Critical Thinking Is a Way of Setting Out Ideas - Essay Example

'Critical thinking is a way of setting out ideas, it's a formula or template, a set of rules, and they are quite strongly codified at (Firth, 1996). Discuss this claim in relation to the critical thinking expected of university students in essay writing incorporating relevant SSK12 readings in your discussion and drawing on your experience of university. Critical thinking is irreplaceable and integral part of the academic field, because this is the basic way in which knowledge is constructed and developed. In the academic battlefield researchers and scholars are seeking explanations and answers to various open questions. Though, theories and methods are proven or disputed, still due to the critical thinking these conclusions are not final and they are always exposed to comments and criticism. Thanks to critical thinking knowledge is added to all fields allowing for the perpetual evolution of disciplines. Critical thinking and critical approach contribute for the desirable skills that all students aim to - to be able to assess decisively situations. Universities insist on critical thinking because it develops and evolves intelligence and associative thinking. Critical thinking has been interpreted and measured in numberless ways. According to Pascarella and Terenzini (1991) critical thinking "typically involves the individual's ability to do some or all of the following: identify central issues, make correct inferences from data, deduce conclusions from the information or data provided, interpret whether conclusions are warranted on the basis of the data given, and evaluate evidence or authority" (p. 118). They note that the impact of the activated critical thinking is evidenced in postsecondary education. The imperative that students have to concentrate and develop their critical thinking in their postsecondary education identifies the need for scholars to accent on other aspects of thinking while at university. Very often students receive feedbacks on their assignments stating "lack of critical thinking". What is often meant is that the paper does not show critical analyses. Scriven and Paul (2001) describe critical thinking as "the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generalized by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning or communication, as a guide to belief and action (1)." For them critical thinking is a process and not an end. Paul and Elder (2002) emphasize that there are 9 qualities that transform the language into an optimal use: clarity, precision, depth, accuracy, relevance, significance, logic, breadth and fairness. Usually students who master the critical thinking technique will be able to: Search patterns and underlying rules; Connect ideas to previous knowledge and examine and compare theories and real life experience; Verify and substantiate evidence and relate it to the conclusions; Explore the arguments for and against and ask critical questions and made assumptions; Recognize alternative viewpoints and being able to built counterarguments; Generalizing main concepts and seeking clarifications to build sustainable knowledge; At university level critical thinking is essential for combining discussion with peer-editing activities and to stimulate the collaboration between pupils. An example of encouraging critical thinking at university is establishing "buzz groups" within the class and each groups will discuss a certain aspect of the topic and the other will try to build counter-arguments and critique the conclusions. A research conducted by Johnson et al (1991) shows that "buzz group" discussions following the guidelines of covering main concepts and then critically evaluating if a counter-argument can be built helps students to develop problem-solving skills and to enhance their independent thinking. In "buzz group" discussions learners are able to formulate problems and to be involved in the process of exploratory learning. This is so, because they exchange ideas, and interact with each other, sharing opinions, searching for associations and verbally expressing their thoughts. This student empowerment is unattainable without lecturer's strong commitment to teach and engage pupils in critical thinking. Discussion groups not only foster critical thought, but it also aids in strengthening diversity and disagreement. Usually when learners are having group discussions they are not competing to prove who is wrong or right, or to find the correct answer. They rather collaborate to the process of evaluating their ideas and evolving and developing their understanding about the topic. Promoting critical thinking at university is important since students at that time rapidly expand their knowledge adding various facts, principles, concepts and theories. To improve and sharpen their basic academic skills, professors effectively teach students and require from them to learn new thinking skills. Training and preparing students to think is one of the most fundamental goals posed by university professors. Thinking skills are of primary importance not only for the academic field, but also in day to day activities. James Davis (1993) notes that clear thinking considerably varies across disciplines and both students and pupils must differentiate between