms of thinking. If your
definition included words such as ‘evaluating’, ‘questioning’ with ‘conscious’, ‘directed’ or ‘focused’ then you are definitely on the right lines!
Good critical thinkers don’t accept facts at face value. This doesn’t mean that you become distrustful or cynical, instead it means that you should carefully consider the validity of every idea, concept or statement that you meet in your study. You do not have to agree with all the ideas or theories that you encounter, but any criticism must be based on sound thinking rather than an emotional reaction or ‘gut’ feelings.
There are probably many occasions when you already exhibit critical think- ing. Shopping for a major purchase is a time when most of us become skilled critical thinkers. Imagine that you want to buy a secondhand car within a fixed budget. You visit a car salesman, who says he has ‘the perfect car for you’ and you agree to look at the vehicle. Which of the following best captures how you will behave?
1. You hand over the cash on first sight.
2. You try to decide if this is indeed the perfect car for you.
There may be times when you ‘fall in love’ with a particular car at first sight and allow your emotions to override more rational thoughts. We sus- pect that, most of the time, most of us would want to take the second option. Part of this decision would involve thinking carefully about the information given by the salesman.