When I began Embry
Riddle’s Leadership program about a month ago I rarely executed the process of
critical thinking. In fact, I really did not know what it meant to think
critically. Robert Ennis defined critical thinking as, “Reasonable, reflective thinking
that is focused on deciding what to do or believe” (as cited in Nosich, 2012,
p. 1). Now that I had a definition of critical thinking I needed to break it
down and determine what it really meant. I determined that critical thinking
was taking time to reflect and think deeply about a question or situation
before responding. Two words really
jumped out to me in his description of critical thinking; reasonable and
reflective. These are two adjectives that undeniably did not describe my way of
thinking before starting this class. Nosich (2012) also states that critical
thinking should involve thinking about your thinking. I had a terrible habit of
just taking things at face value and not thinking any deeper about anything.
Nosich
(2012) taught me that there are as many as fifty basic concepts in critical
thinking but the most crucial concepts can be placed into the eight elements of
critical thinking. The eight elements of critical thinking are: point of view,
purpose, question at issue, assumptions, implications and consequences,
information, concepts, and conclusions or interpretations. The elements can be
formed into a circle and one should go through each element during the critical
thinking process. Critical thinking also
involves standards and alternative that must be considered while making a
decision. Nosich (2012) describes that critical thinking must involve asking
questions. After studying the text I now knew how to think critically but
questioned if I had taken any action to change my way of thinking.
As
I pondered the question if my critical thinking has changing over this course
of this class, I started to write down some of the things I do now that I would
not have done just over a month ago. I
now attempt to think through the circle, use fewer assumptions, ask questions,
and think about things systematically. When I am given a problem or scenario I now
attempt to think through things a little more thoroughly before coming to an
answer. My girlfriend has always told
me that I refuse to see things a different way because I have assumptions that
I cling to. This is something I have really tried to correct over the last
couple of weeks. I now try to not let my
assumptions play a role in my decisions.
Another
concept that I have tried to practice is asking questions before coming to a
conclusion. A month ago if I were asked
if I agreed with universal healthcare or with Colorado legalizing marijuana, I
would have simply given a yes or no answer. Today if I were asked the second
question my thoughts would center around the following questions: (a) has the
legalization helped to boost the economy of Colorado? , (b) Are there more
traffic related accidents due to the legalization of marijuana? , and (c) how
are the non-licensed dealers being monitored? I would really think things
through and weigh the options out before making a decision. In relation to that
concept, I have also noticed that I am beginning to take a systematic approach
to thinking. My assignments have even begun to be laid out very systematically.
I also have tried to begin to listen more thoroughly during a conversation. I
had a pattern of hearing but not really listening to someone who was speaking
to me. I now listen and process the conversation methodically in order to
critically think about what is being said. I have found the concepts that I
learned in this course to be very supportive while I learn to critically think.
I
must be more conscious of my thinking if I am going to make a lasting positive
change in regards to the way I think. I
also believe the art of critical thinking will take time and repetition to
master. I do not think it will be something that will be a normality in every
situation without thinking about my thinking and going around the circle many
times so it become second nature. In the last couple of weeks I have begun to
change the way I think, so I trust that if I continue to be cognizant of the
concepts, elements, standards, and alternatives of critical thinking then I can
make a complete and positive change for the betterment of my critical thinking
process.
Reference
Nosich, G. M. (2012). Learning
to think things through: A guide to critical thinking across the curriculum (4th ed). Boston, MA: Pearson
No comments:
Post a Comment