Critical Self Reflection Essay
Critical thinking has been defined as the ability to be a disciplined thinker by using clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence. Critical thinking is a skill that takes years of practice to master. In this essay I will reflect on my personal stage of critical thinking and what strengths and weaknesses I currently have. This personal reflection will include what challenges I will face to advance my critical thinking skills and what requirements a critical thinker must have. I will also go into detail what a fair-minded thinker is and how this class can help to prepare me for the real world and the challenges a fair-minded thinker can face.
What does Critical Thinking mean to me?
When I think of critical thinking and how I would define it, the simplest definition is having the ability to solve or argue and issue by using unbiased, evidenced backed ideas. In any profession, a person must have the ability to solve problems and work with others. Having a biased opinion and not including other’s ideas and opinions into your own thought forces you to not have an open mind and limits expanded knowledge. In my career I have had to engage in multiple interviews. One of the things I found interesting in all of them was the focus on individuals ability to use critical thinking to solve complex, challenging issues. Many of the questions focused on past experiences or situations where the individual used their critical thinking skills to solve
Critical thinking occurs when a person thinks about a subject or problem to where the development of the quality of ones very own psychological process of actively and skillfully applying, analyzing, and gauging information to come up with an answer or decision. A few important skills that is learned through critical thinking is learning how to discipline oneself in thinking, understanding the world as well as learning themselves. While using Critical thinking in your academic career path while other benefiting from your answer or idea.
In my own point of view of what I think critical thinking means is a guide to make a logical decision based on a number of variables such as factual evidence and credible resources that can create valid statements behind the action of thought process including being open-mindedness and demonstrating the differences of valid evidence and assuming to make and communicate their point of view to be understood by the others in a conversation.
First, it is important to understand what is critical thinking. Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and reasonably. It is based on logic and objectivity. It includes the ability to reflect and think independently. A critical thinker
Critical thinking is the general cognitive skill of determining the best answer when there is not one correct answer. Critical thinking is a trainable skill that can create innovative
Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness. (Critical thinking community, n.d.)
In 1990, the American Philosophical Association defined critical thinking as “purposeful, self-regulatory process that results in reasoned judgment”. Critical thinking can be defined in a number of similar phrases that all seem to focus on the importance of conscious analysis. Our text starts off with the working phases of critical thinking as analyzing thinking, evaluating thinking, and improving thinking. The process of critical thought is cyclical and not linear. Being a “fair-minded critical thinker” is not a permanent attribute, and it must be consistently worked at as applying intellectual standards and elements of reasoning instead of emotion can be difficult. Overall, to be a strong critical thinker you must work toward strong intellectual traits such humility, courage, and integrity to better represent issues and or arguments.
What did you already know about Critical Thinking: Making Inferences and Analyzing the Author’s Message? Respond to each concept. What did you already know about making inferences? What did you already know about analyzing the author’s message?
Critical thinking is defined as the ability to effectively, conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action in their execution of their duties to better understand the client.
Critical thinking,according to Joe Lau & Jonathan Chan (2004-2017), is the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do or what to believe. On numerous occasions in which our ability to deduce fallacies will be questioned. Having the capacity to be a critical thinker, or being able to critically think, students will be able to make use of information to identify a s solve problems. It can be argued that anyone who has the capacity to retain information is a critical thinker, which in most cases is not true. Being a critical thinker means that one is able to think outside the box using our own experiences and that of others to deduce misinformation and create possible solutions.
Critical thinking involves rationalizing a given situation and objectively evaluating information (Myers, 2011). This particular method of processing information forces one to assess misleading evidence and strive for accuracy in recorded findings as opposed to trusting his/her, often faulty, intuition. The ability to think critically is very crucial to psychology when evaluating test results because it requires one to ask questions, second guess his/her assumptions, and ignore biases. Critical thinking can be influenced in both biological and psychological ways. The skill of thinking critically can be influenced psychologically because one must yearn to want to evaluate properly and question things rather than
Critical thinking, in the context of employability, it is a broad term that encompasses the use of “problem solving, analysis, creative thinking, interpretation, and reasoning.” (Dash, “Why Critical Thinking Skills Are Essential in Business”) In other words, while there are varying definitions for critical thinking, it is generally considered a skill set with specific parameters. One of the necessary conditions within of this definition is that the idea to which the term ‘critical thinking’ is ascribed is a skill set. This is also considered a “key area” of professional development. (Joschik, “Well-Prepared in Their Own Eyes”) Furthermore, critical thinking is necessarily a mental process. This is due to the fact that each of the encompassed terms, such as problem solving and analysis, are mental processes. Finally, if the subject to which the term ‘critical thinking’ is being applied is “the ability to think clearly and rationally,” then the subject possesses the sufficient condition to be considered critical thinking. (Hofmeister, “Critical Thinking and Getting a Job”)
Critical thinking is the questioning of ideas. It is the process in which you take an argument and analyze it in order to conclude whether that argument is valid. Thinking critically is a good skill that can help others make intelligent decisions and helps them understand what to believe or not believe. Critical thinking is involved in our daily life. For example, every day we make decisions and before every decision we think critically if that is the right decision. We take into consideration the possible consequences of such decision and from that we reach a conclusion. Critical thinking involves disciplined thinking and it teaches you to think for yourself. It is personal growth and confidence that results from learning to exercise your mind to its fullest potential.
The concepts of critical thinking and creative thinking are both gaining increasing importance in the world today. Critical thinking allows people to understand difficult concepts in a manner that is clearer and more defined. They can more readily understand those concepts if they employ critical thinking. In all portions of everyday life, a person is expected to make independent judgments. Those judgments are based on experience and knowledge. Without the ability to think critically, every situation that a person comes across would have to be considered in isolation from all other situations. When a person encounters a problem that is a new one, he or she may be able to use critical thinking to solve those problems.
Critical thinking means accurate thinking in the search of appropriate and dependable knowledge about the world. Another way to describe it is sensible, insightful, responsible, and skillful thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do. Critical thinking is not being able to process information well enough to know to stop for red lights or whether you established the right change at the supermarket.
What is critical thinking to you? To some it may mean making wiser choices, taking time to critically analyze a situation, or to just put greater thought in your everyday life. According to Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Pauls’ article, “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking”, critical thinking is defined as the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances. To us, critical thinking is a very important aspect of life and something we can all improve on. It allows us to think outside the box and put ourselves in others shoes and really look at things differently. We made sure to think about our own thinking habits while discussing these articles and to notice if we were ever being close-minded.