Quite frankly I am not sure if our education system focuses enough on critical thinking. This skill involves detailed thought that examiness a specific claim, observation, or situation. You may think of it as questioning skills. Critical thinking enables you to analyze a situation and determine what to do or make a judgement on the situation. This skills transcends the world of academics. For example, think about a time when you missed class. You get in contact with someone you know who is also in the class. You ask them, "so what did I miss?" Their response is "oh nothing we did not talk about much." Now this situation, as simple as it may be, requires you to think critically. Let's say the teacher always has the class complete a quiz, everyday. Let's also consider that you know a project is coming up soon and the professor may have talked about the requirements. So, when taking this into consideration as well as other past experiences in class and what you know about this particular classmate, should you be satisfied with his / her response?
What critical thinking enables you to do is gather up information from a multitude of sources, analyze the different information pertaining to the specific situation, and then make some sort of conclusion about the situation. Another way that critical thinking can be used in college is when scheduling your courses. What are the advantages and disadvantages of on-line courses? What about mixed mode? Are you a morning person or not so much? Are there certain teaching styles you prefer? What would be the best way to schedule your courses in order for you to perform to your very best?
Finally, critical thinking is crucial with Interdisciplinary studies. Why did you choose your different areas? How will they work best with each other? The idea behind critical thinking is to think outside the box and take a look at a situation from multiple perspectives. Combining your interests to form a new idea that can incorporate all of them definitely takes some critical thinking. Ultimately, thinking critically will allow to to see some options or ideas that may not have been so obvious at first.
I think it's interesting that most of the time I don't even think that I am using critical thinking skills. Personally, I am not very "good" at critical thinking, but when I consider the scenerios above, I use critical thinking skills almost every day in even the simplest of sitations. People probably don't even know how much critical thinking they do throughout their day.
ReplyDeleteI agree that school doesn't really prepare you to think critically, the majority of your time is spent repeating what the teacher says or does, and the rest is spent figuring out paperwork. Even most college classes are spent this same way. I think that if students were made to figure out things they would fair far better in life. As it is I know several college kids who don't know how to look at the big picture. The don't understand what it means to think for themselves at all, they are simply ok with what people tell them.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I can be that kind of person anymore. I have to know that what I am doing is the right thing, or at least the best thing for me. I question everything and try to see all the ways something can playout.
Erica, what is it that makes you feel that you are not a good critical thinker?
ReplyDeleteElla, it is good that you see some of the short comings of other college students. I don't questions everything, I tend to sometimes take things at their face value. My opinion is to strike a balance between questioning everything and questioning nothing. I suppose critical thinking could also involve judging when to question something or when to accept it as it.
As for critical thinking, yes I think we use it all the time, and more than we actually realize. Another thing I do agree with is school doesn't necessarily teach you critical thinking the way it says so on paper. In the back of every chapter, there are "critical thinking questions" maybe they are designed to encourage critical thinking, but I always found them annoying.
ReplyDeleteI did at the test, and 2 out of 3 of my situations were consistent. The one I was inconsistent with is something I would probably actually not do. I don't think I would ever have the nerve to push a 400 pound man off a life boat. It seems practical, but in reality I wouldn't. Besides that everything was on target.
In class today, we worked on a Virtual Philosopher website (http://web.uncg.edu/dcl/courses/vicecrime/vp/vp.html). Through this exercise, I have gained more insight on my critical thinking skills and how I approach different scenerios. I think that this exercise has somewhat proved my poor critical thinking skills due to the inconsistency of my answers in how I responded to the scenerios. I was inconsistent with 2 of the scenerios and consistent with only one of them. I think that I responded based on my emotions more than a critical thinking basis. I felt bad for the mom who had six kids and, if not chosen for the liver transplant, would possibly die and leave six kids behind. After finishing the entire virtual philosopher activity, I continued to think about my choices and decided that I should have chosen the young child. Discussing this issue with fellow classmates, I see that saving the child is probably the most consistent choice with my ethical choices. The mother of six kids may die, but her kids would not. They could be adopted or taken in by family members. Or, she may be fortunate enough to receive a liver in a couple weeks that might save her life.
