The Importance Of Critical Thinking

Conceiving their study on previous research done about the nature of knowledge and the nature of learning that influences thinking, Schommer-Aikins and Hutter (2002) introduced an additional element of contemporary controversial issues encountered in everyday life. Their research looked to populations outside of academia to support their hypotheses. Generally, they were able to prove a relationship exists between individual beliefs about knowledge and learning and the ability to demonstrate higher order thinking. Education and critical thinking influence these beliefs (p. 16). The nature of knowledge and learning beliefs influence thinking in everyday life.

Teaching higher order thinking skills is not a recent need. It is apparent that students, at all levels of education, are lagging in problem-solving and thinking skills. Fragmentation of thinking skills, however, may be the result of critical thinking courses and texts. Every course, especially in content subjects, students should be taught to think logically, analyze and compare, question and evaluate.

Today, many schools just focus on how to prepare students for college by teaching them the standardized knowledge For example, art is a subject that is selective for students. According to education, art seems like the least important subject because it is useless for many students’ future. Therefore, schools do not force the students that they have to take art as college standard course. At the same time, people also ignore that fact that art can also help students develop their creativity and thinking. Same as history and literature, they both help students think what is right or wrong in society, and teach them make judgment for certain events. Students should study how to think before they learn hand-on experience, because the think process is the basic step for them to look close to the world and better understand

Problem solving and critical thinking are two related skills that greatly impact student success in the classroom. However, many studies have shown that these two skills are largely underdeveloped in students. This is particularly worrisome as the current job market is filled with jobs that require individuals to be exceptional in these two areas. As technology advances, more of the “routine” jobs are being taken over by technological platforms, leaving more opportunities for people to enter the workforce in positions that require them to think on deep and complex levels. Employers now describe a “qualified person” as “someone having good command of information rather than summarizing it, reaching true information the most effectively

Voltaire once said, “No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking” (“Voltaire Quotes”) What Voltaire intended to convey was that extensive and critical thinking can allow people to arrive at rational solutions to problems. This is one of the reasons why the significance of thinking critically has become a popular issue that is discussed about in educational systems nowadays. It is imperative that students develop critical thinking skills and not just blindly be taught what to think, but rather how to think. Pure memorization will not lead to authentic learning; instead, encouraging critical thinking is what will help students evaluate problems and make reasonable decisions. As humans are susceptible to emotions, critical

However, this creative spirit is quickly lost as students progress through their years in education, where independent thought is second to memorization and repetition. While vocabulary quizzes are common, this expansive vocabulary is rarely utilized in creative writing but rather regurgitated on the SAT examination. Instead of exploring the ways math could be used in various careers that students might pursue, math classes require memorization of trigonometric angles. In ethics class, instead of presenting one’s own views and providing support for these views, a student is expected to simply repeat what was said in class, whether the student agrees with these opinions or not. However, anyone can simply repeat back previously provided information and duplicate past processes. Education should be about finding creative new solutions to problems in the world today and encouraging individual thought that will change the world in the future. In order to improve the world, it is necessary to think of new solutions to problems. Creativity is necessary to come up with these solutions, and by stifling creative thought in education, educators are also stifling progress in the world. The goal of education is to prepare students for the rest of life, and educators are obligated to encourage creativity in order to achieve this

I think critical thinking is important because it means reasoning, evaluating, analyzing, decision-making, and problem-solving. We need critical thinking in our everyday life, for us to make any little decision we need to think about it wisely, and how it will affect us. Someone with critical thinking skills can understand the logical links between ideas. For example, during my night shift at the ER, we use triage, which is to decide who is the most urgently in need, and whose injuries are less severe and can

Critical and creative thinking are two categories that analyze information and solve problems in either concrete or abstract ways. Assessing the ability to teach these skills as an overarching concept including subcategories within, is an essential piece to instruction. Without a proper evaluation of the strengths, areas for growth, and improvement plans, it becomes easy to feel misplaced or uncertain about what skills are being taught and at what depth they are being learned.

Thinking plays a very important role in our life. Improving the quality of our thinking, then improve our lives-helping us take charge of what we do, make better decisions and to achieve our goals. One example from everyday life would be purchasing

The Harvard Educational Letter noted that a certain skill is needed for the 21st Century learner (Walser, 2008) and critical thinking was at the top of the skills list. Author’s Balin and Siegel posed a philosophical argument that critical thinking skills are necessary in the creation of productive employment and quality education for 21st Century learners (H.Res. 1994). Under the partnership for 21st Century skills (2004), leading advocate organizations and state education departments partner up to make efforts in integrating critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills in areas of curriculum across the United States. Critical thinking is considered a vital skill in the knowledge

“…If our goal is for children to become knowledgeable, critical thinkers who are good at solving problems, we need to pay attention to the ‘how’ of teaching. We need to stimulate curiosity” (Crawford, 2004, p. 5).

In “All about Thinking: Case Study 1”, it discusses about how the thinking curriculum can create an avenue and more opportunities for the students to share ideas, express their opinions, post questions, etc as they are acquiring the knowledge they desire and need to be used as basis for decision making.

General Education (GenEd) is the course requirements all students must meet to obtain their major. Over the years the courses have remained the same four subjects; Math, Science, Social Studies, and English. The four courses are meant to give basic knowledge for anyone who is obtaining a College degree. Logic and critical thinking should be a part of the GenEd curriculum because of the many benefits it has to offer the students. Everyone looking for degrees and wanting to accomplish them efficiently should take Critical thinking and Logic.

Critical thinking is defined in many different ways among scholars, but a common way it is defined is when individuals think with reason, good judgement to the topic, and the thought itself. It revolves around different features that include reflective, standards, authentic, and being reasonable. The initiation of critical thinking begins when an individual reflects upon their thinking. The standards that are used to help make critical thinking helpful are based upon the judgement that is taken to meet the criteria. Applying critical thinking to a real problem challenges one and may require an individual to rethink through the problem and see viable solutions. Critical thinking requires reasoning to be used in order to evaluate an issue correctly. These fundamentals can improve the critical thinking of an individual.

I would say that my greatest skill is critical thinking. This fact was apparent to my mother when I was four years old and she cultivated it by buying me jigsaw puzzles and as I grew older, sudoku and riddles. As a child I was the one who would enjoy reading the one who could be relied on to rectify computer issues as I was able to quickly analyze situations and problem solve. However, as a child I didn’t view this as a skill. I would jealously watch my friend's display their skills and talents wondering what mine were. This was the case until I started learning Algebra One as well as analyzing and reading literature in eighth grade. Only then did I recognize that I excelled in these areas and enjoyed them. Then I began actively developing this skill by taking the most advanced classes my junior high school had to offer. In high school I took honors Math classes, honors English classes, AP calculus, AP Physics C mechanics, and both AP English tests and excelled in most of them while enjoying the process at the same time. I have continued to develop my critical thinking skills in college through enrolling in the Scholar’s program and taking the more arduous classes they offered. I hope to continue developing this skill in upper division classes and apply my analytical nature to providing insight in the psychology field.