critical thinking and creative thinking. Furthermore, Davis (1993) elaborates that critical thinking implicates assessing, rating and judging the value of the delivered information in terms of reasoning and proved evidence applying particular criteria. Whereas, creative thinking includes presenting new and unique ideas or products as well as resolving issues not addressed previously (Davis). The communication technologies and the Internet put information at our fingertips. Information is increasingly available and can be accessed by everyone. However, finding applying and understanding what has been learned especially at universities is more important than ever. Communication technologies brought the world to us and made distance unimportant, and learning about everything has become a life-long challenge for the new generation. Norman (1980) comments that professors expect from university students to show critical thinking and approaches, to solve problems independently and to seek answers themselves, however, they seldom teach them step by step ways to do so. Norman (1980) also argues that there is a widely open dispute at what academic level students have to be taught to think critically - high school, college or university. Brown (1986) asserts that the major goal of college education is to transmit to students the techniques of learning to learn. "A college catalog that failed to praise critical thinking or to pledge that graduates will think more critically when they leave than when they arrive would be an anomaly (Brown 18)." Helping students think critically and directing them towards proficiency in their written and spoken language is the upmost goal of education despite at what level it will be commenced. Teachers from all education stages advocate critical thinking as the fundamental principle to apply in learning. Teachers ought to create an atmosphere which to support and promote critical thinking. As Feez (1998) examines students find a critical thinking task easy or difficult depending on how relevant it is to their immediate intellectual demands. "The skill needed to become a critical thinker is not an ability to find the answers; it is the ability to ask the right questions (Allen 22)". Questions are essential for stimulating students' critical approach. Asking questions which require factual information committed to memory will not provide students with the correct critical orientation. However, if they are asked about the particular causes that led to those circumstances they will incorporate their knowledge and will give their own judgment. Professors have to ask questions that nurture dialogue and demand further clarifications and elaboration. Every textbook and other resource materials include questions for analyses at the end of the chapter or units covered. Many have exercised and group discussions. In most of the cases, however, the end notes questions are designed to comment the content of the text rather than demand exploring the issue from the different perspective. The role of the teacher is critical here in guiding learners to find their own ideas and draw conclusions from experience to get the overall picture of the problem discussed. Academic success is complicated and sometimes biased process. The ability to express orally and on paper, to apply critical knowledge, creative approaches, and effective problem solving suggests multi-task expertise. Taking into consideration that we live in culturally diverse society and that there are no standardized requirements for high schools, colleges or universities it is hard to judge at what educational stage critical thinking should be introduced and stimulated. Moreover, individually, as social agents we are predisposed to develop initial critical thinking as early as kindergarten, when we learn to interact with others, to value their behaviour, to follow or to reject social patterns. Therefore, we assume that when a student has a certain academic commitment to accomplish at university level he has grasped the main critical thinking methods which are a prerequisite for academic success. Works Cited: Allen, M. Smart Thinking: Skills for Critical Understanding and Writing, Oxford University Press, Oxford. 1997. Brown, M., "Preconditions for encouraging critical thinking on the campus". International Journal of Social Education, 3, 1986.18-27. Davis,James. Better teaching, more learning: Strategies for success in postsecondary settings. Phoenix, AZ: American Council on Education and Oryx Press, pp. 173-178. 1993. Feez, S. Text Based Syllabus Design. NCELTR, Sydney. 1998. Johnson, D.W. et al. Focused Discussion Pairs, Active Learning: Cooperation in the College Classroom, Edina MN: Interaction Book Company, 1991. Norman, D., Teaching Learning Strategies, San Diego, CA: University of California. 1980 Pascarella, Ernest and Terenzini, Patrick. How College Affects Students: Findings And Insights From Twenty Years Of Research, Vol.1.Jossey-bass, 1991. Paul, Richard and Elder. Linda. Critical Thinking: Tools for Talking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life. New York: Prentice Hall. 2002 Scriven, Michael and Paul Richard. Defining Critical Thinking: A Draft Statement for the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking. Web.2001. (accessed 19 January 2010). Read More