ReplyDeleteI have realized that I do not make the best decisions when I have to chose on-the-spot. I like to take more time that alloted in most cases to think about what "I would do" in determining a solution or conclusion to an issue.
I believe that critical thinking takes place every day from the time you get up to put on that special outfit to our commute to class or work to how you are woking in a relationship. Past that the level of commonalities between us all it is up to us as students, parents, leaders, educators, employees and emplorers to take it to the next level or greater thought.
ReplyDeleteOk, in class today, like Erica said, we had to take the Virtual Philosopher quiz, and are suppose to post our choice for the Liver problem. I hate questions like this, mostly because you don't know all of the facts like the deciding doctor would. As I have said before I like to consider everything and I don't feel like I can for this question. Aside from that, I said that I would eliminate who would receive the liver, and I got down to Chris and the mother of 6. I think its a tie between the two, but I went with Chris for the quiz. What did everyone else choose?
ReplyDeleteLOL I'm also adding my Name from now on. I'm Amanda Farmer.. I had a previous account on Google and went by ellaenchanted and couldn't figure out how to change it to my name...
Erica,
ReplyDeleteLike I said in my previous post, I chose the kid, but it still gave me an inconsistent reading because of my previous answers. I think its really hard to make that kind of desion on the spot.
It is true that we use critical thinking in almost everyday action. In one of my classes I am taking, Marketing, it seems like everything is using critical thinking. Figuring the steps to how consumers choose products, or how companies do research to hep improve their marketing are all basically a bunch of questions put together to make a formal process. I am pretty sure that the students in that class (and other classes as well, but this being my example) don't realize that they are performing a very simple skill which has a proper name, critical thinking. I feel that people probably become better critical thinkers when they come from an interdisciplinary approach, whether you major in it or not, because it teaches one to look at a problem or objective from multiple angles and will probably provide you with a more thought through decision.
ReplyDeleteI can see how critical thinking can be associated with the simple question of, “what did I miss in class today?” There have been times when I ask a fellow classmate what did I miss today, and I get the simple response of “nothing really, just notes.” I always find myself unsatisfied and asking another classmate and elaborating, such as “did he go over what we need to study for the quiz/test?” or “What exactly did the professor talk about, can you explain these notes to me?” This approach usually always gets me the desired information I need to further my studies.
ReplyDeleteEllaenchanted, I agree with you that a lot of college students are not at that point in their lives yet where they see there is more (the bigger picture). And again, I agree that part of the problem is with our school system. They tell you what to do and do as you are told instead of questioning authority and having the ability to look at all situations from different angles. One class which I feel involves a great deal of critical thinking is philosophy. Everything they do involves questioning everyone and everything. Actually, I find critical thinking when it is really obvious like that to be really intense and kind of difficult.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading two other posts about that online assignment, I decided to look into it as well. Wow! I was shocked to see how difficult it was to sometimes make a decision that I was able to stand behind 100%. It was amazing how many different scenarios went through my thoughts and how many questions I asked about each. I also turned to my roommate after to see how she would handle the situations. It was interesting to see how her thought processes were similar and/or different from mine since she thought out loud as we were discussing it. The questions at the end of the decisions also brought up really interesting critical questions which easily then through in a lot of other questions. I would have to say that was probably the most intense critical thinking I had done today! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLike Erica I was inconsistent with 2 of my scenarios, but I expected so. I do believe that ethically all human lives are equal, but I base this belief on the fact that man has no right to play God and choose who lives or who dies, therefore I chose to hope for a miracle in the lifeboat situation. Who am I to decide that the 400lb man’s life is least important, granted I would hope he would sacrifice himself, but that is his decision not mine or anyone else’s. As for the liver transplant I do not like the way the scenario was set up at all. Based on my beliefs I should have chosen the homeless man, simply because he was first on the list…but I don’t feel he deserved it ethically and medically speaking. The 8 year old child has parents and family who love him and the death of a child is always more disheartening no matter the case, especially one that could be avoided. I felt that if I chose the wealthy man I was being bought, granted his funds could help more lives, but if he has a few more weeks to live and was the last to sign up, I am willing to take the risk of letting him wait for the next transplant. As for the mother of 6 children, choosing her was my second choice because she had the most to loose and her children would be greatly affected. I did not like this exercise at all because it was strategically put together to put all of your moral, ethics, and emotions in turmoil. The homeless man was put first in the list to throw a wrench in your conscience, just like the young mother with 6 kids. All I can honestly say is that I am glad I am not premed! These are decisions that I could not make without letting them eat away at my moral conscience.