Reflection On Critical Thinking

Browne, N. M., & Keeley, S. M. (2011). Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking, (10th Ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.

In today’s current school systems, the question of whether or not schools are correctly teaching students the right curriculum is coming up for debate. In the Article,"Teaching Critical Thinking by Marcia Clemmitt, she goes into extensive research of the U.S. Department of Education’s crisis of standardized testing. Most learning activities include standardized testing which lacks many students to express creative and critical thinking. Critical thinking is defined as the examination and evaluation of ideas, events and arguments in their contexts which introduces students to interrogate assumptions and identifying biases (Clemmitt)Pure critical thinking involves investigating a text more than just memorizing, but to apply theirself in other ways of techniques, meaning schools should stimulate more analytical methods of teaching. This would not only free students from a sheltered test culture,but will allow students to think in a deeper,more passionate way than before.

The college students study by attending lectures and taking on the subject of their interests. The average college lecture will last about one hour fifteen minutes and mostly involves the instructors dictating and explaining the points while the students are taking notes. Secondly, the college students use the group’s discussion to study (Paul & Elder, 2013). The groups help the student to learn since they are actively involved in the process. The student understands more of what is taught in groups than when it is presented in the instructional format.

Critical thinking is an extracurricular class where student learn to explore in their knowledge. During Quarter 1, Adeline learned several things in critical thinking that were helpful. Unlike the gifted class in elementary school, critical thinking in middle school is more complex and challenging. Many of the activities required Adeline’s class to actively collaborate with others. In fact, Ms. Francia’s class incorporated standards in all of their activities.

Critical thinking is a vital task that must be done in our everyday lives. In “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking” found at criticalthinking.org, Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Paul explain critical thinking as “the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances”. Even tough there are many different types of methods to achieve a better quality of critical thinking, Dr. Elder and Dr. Paul discuss four specific ones in the article. All strategies, however, force you to put yourself in an uncomfortable and difficult position to develop a better quality of thinking.

Prior to the Meeting of the Minds project, at the beginning of the semester, I did not think this course on would have much of an effect on me. However, as the weeks went by, I began to have a different idea of what it meant to be a critical thinker, and I quickly realized how important it was for me to embody the definition of this type of thinking. As the school year progressed, I found myself analyzing my perception of the topics friends and family discussed from an outsider’s perspective. While I used to think of myself as a critical thinker, this class made me evaluate how good I am at analyzing different subjects and whether I actually reach good educated conclusions.

During the time spent in this class, I have learned about the methodology of critical thinking and how to better collect relevant information which can be used to formulate an argument. While taking this course, I also can use this within my everyday life when I approach different people from different walks of life. I can say with more certainty that I now have more knowledge which ultimately can be used in my everyday encounters, but more importantly will enhance how I will communicate with people in my civilian work.

Critical thinking is ubiquitous; it is needed in the workforce, in the school, and in life. Teachers and college professors often emphasize critical thinking is the key for success in college. While critical thinking is significant, there are often faults about critical thinking in general because of the lack of a clear definition. Providing a clear definition of critical thinking will guide students to understand what it critical thinking truly is and it will also guide to improve their critical thinking.

The video entitled “The Thinking Curriculum” is a great resource for the would-be and current teachers since it featured real-life and actual application of critical thinking in the classroom setting including the advantages reaped from it. It will challenge instructors like me to try this to in a selected school and/or classroom. The film is nearly half hour long consisting of 5 mini-documentaries in it into which I will discuss some parts.

For too long, our education system has primarily focused on the idea of students memorizing information and then spitting it out on a piece of paper. It is an outdated way of learning that has been going on for dozens of centuries. This is why the concept of reasoning and critical thinking should be emphasized more in today’s public school. The asset of having the ability to think critically is essential to not just our everyday lives, but also for the future generations. It gives students more than one perspective to look at a viewpoint. It is also a disciplined and unbiased approach in the way of thinking to help extract clarity. It’s often of the norm for the education system to almost in a way neglect the idea of critical thinking in early schools. The education system will always retract to their statement of how teaching students prepare them for the future but do they really hold true?

This class challenged me to think clearly and critically as a student. I struggled with balancing the course content, writing effectively during short answers and DBQs, multiple choice exams, outlines and long essays. Thankfully, each DBQ, exam or essay I completed was handed back and put into a writing folder. One lesson I took away was using my previous assignments to reflect upon the work from the past and make improvements ahead. I was discouraged when I put an extensive amount of effort into a task and received a grade I was not proud of. Nevertheless, I received informative feedback and comments to improve my work to tweak. Pieces of feedback are valuable and constructive when I gained a better sense of the level of complexity that my work needed. Over time, I pushed myself to meet the standards that were expected and always reflected on previous work. Looking back, I overcame the difficult assignments and gained knowledge about writing fluently to consistently improve and revise work as a critical thinking learner.

The class was so cool and calm, everybody is eagerly waiting for the introduction for the new topic. Mr. Beltran immediately asked the class “what is critical thinking?” everybody stared at him trying to think and to make the matters worse we had no permission as a class to search for the meaning, instead, we had to answer the question based on their understanding. According to him, this question was to let us learn how to think from a different point of view. The question triggered my mind and I regret

Critical thinking is based off of many elements that help contribute to its continuous success and use in all different aspects of life (Facione, 2011). Critical

Critical thinking is something that we use in our everyday life, although most of us may not realize that we are even doing it. The definition for 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” (Defining). In other words, it is when you take all the information you know about a situation and skillfully evaluating that information to make an educated solution to a problem. Making well educated decisions when solving a problem will not only help us in our personal life but also will assist us while in school and at our jobs. For instance, I used critical thinking when making the decision to change jobs and careers. Although I was a little resistant to change out of fear, which I learned from our textbook, is a hindering habit when we make decisions, I had to be open to the idea of change (Ruggiero 55). I had look at the opportunity from many angles and evaluate if the change in pay, the distance to the job and the change in work environment would be worth taking a new position. Also, I used critical thinking when I decided to go back to school to obtain an associate degree in nursing. Knowing that I wanted to go into something where I could help people was my starting point but I also took into consideration what field had

When defining the term “critical thinking” it can seem overwhelming and daunting, especially for young learners. In laments terms, you are teaching your student how to think for him or herself when it comes to problem solving. Instead of giving the student the answer, you give them the tools to discover the answer him/herself. Critical thinking is an important component of any classroom. No matter the age group, these skills stay with a child for the rest of his or her life. As a teacher, it is important to understand what critical thinking pertains to and how to structure part of your lesson plan around developing critical thinking skills.