Critical Thinking Application Paper According to Foundation for Critical Thinking (2009), “Critical thinking is that mode of thinking—about any subject, content, or problem—in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them” (Defining Critical Thinking, para. 9). Thinking is part of everyone’s human nature. People who can separate their thoughts, analyze them, and change the behavior to make their thoughts more ethical and fair are the best critical thinkers. Every person has unethical and prejudiced thoughts on occasion. No person can be completely critical and ethical 100% of the time. This is when weak …show more content…
Decision-Making Process Using strong-sense critical thinking in the decision-making process involves a simple “flow chart.” The steps go as follows: “analyze the problem, gather data related to the problem, use experience, education, and imperial analysis to develop possible solutions, balance judgment with business acumen, and weigh the outcome of the solution or decision and the impact it will have on the organization” (Mc Shane, 2010, para. 2). By using the simple flow chart steps, one is easily able to use their critical thinking skills to solve any problem. Personal Experience A personal experience that comes to mind when I used critical thinking to make a work-related decision happened about eight years ago. I was managing a photography studio, and we were having a problem increasing our sales for senior photography. We did mass mailings to seniors in our town and several surrounding towns but were still not exceeding the goals we set for the business. I had to brainstorm ways to increase our customers and our sales in this area. I noticed that several other photographers were offering specials to their high school seniors. This is when I gathered information from the other local photographers as well as some in larger areas. After researching and analyzing the other programs, I came up with an “Ambassador” program for our high school senior customers. We sent
According to Paul and Elder (2006), “Critical thinking is that mode of thinking—about any subject, content, or problem—in which the thinker
Education is one of the important factors that determine a sustainability future. What to teach is also a biggest concern for education. On one hand, educators want to teach the knowledge that is useful for the students in society today. However, some also argue that people should learn critical thinking not just teaching skill-centered knowledge. According to Diane Ravitch, believes that the new from of education called “21st century skills” which just focus on teaching the skills to prepare people for the global economy, and neglects the importance of other subjects such as literature, history and art. She suggests that these subjects help not just help students think critically, but also let them think beyond the concept and see the world widely.
The main concepts presented in the article are the varying definitions of each author on the concept of critical thinking. The information the author uses are definitions which are the opinions of varied authors and are similar in foundation in that to apply critical thinking one must be able to identify a problem, pose a question(s), provide valid supporting evidence, and come to a conclusion. Although the author’s definitions do not identify a problem, questions, evidence, or conclusions, the relationship Petress (2004) shows is that the reader must apply this process themselves as it is not always given. The information used does appear to be relevant, significant, and valid. The references the author listed does provide enough information for me to come to this conclusion. Since this work is a literature review and not a case study, numerical data are not necessary to determine validity of the information.
, if not most, have heard of the phrase “use your critical thinking skills” but probably never truly understood what that meant and what it entails. There are seven steps that are used in critical thinking: Identification, research, analysis, application, decision making, evaluation, and reflection. The first step in the critical thinking process is identification which means exactly what the first steps is: identifying the problem or issue. The second step is research which is researching what the problem is, how it could have come about, and any possibilities to overcome the issue at hand. The third step is analysis, this means that one must analyze, or evaluate the smaller bits of the problem and piece together how everything works hand in hand with each other. The fourth step is application. Application simply means applying the general moral principles to the problem one is trying to fix, deciding which ones are most relevant to the issue, and how they conflict with each other. The fifth step of the critical thinking process is decision making. Decision making is choosing the most effective and most ethical choice from the available options and using it to fix the problem and be able to justify the decision. The sixth step to the critical thinking process is evaluation. The evaluation step not only asks the individual if the choice they made was the most effective decision; but was the decision is morally and ethically sound for their predicament. The seventh and final
Bassham, G., Irwin, W., Nardone, H., & Wallace, J. (2002). Critical Thinking. [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e-text]. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies Publishing. Retrieved August 25, 2004 from University of Phoenix, Resource, MGT/350–Critical Thinking: Strategies in Decision Making Web site: https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/resource/resource.asp
Critical thinking is a process by which a thinker can improve the quality of their thinking through a process. It involves a series of process, that actively and skillfully conceptualizing, evaluating, applying, and analyzing information to reach an answer or a conclusion. This allows the reader to process the information received to come to a reasonable conclusion based on a reasoned process. This process involve the utilization of the ten step methodology presented in Browne and Keeley’s book called “Asking the Right Questions”. These steps are used to achieve a clearer understanding of the issues being evaluated.
