Strategies for Student Success in Health Occupations
California Community College Health Care Initiative
Handouts/Exercises/Answer Keys
Module 5
Module 5 – Developing Critical Thinking Skills
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Strategies for Student Success in Health Occupations
Exercise 5.1
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California Community College Health Care Initiative
Categorization Activity
Directions: Using the words below, categorize systematically for more efficient recall:
Car, train, fork, plate, apple, spoon, orange, airplane, cup, banana, bicycle, watermelon
What processes did you use?
List all the possible options available to you?
What diagrams could you use?
Car
Train
Airplane
Bicycle
Fork
Plate
Spoon
Cup
Apple
Orange
Banana
Watermelon
This simple chart categorizes the twelve words into three categories:
1. Transportation
2. Things to use when eating or drinking
3. Fruits
Car
Train
Airplane
Bicycle
Fruits
Orange
Apple
Banana
Watermelon
Fork
Plate
Spoon
Cup
Transportation
Eating/Drinking
Exercise 5.1
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Module 5 – Developing Critical Thinking Skills
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Strategies for Student Success in Health Occupations
California Community College Health Care Initiative
Categorization Activity
Directions: Using the words below, categorize systematically for more efficient recall:
Television, blood pressure cuff, calendar, highlighter, computer, thermometer, radio,
back pack, stethoscope, plasma screen, scale, CD-DVD player
Words:
Words:
Words:
Exercise 5.2
Module 5 – Developing Critical Thinking Skills
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Strategies for Student Success in Health Occupations
California Community College Health Care Initiative
Reflection, Analysis, & Categorization Exercise
Frequently, people in health occupations encounter people with pain. This pain can be
acute or chronic, mild or severe, brief or continuous, physical or psychological. Reflect
on the following phrase for a few minutes.
“Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional.”
Directions:
1. Reflect on and analyze the above statement from the following perspectives.

What do you think this phrase means?

Ask your family members and friends what they think this phrase means.

Then, branch out and ask at least 15 people or more, representing different ages,
genders, occupations (including clergy), ethnic backgrounds, educational
backgrounds, social status, state of wellness, etc.
2. Categorize the groups and analyze the similarities and differences among the
meanings. Identify the commonalities among the groups.
3. Represent your findings graphically, in a chart, diagram, concept map, or drawing
to discuss in class.
Exercise 5.3
Source: Adapted from: Smith-Stoner, M. Critical Thinking Activities for Nursing. Lippincott. 1999
Module 5 – Developing Critical Thinking Skills
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Strategies for Student Success in Health Occupations
California Community College Health Care Initiative
Examples of Critical Thinking
Children are naturals at reading body language and facial expressions.
Example: You are a student with a test in the morning. Your partner promised to get
your child ready for bed and was called away by a friend who needed a ride home. You
are bathing your child hurriedly when they ask, “Mommy, are you mad at me?”
Surprised, you answer “Of course not! Why do you think that?” The child answers,
“Well, you sure wash mad tonight.”
Example: You are working in an out patient clinic and greet a patient in the waiting
room. On your way to the examining room, you ask, “How are you today?” The patient
answers in a low tone of voice, “Fine.”
1. Do you take her at her word and report that she feels fine today?
2. Do you ask, “Why are you here, then?”
3. What other possible responses are appropriate in the situation?
You notice that the patient’s eyes are red and puffy and her nose is red.
1. What are the possible causes of her symptoms?
2. What additional information do you need?
3. What are your preliminary conclusions? How will you validate them?
4. Discuss examples from your own life that demonstrate when you used critical
thinking skills.
Exercise 5.4
Module 5 – Developing Critical Thinking Skills
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Strategies for Student Success in Health Occupations
California Community College Health Care Initiative
Autobiographical Exercise: Self-regulation
Directions: Choose an example from your own life where you think you used critical
thinking. This could involve a time when you questioned assumptions about the way you
typically thought or acted in some area of your life. Or it could be a time when you acted
or thought in new ways. This episode may have caused you to think about the flow or
misuse of power in your life. It may have alerted you to beliefs, attitudes or actions that
you held that were interfering with you achieving your goals. Spend about 15 minutes
making written notes about what happened. Be sure to include the questions below in
your description.
1.
Triggers: What were the circumstances or situations that triggered your
critical thinking?
2.
Resources: As you worked through the situation, what were the resources
(human and material) that were the most useful?
3.
Process:
a. What were the emotional highs and lows of the process?
b. What barriers and hindrances did you experience? (‘shoulds’, negative
self-talk, cultural considerations, distractions, etc.)
c. How did you work through them?
4.
Consequences:
a. What happened as a result of this episode?
b. Did you permanently change some aspect of the situation or yourself?
c. Did things stay the same, other than your heightened awareness?
d. Did you wish it had never happened?
e. Was the process worthwhile?
f. Did you gain any self-knowledge?
Source: Adapted from: Brookfield, Stephen. Facilitating Adult Learning and Developing
Critical Thinking. Health Occupations Institute. March 2003.
Module 5 – Developing Critical Thinking Skills
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Handout 5.1
Strategies for Student Success in Health Occupations
California Community College Health Care Initiative
Interrelationships of Critical Thinking,
Problem Solving & Decision Making
Problem
Solving
THINKING PROCESSES
Critical Thinking
Skills
Decision
Making
Interpretation
Analysis
Self-regulation
Inference
Evaluation
Explanation
Strategic
Planning
Source: Adapted from: Katz, et al. Keys to Nursing Success. Prentice Hall. 2001
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Module 5-Developing Critical Thinking Skills
Strategies for Student Success in Health Occupations
Exercise 5.5
California Community College Health Care Initiative
Critical Thinking Exercise – Nursing #1
You are a nursing student living with five other students in a large house. Each has their
own room, and share bathroom and kitchen facilities. While five of you are having
dinner together, someone asks if anyone has seen the sixth student. It becomes apparent
that none of the students have seen him for a couple of days, but his bicycle is locked at
the rear of the house. You go to his room and knock on the door, but there is no verbal
response, although you do hear movement in the room.
The group decides to locate the extra key and investigate. They find their housemate
sitting on the floor in the corner of his room. The odor of urine is strong and the room is
a mess. The young man is quiet, but has a look of terror on his face. As you approach,
he tells you to leave him alone or you will regret it.
Directions: Write your responses to the following questions and prepare to discuss in
class.
1. List the questions that come to mind in reviewing the above situation.
2. Determine the relevance of the questions to the situation facing you at this point
in time.
3. Is there any other information that you must have before acting in this situation?
4. List the possible causes for his behavior.
5. List the possible options to consider in dealing with this situation.
6. Prioritize the options in dealing with this situation.
Discussion Topics:
1. What assumptions were used in determining your conclusions about an action
plan in this situation? Were these assumptions a hindrance or an effective tool in
reaching preliminary conclusions?
2. Were any biases apparent in discussing this situation? How are unknown biases
detrimental to resolving such a situation?
3. What attitudes are apparent in discussing this situation? How do attitudes impact
Answermental
Key 5.5
our understanding, assessment and resolution of situations involving
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health issues?
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Module 5-Developing Critical Thinking Skills
Strategies for Student Success in Health Occupations
California Community College Health Care Initiative
Exercise 5.6
Critical Thinking Exercise – Nursing #2
Directions: Write your responses to the following questions and prepare to discuss in
class.
You are caring for a 30 year-old Hispanic male with a long-term partner and two small
children, who was admitted to the sub-acute rehabilitation unit in a vegetative state
following a ruptured brain aneurysm four months ago. He has not regained consciousness
since his “stroke” and has minimal brain activity documented by EEG tracings. He has
no response to voice, sight or pain and no gag or swallow reflex.
He previously expressed his wishes to his partner about meaningful life telling her that he
would not want to be kept alive if he could not participate in life. Unfortunately, he
never put these wishes in an Advance Directive and has not discussed his wishes with his
parents, who are devout Catholics.
A conference was held with his parents and his partner to discuss withdrawing tube
feedings and fluids. His parents are very upset and direct their anger to his partner and
the nursing staff. The father quotes the commandment “thou shalt not kill” and believes
that withdrawing food and fluids would be murder. The mother expresses anger with the
medical staff saying that “medical technology has interfered with God’s plan” and there
is no choice except to continue with the treatment. His partner, who is 4 ½ months
pregnant only cries and says everything is her fault.
Questions:
1. Who has the legal right to make decisions about his care?
2. How would the situation have changed if he had signed an Advance Directive and
shared it with members of his family?
3. What assumptions do you have about this type of situation? Put yourself in the
position of people in the situation (partner, father, mother) and respond to the
situation from their point of view. What would your decision be if you were the
partner? mother? father?
4. Discuss the situation with another person who has a different religious, spiritual
or cultural frame of reference. What were the outcomes of the discussion? What
were the similarities? What were the differences? How would you resolve the
issues while respecting each person’s beliefs?
5. What other health care professionals would you use as resources in this situation?
6. List three possible options for this family to come to resolution on the issues in
this case?
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Module 5-Developing Critical Thinking Skills