“CRITICAL THINKING” MODEL
Elements of Reasoning:
1. Purpose: (objectives, goals, intentions, motives, function, desired outcome) What am
I trying to accomplish? What is my central aim or task in this line of thought?
2. Information: (facts, data, evidence, research, observation, experience) What
information am I using in coming to that conclusion? What experience have I had
to support this claim? What information do I need to settle the question?
3. Point of View/Context: (perspective, orientation, bias/setting, background, framing
analysis) From what point of view am I looking at this issue?
4. Concepts: (theories, principles, definitions, laws, ideas, models, axioms, organizing
ideas, categories) What is the main idea here? Can I explain this idea?
5. Questions: (issues, problems, topic, question-at-issue, “the point”) What question am
I raising? What question am I addressing? Am I considering the complexities in
the question? What kink of question is this? Is it clear? Is it complex?
6. Thinking Process/Creative In-put & Out-put/Problem Solving/Decision Making
A. Assumptions: (presupposition, what is given? background theory, axioms)
What am I taking for granted? What assumption has led me to that conclusion?
B. Implications(follow from thoughts)/Consequences(follow from actions):
(What follows? Risk and cost/benefit/alternative analysis, options, choices) If
someone accepted my position, what would be the implications? Is there another
way to interpret the information? Have I identified risks and recognized
alternatives.
C. Inferences/Conclusions: (interpretations, solutions, how decisions arrived at)
How did I reach this conclusion? Does this interpretation make sense?
Standards of Critical Thinking:
a. Clarity/ (understandable, the meaning can be grasped) Could you elaborate further?
Clearness: Could you give me an example? Could you illustrate what you mean?
b. Accuracy: (true, free from errors or distortions) How could we check on that? How
could we find out if that is true? How could we verify or test that?
c. Precision: (exact to the necessary level of detail, specific) Could you be more
specific? Could you give me more details? Could you be more exact?
d. Relevance: (relating to the matter at hand)How does that relate to the problem? How
does that bear on the question? How does that help us with the issue?
e. Depth/Breath: (containing complexities and multiple interrelationships/encompassing
multiple viewpoints) What factors make this a difficult problem? What
are some of the complexities of this question?/ Do we need to look at this
from another perspective? Do we need to look at this other ways?
f. Logic: (the parts make sense together, no contradictions) Does all this make sense
together? Does your first paragraph fit in with the last?
g. Significance: (focusing on the important, adequate, enough, complete) Is this the most
important problem to consider? Is this the central idea to focus on?
h. Fairness: (justifiable, not self-serving or one-sided) Do I have any vested interest in
this issue? Am I sympathetically representing the viewpoints of others?
Combining the “Elements of Reason” with the “Standards of Critical Thing”
as an ASSESSMENT TOOL
1. Purpose: (objectives, goals, intentions, motives, function, desired outcome)
Principle: To reason well, there must be understanding of the purpose, and the purpose
must be reasonable and fair.
Primary “Standards of Critical Thinking” for assessment of PURPOSE: clarity;
significance; achievability; consistency; justifiability.
2. Information: (facts, data, evidence, research, observation, experience)
Principle: Reasoning can be only as sound as the information upon which it is based.
Primary “Standards of Critical Thinking” for assessment of INFORMATION: clear;
relevant; fairly gathered and reported; accurate; adequate; consistently applied.
3. Concepts: (theories, principles, definitions, laws, ideas, models, axioms, organizing
ideas, categories)
Principle: Reasoning can be only as clear, relevant, realistic, and deep as the concepts
that shape it.
Primary “Standards of Critical Thinking” for assessment of CONCEPTS: clarity;
relevance; depth; accuracy.
4. Questions: (issues, problems, topic, question-at-issue, “the point”)
Principle: To settle a question, it must be answerable, and you must be clear about it and
understand what is needed to adequately answer it. It is the problem to be solved.
Primary “Standards of Critical Thinking” for assessment of QUESTIONS: clarity and
precision; significance; answerability; relevance.
5. Thinking Process/Creative In-put & Out-put/Problem Solving/Decision Making
A. Assumptions: (presupposition, what is given? background theory, axioms)
Principle: Reasoning can be only as sound as the assumptions on which it is based.
Primary “Standards of Critical Thinking” for assessment of ASSUMPTIONS: clarity;
justifiability; consistency.
B. Implications (follow from thoughts)/Consequences(follow from actions)
Principle: To reason well through an issue, think through the implications that follow
from that reasoning. Think through the consequences likely to follow from the decisions
to be made.
Primary “Standards of Critical Thinking” for assessment of IMPLICATIONS:
significance; logicality; clarity; precision; completeness
C. Inferences/Conclusions: (interpretations, solutions, how decisions arrived at)
Principle: Reasoning can be only as sound as the inferences it makes (or the conclusions
it comes to). Reasoning proceeds by steps called inferences. To make an inference is to
think as follows: “Because this is so, that is also so (or probably so).”
Primary “Standards of Critical Thinking” for assessment of INFERENCES: clarity;
logicality; justifiability; profundity; reasonability; consistency.
6. Point of View/Context: (perspective, orientation, bias/setting, background, framing
analysis)
Principle: To reason well, identify those points of view relevant to the issue and enter
these viewpoints empathetically.
Primary “Standards of Critical Thinking” for assessment of POINT of VIEW:
flexibility; fairness; clarity; breadth; relevance.