Abstract:
Critical thinking includes the component skills of analyzing arguments, making inference using inductive or deductive reasoning, judging or evaluating and making decisions or solving problems. Background knowledge is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for enabling critical thought within a given subject. Critical thinking involves both cognitive skills and dispositions. These dispositions which can be seen as attitudes or habits of mind, include open and fair-mindedness, inquisitiveness, flexibility, a propensity to seek reason, a desire to be well informed and respect for and willingness and entertain diverse viewpoints. There are both general- and domain-specific aspects of critical thinking. Empirical research suggests that people begin developing critical thinking competencies at Avery young age. Although adults often exhibit deficient reasoning in theory all people can be taught to think critically. Instructors are urged to provide explicit instruction in critical thinking, to teach how transfer to new contexts, and to use cooperative or collaborative learning methods and constructivist approaches that place student at the center of learning process. In constructing assessments of critical thinking, educators should use open-ended tasks, real-world or "authentic" problem contexts, and ill-structured problems that requires student to go beyond recalling or restating previously learning information. Such tasks should have more than one defensible solution and embed adequate collateral materials to support multiple perspectives. Finally, such assessment tasks should make student reasoning visible by requiring students to provide evidence or logical arguments in support of judgments, choice, claims, or assertions.
