Lecture Notes
Introduction
Purpose
• The purpose of this course is to develop thinking skills. We
live in a society that mass produces information. Not all of
it is true or well grounded in fact. The key challenge in an
information age is to know how to judge the quality of the
information, opinions, and arguments that we are exposed
to on a daily basis. This includes the ideas, arguments and
assertions that we see, hear or read in the news, in
coursework, on the job and in all human relations. Critical
thinking is a fundamental leadership competency.
Critical Thinking
Course Objectives
• In this course students will learn how to:
– critically read, listen, and write
– separate bad information from good
information
– analyze arguments and construct cogent
arguments
– understand causal connections in systems
– develop intellectual and personal discipline
Critical Thinking
Course Outline
• Thinking About Thinking and Truth
• Fallacious Thinking
• Systems Thinking
Critical Thinking
Define Critical Thinking
• Individually, use a short phrase to complete these
sentences. Write down each response on a sticky
note.
• Critical thinking is ________________________.
• Critical thinking is not _____________________.
•
Define
Critical
Thinking
In groups of 5-6, debrief and try to come to a consensus.
Write down each of your responses on two separate
sheets of your flip chart.
• Critical thinking is ________________________.
• Critical thinking is not _____________________.
What is Critical Thinking?
“Higher-Order Thinking”
“Complex Thinking”
What is critical thinking?
• Critical thinking
– A set of conceptual tools used to make
decisions
• Intellectual skills and strategies
• Reason-able process
– A mental ability
• Disciplined intelligence
• Problem solving
Critical Thinking
Root words for critical thinking
• krinein <Greek
– Means decision-making
• kritikos <Greek: krinein
– Means discernment or the ability to judge
• critical
• criticism
• critic
• critique
• Critical thinking is concerned with decisionmaking and the skills needed to make good
decisions.
Critical Thinking
What is Critical Thinking?
The words ‘critical’ and ‘criteria’ come
from the same root word meaning
judgment
Critical Thinking is
reasonable, reflective thinking
that is focused on deciding
what to believe or do. (Robert Ennis)
Critical thinking = “Grappling with
open-ended problems”
• “Effective personal and professional
functioning requires dealing with openended problems that are fraught with
significant and enduring uncertainties about
such issues as the scope of the problem,
interpretations of relevant information,
range of solution options, and potential
outcomes of various options.”
Examples of when we use critical
thinking…
• Professional problems
- What is the best interpretation of a piece of literature?
- How can a leader most efficiently promote effective team
work?
• Personal problems
- What should I do to optimize my career development?
• Civic problems
- How should I vote on a particular ballot initiative?
Benefits of critical thinking
Critical thinking empowers and improves
chances of success
• in a career
• as a consumer
• in social roles in our community
– personally, essential to personal autonomy
– socially, essential to democratic system
Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking definition
(From: Scriven and Paul, 2003)
Critical thinking is
the intellectually disciplined process
that results in
a guide to belief and action.
Critical thinking is
the intellectually disciplined process that
results in a guide to belief and action.
 What are the “intellectual tools” that you
use in your work?
 What does this “process” look like in field,
in your discipline, in your division?
 What guides your beliefs and actions in the
Division of Student Affairs?
Critical Thinking definition
(From: Scriven and Paul, 2003)
Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process
that results in a guide to belief and action.
The tools for this
“process” include
actively and
skillfully:
conceptualizing
applying
analyzing
synthesizing
evaluating
information gathered
from, or generated by,
 observation
 experience
 reflection
 reasoning
 or communication
Aspects of critical thinking
• Issues
–
–
–
–
factual
interpretive
evaluative
mere verbal dispute
• Claims
– truth-statement with adequate support
– assumption: claim without support
• hidden assumptions undermine reliability of
reasoning
Invitation to Critical Thinking
Chapter 1
Aspects of critical thinking
• Issues
–
–
–
–
factual
interpretive
evaluative
mere verbal dispute
• Claims
– truth-statement with adequate support
– assumption: claim without support
• hidden assumptions undermine reliability of
reasoning
Critical Thinking
Resolving obstacles to critical thinking
Obstacle—relativism or subjectivism
• Remedy—patience and tenacity in pursuit of the truth
Obstacle—egocentrism and ethnocentricity
• Remedy— intellectual humility
Obstacle—intimidation by authority
• Remedy—intellectual independence
Obstacle—conformism
• Remedy—intellectual courage
Obstacle—unexamined and inferential assumptions, and
presuppositions
• Remedy—examination of assumptions
What Critical Thinking is NOT
• The problem of “egocentric” thinking:
 Leads to self-serving perspectives and
evaluations
 Leads to a false sense of objectivity
 Leads to flawed thinking
 Lends itself to the unconscious substitution of
subjective intuitions for intellectual standards in
thinking
Instead of:
 Its true because I believe it
 Its true because we believe it
 Its true because I want to believe it
 Its true because I have always believed it
 Its true because its in my selfish interest to believe
…we want to foster an awareness that critical
thinking is more than thinking, it’s:
Reflecting upon
Questioning
Monitoring
• …my very reasoning itself in order to
continuously improve my thinking.
• It’s “thinking things through.”
What does a critical thinker do?
A critical thinker
• looks more deeply into
– sources of our information
– assumptions underlying our beliefs
• determines what is at issue
• uses discipline
• uses creativity
Critical Thinking
What does a critical thinker do?
A critical thinker
• pursues truth
• employs intellectual virtues
– patience
– tenacity
– humility
– courage
– tolerance
– respect
Critical Thinking
A Well-Cultivated Critical Thinker:
 Raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly
and precisely
 Gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas
to interpret it effectively
 Comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them
against relevant criteria and standards
 Thinks open mindedly within alternative systems of thought,
recognizing and assessing, as needs be, their assumptions,
implications, and practical consequences
 Communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions
to complex problems
What you can do:
1. Become aware and discuss with your colleagues how and
why critical thinking is important to your work.
2. Model for students—in a very explicit way—how you “think
things through.” Give the gift of your time, your mentorship in
issues large and small.
3. Remember that students are on a developmental path. Meet
them where they are in terms of their readiness for complex
decision making. Sometimes the comfort zone is for absolute
“rights and wrongs.”
4. Never forget that at the heart of critical thinking is learning to
ask relevant, important questions. To re-evaluate, to
reconsider and reflect on the answers –and then ask the next
set of questions—are the intellectual habits of mind we wish
to cultivate in our students.
Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking