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WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING?

Before beginning a critical thinking essay it’s a good idea to come up to speed on critical thinking and what it is. The process of thinking critically begins with an open mind. It’s quite alright to already have an opinion on an issue but you must be willing to at least consider objectively ideas that differ from your own.

Someone who tends to think critically would probably agree with statements like the following.

o I hate talk shows where people shout their opinions but never give any

reasons at all.

o Figuring out what people really mean by what they say is important to me. o I always do better in jobs where I'm expected to think things out for myself. o I hold off making decisions until I have thought through my options. o Rather than relying on someone else's ideas, I prefer to read the material

myself.

o I try to see the merit in another’s opinion, even if I reject it later. o Even if a problem is tougher than I expected, I will keep working on it. o Making intelligent decisions is more important than winning arguments.

A person who does NOT tend to think critically would be more likely to agree with the following.

o I prefer jobs where the supervisor says exactly what to do and exactly how

to do it.

o No matter how complex the problem, you can bet there will be a simple

solution.

o I don't waste time looking things up.

o I hate when teachers discuss problems instead of just giving the answers. o If my belief is truly sincere, evidence to the contrary is irrelevant. o Selling an idea is like selling cars, you say whatever works.

Read Peter Facioni:

http://www.insightassessment.com/pdf_files/what&why2006.pdf, especially pages 4-6. It's a PDF and loads slowly.

Developing the ability to think critically can be difficult because it is easier to make hasty judgments

based

on

opinions and biases than it is to evaluate facts and arguments. For example, your friends might think that the death penalty is just, and you might also think so just because your friends

do.

Without

hearing any arguments to the contrary, your viewpoint, based solely on the opinions of others, would be weak.

The approaches to life and living which characterize critical thinking include the following. o inquisitiveness with regard to a wide range of issues o concern to become and remain well-informed o alertness to opportunities to use critical thinking o trust in the processes of reasoned inquiry o self-confidence in one’s own abilities to reason

o open-mindedness regarding divergent world views o flexibility in considering alternatives and opinions o understanding of the opinions of other people o fair-mindedness in appraising reasoning

o honesty in facing one’s own biases, prejudices, stereotypes or egocentric tendencies o prudence in suspending, making or altering judgments

o willingness to reconsider and revise views where honest reflection suggests that change is warranted

The best way to develop critical thinking is to write. Writing forces you to organize your thoughts, contemplate your topic, evaluate your data in a logical fashion and present your conclusions in a persuasive manner. Good writing is the epitome of good critical thinking. Writing promotes critical thinking by requiring you to acquire, synthesize and logically analyze information, and then present this information and your conclusions in written form.

WHAT IS A CRITICAL THINKING ESSAY?

Many college assignments require you to support a thesis. The concept of a critical thinking essay is that you start without an end in mind. You don't necessarily know how you feel about a subject or what you want to say about the subject … you allow the research and your own thinking to determine the outcome. This is writing to learn rather than writing to prove what you know.

It requires thinking ... not data/information reporting.

Your essay shows how your thinking changes as you research a topic. For example, when you begin researching capital punishment, you may be in favor of the death penalty because it is a deterrent. Then you may find some studies that question whether it has a deterrent effect and that may influence your thinking. You don't have to know what you think about your topic when you start writing your critical thinking essay. http://amyglenn.com/Courses/critical.htm

Some examples of Non-Critical Statements

Non-Critical Statement Questions to ask to turn it into a more robust and believable statement…. And facts needed to be included in the body of the case study. Where did they stand in their industry,,, what was their market share? A comparison needs to be made to their rivals in the industry. How much of a lead to they have over their closest rivals, in terms of market share? In what way is it remarkable? How did it give the organization competitive advantage? What were the increase in sales/profits/market share because of the introduction of ‘freestyling’ How has it ‘grown significantly’. Introduce facts and figures to back up statement. Highlight in what ways they SPECIFICALLY compete? What is the proof for this statement? Give some facts and figures that demonstrates this statement to be true. What is the proof for this assertion? Give some facts/figures/market share information that demonstrates this statement to be true What is the proof for this assertion? Give some facts/figures/market share information that demonstrates this statement to be true By 1979 NCL had become one of the cruise industry’s largest cruise companies. At present NCL dominates the world with approximately 8% share in the cruise market. The most remarkable share made by the company was the introduction of freestyle cruising…… … this sector has grown significantly over the past decade…. They compete primarily with other North American Cruise Brands It can be found that the 3 largest cruise lines in the world are Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Star cruise The major competitors are: Walt Disney Company; Universal Studios; Lego Land; Activision Blizzard AT&T is America’s largest local and long-distance telephone company which has monopolized long distance and local phone market in the USA for a long time