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.
What is Critical Thinking? Is the process of conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and /or evaluating information gathered by observation, experience, reflection, reasoning or communication, as a guide to belief and action (Scriven & Paul, n.d.). When one applies critical thinking more ideas are develop, fewer mistakes are made and better decisions are reached. When people instead of using critical thinking act on beliefs or without giving it a second thought, the end results are poor decisions and as a result have a disaster at hand. People don’t always use critical thinking, it is not uncommon to hear someone say such remarks after making the wrong decisions; “I just was not thinking”, “I did not think it was a big deal”,
It is essential to apply critical thinking in the process of solving complex and critical situation that people face, but more especially for the organization leaders, because they are expected to have solution to all problems that the organization might be facing. Critical thinking encourages the use diverse skill sets and information to solve problems. The irony is that most of the steps of critical thinking as described by Brown and Keely are used vaguely or in one form or the other by people. However, Kubasek, Brennan and Browne described what it will be like for an individual that cannot apply critical thinking questions to information as a mental puppet of the last clever person you talk to (p. 14 2015). If all the processes are understood and applied to issues, it will be faster to find a resolution to those critical
Critical thinking is the art of thinking in a manner that is critical. This means that prior to making a decision one must be informed about possible repercussions and/or outcomes, this is particularly true in the case of both employers and an employees. A decision maker must be willing to “choose how to respond to opportunities and problems on the basis of a simplified and approximate account of the situation” (George & Jones, 2005, pg 475), while a stakeholder (in this case an employee) must be willing and able to complete any task that is put before him or her. The stakeholder must also make an informed decision based on their personal code of ethics.
The first question is how do you use critical thinking in decision making and problem solving in your professional life? My first experience of not using critical thinking was when I was getting my BA in Political Science. I was selected to go to a conference for my school on Asian – American foreign relations. My degree focused on middle-eastern politics rather than Asian, and I provided a comment in a focus group scenario, which clearly showed I was thinking off the cuff rather than critically. The moderator called me on it, and from that point forward, I have made it a point to truly think before I speak in professional settings. This happened many years ago. In my professional life, I have used this lesson to be honest about what I know and don’t know when answering a question, then following up on learning more as needed.
In order to survive the fast paced as well as patient driven environment, of the health care organizations it is very essential to implement both critical thinking and problem solving in your day-to-day tasks. Working at the Nursing home, often times we had to use logical reasoning to project and monitor the progress on patients. So, implementing critical thinking towards decision-making became a vital part of my agenda. According to Payne, Bettman, Coupey, Johnson (1976), “When faces with decision problems involving just two or three alternatives, people often use decision strategies that
Moreover, without applying critical thinking aspects it is difficult on me to effectively do my job and handle the situations (Dam & Volman, 2004). During a job, I was faced several issued related to the manufacturing line and labor and I used critical thinking and different ideas to handle
Critical thinking and decision-making are related in more ways than people think. This paper will define critical thinking and decision-making according to the book Whatever It Takes. It will also present a personal definition of critical thinking and decision-making from the author of this paper. The relationship between the two will be explained as well as the benefits of being a critical thinker. The author of this paper will also show how critical thinking is present in his organization and how he implements critical thinking techniques on a daily basis.
Critical thinking is being able to evaluate an issue or situation to form a judgment. Having the ability to think clearly and rationally, being able to have an argument and understand the main concept and question any doubts you have and making your own conclusion. Being a good critical thinker can help you in a lot of ways professionally and personally. Employers often want to see someone that can think rationally and that is able to make their business grow and develop they want someone that will take initiative in crucial situations. In our personal lives, it is important so we learn how to distinguish the main facts about an argument and learn to analyze the problem and make a conclusion of what needs to be done to help solve and prevent any future problems. According to Linda Elder and Richard Paul, there are six stages of a critical thinker the unreflective thinker, the challenged thinker, the beginning thinker, the advanced thinker, and finally the accomplished thinker which is where we would all want to be in. (The Critical Thinking Community , 2010)