5.2 What Is Critical Thinking?
Completion requirements
According to Michael Scriven and Richard Paul, who presented this definition to The National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking in 1987:
"Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness."
Students must be taught critical thinking skills. These skills involve not only evaluating the pertinence, reliability and credibility of sources of information but also being able to evaluate the content of the information and exercise critical judgment.
As Camille Lopez pointed out in “A Brief Guide to Mental Shortcuts” (2020): “We all use mental shortcuts to process information. But they make a major contribution to the disinformation crisis. Recognizing these shortcuts is part of the solution.” We invite you to explore the interactive presentation below to help you recognize these shortcuts and avoid them.
Last modified: Tuesday, 15 August 2023, 12:36 PM