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Shari that every single one of us uses some degree of critical thinking in even the most minute of circumstances from deciding how you are going to achieve your goals to deciding what kind of pizza to get for your family. It is in everything we do but it just depends on how one utilizes it. I chose my three areas of study (humanities, communications, and hospitality management) because I am very interested in all of them and I know that having knowledge in these areas will help me think more critically in my job and my personal life. All three of these area has something to do with human behavior and why people do or choose the things that they do and since I am going to work in customer service for my career then I feel these areas will greatly benefit my cause.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Ella Enchanted that it is a very hard decision to choose who is going to receive a liver or die basically. I also chose the little boy but it said I was inconsistent but when I was put on the spot without having time to really evaluate my decision carefully he just seemed like the most reasonable response since he has his entire life ahead of him compared to the other candidates. When I read the results it stated that the boy could have died during surgery or I just chose him because he was the youngest but I honestly don't think I could of considered every possible angle in deciding something so fast. I did get two consistent and one inconsistent to I guess I am fairly decent at critical thinking?
ReplyDeleteI was reading through Cristina's latest post and I agree that I would definitely not want to be premed and have to make those kind of heart breaking decisions every day for my job. I guess that's why, I believe for most premed students, they are required to take an ethics course for the purpose of making the decision of who needs a liver with a more ethical and moral viewpoint. I guess even if someone isn't an Interdisciplinary student they still have to take classes like ethics for their degree to help them become improved critical thinkers when decisions about which patient should live or die face them every day when they become doctor's.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree...I would not want to have to make these type of decisions daily. It's a little different taking a quiz online and making the decisions, but when it comes to making those decisions in reality, it's very nerve-racking and stressful. Also, people have different views on issues so not everyone would make the same decision. I think all of us are bias to our morals and ethics, so it's hard to see someone make a decision when it doesn't like up with what we agree.
ReplyDeleteAs for the virtual philosopher...as you (our mentors) may have read from other students, in class on Thursday, we (IDS students) were persuaded to take a quiz on virtual philosopher (listed in other IDS students comments). The vitual philosopher asked a series of questions based on your critical or philosophical thinking, one of which included a question about choices pertaining to a liver transplant list. I chose not to play along in chosing a transplant recipient based on their personal details, I decided to go with a first come first serve basis. However, in real life I do realize that recipients of transplants are based on a high level of critical thought in giving the transplant. Good news for me is that I do not have the medical field included as part of my program. As for all you students in health related studies, you may want to review your answers to see if you are consistant. Attention mentors: have fun with your virtual philosophy session. Shari L. Weber
ReplyDeleteCassandra,
ReplyDeleteIn one of your statements said you choose your three concentrations because you had prior knowledge in all of them, and they interest you the most. I think that is one of the benefits of this degree, you get to choose a few things that interest you. There is room to grow and change as a person. With critical thinking it works the same way. We all learn and grow has an individual, and our skills do the same.
Shari,
ReplyDeleteThe liver transplant question took me the longest to answer. I second guessed myself, and changed my answer three or four times. Whenever they asked me if I was sure, I would go back and re-read. The funny thing was, in the end I picked who I originally wanted it to be. Was it the best choose, and when they explained why I picked that one, it made sense. I agree, I am very happy to not be in the medical field, because I wouldn't be able to choose.
I also had to review the question several times and ended up changing my answer a few times before I made a final answer. I am also very happy to not be in the medical field, although not all positions in the medical field probably invovle these type of difficult ethical questions.
ReplyDeleteI was reading Cassandra's response to my post, and I didn't know that Premed was required to take ethics courses, but its seems very logical. I thin k it is a great idea to have all majors take at least one Ethics course to graduate.
ReplyDelete