The Importance of Critical Thinking Skills in Accounting Education

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.

As an adult return college student, I feel as though critical thinking skills are sharpened over time. Through real life experiences such as; raising children, working a full time job, having to balance a budget, being responsible for others, paying bills, and so on. You constantly have to improve your critical thinking skills to survive. "Most mature adults realize that success in college demands a great deal of hard work." (Dr. Robert Pitcher "Causes of Failure in College"). I have learned how important being successful in college is. I did well in college when I was younger and did earn a degree, but I can definitely say that my critical thinking skills are hardly comparable from what they are now to what they were then. "The best way to

Employers require critical thinking skills of their employees. Regularly applying your own critical thinking skills helps you develop a growth mindset, create options, and understand how to handle complex situations effectively.

Critical Thinking is present in educational capacities, but also in personal capacities and allows for knowledge to be acquired and evolved. Thus, it is extremely valuable because it allows for humans to be equipped with abilities and adapt to change. As Darwin believed, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change (“Ten Quotes to Inspire Business Leaders,” 2013).”

“Critical thinking is multidimensional process that involves decoding, analyzing, processing, reasoning, and evaluating information” (Bethel University, 2013, p.2). There are numerous ways we can demonstrate substantial critical thinking skills. Having a positive attitude is a great place to start not only for yourself but for those around you (Bethel University, 2013). Another vital skill in critical thinking is asking questions (Nappi, 2017). We have been asked questions our whole lives. From tests at school to problem solving at work, we are always asking questions or looking for answers.

We as college students are constantly bombarded with questions of what we want to do with our education and what we are looking to take from our experience in higher education, but I say are our hundreds of thousands of dollars really being justified based on what educators are teaching us. Yes, math, science, and art history, are all well and good but what are the real life takeaways I am going to use in my occupation? Here is a thought how about colleges and universities start teaching us critical thinking skills, how to collaborate and work under a master, and how to understand human being and empathy? Personally, I want to start being exposed to these areas in particular. In order to improve higher education and to justify it’s luxury pricing,

Clearly critical thinking is a very important skill for someone to have, especially in college. It can help you get through your classes easily if you are able to apply reasoning to many of the issues you face. It won’t always be easy but eventually you can find solutions to most of your problems with

It is essential for students in elementary school to acquire the skills that will allow them to be better critical thinkers.

Thinking， for a person it can be a simple process to reflect or consider something. However, thinking critically is more difficult do. It demonstrates the ability of a person to be reflectively engaging and independent thinking. Critical thinking means how well a person's ability to think clearly, logically and intelligently about what to do or what to believe. In the essay following, I will include a detailed explanation of what critical skill is and clearly evaluate the importance for me of thinking critically when studying at the university supported with a list of references.

Critical thinking is defined in many different ways. Like many other researchers in the field of critical thinking Halpern (1993) argues that there is little agreement on the definition of critical thinking. However, she believes that overlap in various definition of the concept does exist. One of the main themes throughout the multiple definitions is that critical thinking is a higher order cognitive skill. This means that more information is needed to solve the problem or answer a question than just basic recall information or lower order thinking. Halpern (1998) describes higher order skills as being relatively complex in nature. Higher order skills require judgment, analysis, and synthesis. They are not applied in a rote or mechanical manner. This type of thinking is thinking that is reflective, sensitive to the context, and self-monitored.

The purpose of this research is to show how teaching critical thinking to young learners result in higher level critical thinking adults. Critical thinking children become critical thinking adults. Critical thinking, itself is a multi-faceted, multi-concept, multi-discipline process, that is skilled and accuracy-based. According to Paul, critical thinking involves an abundance of elements including clarity, relevancy, precision, and consistency. Critical thinking is full of sub-categories, where processes and concepts differ on the account of motive. (Paul M. S., 1987) Defining critical thinking is not simple, it is more complex, but should be implemented especially at a young age. We will cover critical thinking as it pertains to business, education, and technology and its plausibility to each discipline.

Critical thinking is an important and valuable skill to have. Critical thinking affects both your professional lifestyle as well as your personal lifestyle. Critical thinkers should encompass skills needed to thoroughly analyze all the variables in a problem. During critical thinking, decisions should be based upon logic, and relevant and accurate data. Problem-solving and decision making is part of our everyday lives. It is important to use critical and creative thinking when solving problems and making decisions. Without thinking critically, you may miss out on important details that may help you come up the best solution or make the best

Further, in reference to Reiter-Palmon and Illies (2004), critical thinking denotes an engaging process that is reliant on the use of various intellectual skills coupled with activities. The activities and intellectual skills are focused towards the evaluation of information, making assumptions, and sparking a thinking process that is disciplined. Hence, an effective critical thinking process is noteworthy towards ensuring that an individual can assess information comprehensively. Reiter-Palmon and Illies (2004) further believe that critical thinking is a necessary part of the creative problem process since it assists in the identification of false ideas that may impede the creation of solutions to various problems.

Developing critical thinking skills is a duty of all teachers; and if teachers fail to use learning opportunities and produce a learning environment that fosters critical thinking, they are failing their students. Critical thinking allows students to see things from different perspectives in an unbiased way. It also encourages students to think for themselves and to question things. Finally, it teaches students that learning is fluid and builds upon itself. Learning to think critically takes time; and teachers can use questions, cooperative learning, and feedback to help students develop this important skill that they will use all of their lives.

The relationship between thinking critically and student success was explored in the work of Birjandi and Bagherkazemi (2010) whose results supported the idea that acknowledging critical thinking skills improved student performance. The detachment from the existing concrete limits and diving into assumptions opens the door to multiple solutions, many of which will be correct and effective and will better enhance student understanding.