Critical Thinking

{Excerpt} Blaise Pascal felt that “Man is obviously made for thinking. Therein lies all his dignity and his merit; and his whole duty is to think as he ought.” A contemporary of René Descartes, Pascal is however best remembered for resisting rationalism, which he thought could not determine major truths: “The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know.” Blaise Pascal and René Descartes are reference points for two major attitudes to conscious representation of the world: although both saw reason as the primary source of knowledge, they disagreed profoundly over the competence of Man—the truth, as always, lies between faith and radical doubt. For sure, pace the propensity of intellectuals to promulgate eternal truths, or at least make a lasting impression, the idea of critical thinking neither begins nor ends with Pascal or Descartes. Socrates set the agenda nearly 2,500 years ago when the “Socratic Method” established the need to seek evidence, analyze basic concepts, scrutinize reasoning and assumptions, and trace the implications not only of what is said but of what is done as well: “Knowledge will not come from teaching but from questioning.” Thereafter, within the overall framework of skepticism, numerous scholars raised awareness of the potential power of reasoning and of the need for that to be systematically cultivated and cross-examined. Critical thinking, by its very nature, demands recognition that all questioning stems from a point of view and occurs within a frame of reference; proceeds from some purpose—presumably, to answer a question or solve a problem; relies on concepts and ideas that rest in turn on assumptions; has an informational base that must be interpreted; and draws on basic inferences to make conclusions that have implications and consequences. To note, each dimension of reasoning is linked simultaneously with the other; problems of thinking in any of them will impact others and should be monitored. Hence, effective, full-spectrum questioning that connects from multiple perspectives must illuminate each element of thought so it may permeate the model

Critical Thinking Skills of Prospective Elementary School Teachers in Integrated Science-Mathematics Lectures

The purpose of this study is to find out the critical thinking skills indicators and aspects of prospective elementary school teachers in mathematics-science integration lectures on electrical circuits and mathematical logic lesson. This research uses random sampling technique in which 30 first semester students were chosen randomly from one of university in Padang region West Sumatera Indonesia. This research uses Research and Development (R & D). The critical thinking skills are seen from processes, observations, and tests. The process of critical thinking skills of prospective elementary school teachers on the average of critical thinking skills indicator is 84% in strategies and tactics, 80% in advanced clarification and 83% in elementary clarification, basic support, and inference. The result of observing the critical thinking skills of prospective elementary school teachers on the average of each lectures is significantly increased to be 81.9%. The results of pre-test and post-test were increased significantly. It is shown from N-gain of 0.7 to be medium category

Analysis Students' Critical Thinking Skills in Solving Problems in Terms of Cognitive Style

Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis kemampuan berpikir kritis siswa dalam menyelesaikan masalah yang ditinjau dari gaya kognitif. Penelitian ini termasuk dalam Penelitian Kualitatif dengan metode deskriptif kualitatif. Subjek penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas VIII MTSN 3 Rokan Hulu. Teknik pengumpulan data dalam penelitian ini menggunakan tes GEFT (Group Embredded Figure Test) yang dikembangkan oleh Witkin dan tes kemampuan berpikir kritis berupa soal uraian. Teknik analisis data dilakukan dengan reduksi data, pemaparan data, analisis data pada kedua kelompok subjek dan penarikan kesimpulan. Analisis kemampuan berpikir kritis dalam penelitian ini menggunakan indikator dari Ennis yaitu merumuskan strategi, memberikan alasan, dan menyimpulkan. Penelitian ini menunjukkan perbedaan gaya kognitif siswa mempengaruhi kemampuan berpikir kritis siswa. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa siswa dengan gaya kognitif field independent memiliki kemampuan berpikir kritis lebih baik daripada siswa dengan gaya kognitif field dependent. Kata Kunci : Berpikir Kritis, Gaya Kogniti

Critical thinking represents...

Alvesson and Willmotts’ statement within their 1996 book “Making Sense of Management” is widely discussed. The paper illustrates two different management approaches while focusing on Modernism and Rationality as well as Interpretivism and Subjectivity. Critical Management Theory is placed within the context of and a discussion about issues such as “Organisational Culture”, “The Role of the Manager” and “Emancipation”. Finally, the need for an appropriate open-minded thinking approach in order to deal and cope with upcoming future challenges due to an increasing complexity and fundamental changes within the management processes is emphasise

An "infusion" approach to critical thinking: Moore on the critical thinking debate

This paper argues that general skills and the varieties of subject-specific discourse are both important for teaching, learning and practising critical thinking. The former is important because it outlines the principles of good reasoning simpliciter (what constitutes sound reasoning patterns, invalid inferences, and so on). The latter is important because it outlines how the general principles are used and deployed in the service of ‘academic tribes’. Because critical thinking skills are—in part, at least—general skills, they can be applied to all disciplines and subject-matter indiscriminately. General skills can help us assess reasoning independently of the vagaries of the linguistic discourse we express arguments in. The paper looks at the debate between the ‘specifists’—those who stress the importance of critical thinking understood as a subject-specific discourse—and the ‘generalists’—those that stress the importance of critical thinking understood independently of disciplinary context. The paper suggests that the ‘debate’ between the specifists and the generalists amounts to a fallacy of the false alternative, and presents a combinatory-‘infusion’ approach to critical thinking

Identification Critical Thinking Stages Of Students’ Mathematics Education Study Program FMIPA UNNES For Solving Mathematics Problems

This research is qualitative research that purpose to describe critical thinking stages of college students for each level of critical thinking skills in Mathematics Education Study Program FMIPA UNNES for solving mathematics problems. In the clarification, a subject in critical thinking level 0 until level 3 showed the same characteristic that is getting the information in the picture, and be able to create images to get additional information. In the assessment, subjects in critical thinking level 0 just dig a small portion of relevant information, the subject in critical thinking level 1 until level 3 dig most of the information. In the inference stage, a subject in critical thinking level 0 to level 2 only using inductive thinking, subject in critical thinking level 3 using deductive thinking. In the strategy stage, a subject in critical thinking 0 using the analogy or not can come up with strategies employed, subject in critical thinking level 1 and level 2 using the analogy, subject level 3 using his own ideas by looking for relationships in solving problems. Keywords: critical thinking, the stages of critical thinking, clarification, assessment, inference, strategies , and solving mathematics problem

Critical thinking skills for your social work degree.

This book is one of four key titles in a new series of study skills texts for social work students. The material contained in the book focuses on the foundations of critical thinking, reflective practice, and critical reading and writing. A link is made to the British Association of Social Workers’ [BASW] Professional Capabilities Framework, highlighting this as a key professional document in relation to critical thinking, in social work education and practice. The book is aimed at all students and social workers in training, including international students. The book is intended to guide students towards an understanding of the meaning of ‘critical thinking’ and how to apply this to practice. Reflective practice is viewed as central to this process, with the aim of supporting students to find, what the authors refer to as, their ‘own voice’

Critical thinking and systems thinking: towards a critical literacy for systems thinking in practice

About the book: In reflective problem solving and thoughtful decision making using critical thinking one considers evidence, the context of judgment, the relevant criteria for making the judgment well, the applicable methods or techniques for forming the judgment, and the applicable theoretical constructs for understanding the problem and the question at hand. In this book, the authors present topical research in the study of critical thinking. Topics discussed include developing critical thinking through probability models; the promotion of critical thinking skills through argument mapping; an instructional model for teacher training in critical thinking; advanced academic literacy and critical thinking and critical thinking and higher education