Question

Ask ten people who believe themselves knowledgeable about critical thinking for a definition, and you will most likely receive ten differing responses.

Browne and Keeley (1986) refer to critical thinking as filtering, separating the relevant from the irrelevant. Chaffee (1985) says that critical thinking is "making sense of our world by carefully examining our thinking and the thinking of others in order to clarify and improve our understanding@ (p.49). Others (Missimer, 1990; Kahane, 1992; Beardsley, 1975; Freeman, 1993) define critical thinking much more technically: understanding argument, recognizing fallacies, distinguishing premises from conclusions, and isolating salient issues from non-relevant information.

Brookfield (1987), long considered an "expert" on critical thinking, contends that critical thinking is a process. Although his definition includes emotional as well as rational components, and clearly acknowledges the importance of culture and context, it contains the following common characteristics:

Identifying and challenging assumptions.

Challenging the importance of context.

Trying to imagine and explore alternatives.

Reflective Skepticism.

Brookfield (1987) defines reflective skepticism as the act of constantly questioning the status quo. Just because something has been believed for years does not necessarily mean that it is true. Just because something has been done a certain way for years does not mean it is the only or best way to do it. Furthermore, just because someone of perceived importance says something is right, that does not prove that it is right. I like to call this the "maybe--maybe not" life stance.

Post your response to the following discussion question. There are many definitions for critical thinking and your readings introduce you to various concepts. However, what do you think it means to think critically?

Limit your response to 150 to 300 words, demonstrate understanding of and cite the required readings or other credible sources that you apply, and look for opportunities to engage with and learn from others.

Answer 1

critical thinking, to assess students’ critical thinking skills,to present the most successful CL structures that can beused to develop critical thinking.

The research methodology:

the present study refers to thefollowing methodological attitudes.

Humanistic philosophy and theory of personality based on a principal that a human being is unique andintegral. This theory emphasises the development ofindividual’s natural abilities.

•

Cognitive theory related to a constructivism principal,i.e. teaching is understood as an active process. Its purpose is not only to give and receive information, but also to stimulate students’ thinking and activity.

The research methods

: the analysis of scientific literature,questionnaire, observation, statistical and comparative analysis.

Theoretical Background

The roots of critical thinking are as ancient as its etymology,tracing to the times of Socrates who paved the way for thetradition of critical thinking.Critical thinking as a specific area of study goes back atleast to 1941 with Edward Glaser’s “An Experiment in theDevelopment of Critical Thinking”.The development of thinking was strongly influenced by thework of certain leading individuals as Benjamin Bloom.Following the 1948 Convention of the American PsychologicalAssociation, Benjamin Bloom took a lead in formulating aclassification of "the goals of the educational process". Bloomheaded a group of educational psychologists who developed aclassification of levels of intellectual behaviour important inlearning. This became a taxonomy including three overlappingdomains; the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective (Bloom,Krathwhol 1956; Anderson, Krathwohl 2001).The work of Bloom and others on taxonomies wasextremely significant as it was the first attempt to classifylearning behaviours and provide concrete measures foridentifying different levels of learning. The developmentof taxonomies is closely related to the use of instructionalobjectives and the systematic design of instructional programmes.Many definitions are cognitively correlated to Bloom’staxonomy, the assumption being that critical thinking isinherent in the higher-level thinking skills of analysis andsynthesis. Bloom categorised thinking into the followingsix processes:

Knowledge –

to know means to have a fact or informationat one's disposal;

Comprehension

– to comprehend a fact or a piece ofinformation is to understand what it means;

Application

– to apply information means to find some practical use for it;

Analysis –

to analyse means to break information downinto parts and see how these parts work together;

Synthesis –

to synthesise means to take the knowledge onehas and connect it with other knowledge;

Evaluation

– to evaluate means to be able to judge ifinformation is good or bad, sound or unsound.Despite the fact that Bloom’s taxonomy has not held up wellin empirical testing and is being discarded by many educators(Tucker 1996), many researchers use an approach based onhis works. Bloom’s model was taken into account whileorganising the present classroom research.Browne and Keeley (1986) refer to critical thinking asfiltering, separating the relevant from the irrelevant.Chaffee (1985) says that critical thinking is "making senseof our world by carefully examining our thinking and thethinking of others in order to clarify and improve ourunderstanding". Others (Beardsley 1975; Missimer 1990;Kahane 1992; Freeman, 1993) define critical thinking muchmore technically: understanding argument, recognizingfallacies, distinguishing premises from conclusions, andisolating salient issues from non-relevant information.Brookfield (1986), long considered an "expert" on criticalthinking, contends that critical thinking is a process.Although his definition includes emotional as well asrational components, and clearly acknowledges theimportance of culture and context, it contains the followingcommon characteristics:

•

Identifying and challenging assumptions.

•

Challenging the importance of context.

•

Trying to imagine and explore alternatives.

•

Reflective scepticism.Brookfield (1986) defines reflective scepticism as the actof constantly questioning the status quo. Just becausesomething has been believed for years does not necessarilymean that it is true. Just because something has been donea certain way for years does not mean it is the only or bestway to do it. Furthermore, just because someone of perceived importance says something is right, that does not prove to be right.Paul, Binker, Jensen, and Kreklau (1990) have developed alist of 35 dimensions of critical thought. Their “CriticalThinking Handbook” is a guide for remodelling lesson plans in language, arts, social studies and science.The pioneering work of Lipman, as well as other leadingfigures such as Edward de Bono (1970, 1976, 1992), haveinspired a wide range of work. Nickerson, Perkins andSmith (1985) listed thirty different programmes. Sincethen, many works have appeared. Some approaches to'teaching thinking' (Sternberg and Berg 1992) haveattempted to look at this extensive range of programmesand their underpinning theories and classroom techniquesand determined the key elements, to identify techniqueswhich can be more easily adopted by practitioners. A widerange of programmes are now available to researchers,such as “Thinking Actively in a Social Context” (Wallaceand Adams 1993) developed to promote problem-solvingwith a cycle or activating children's thinking skills drawingon the works of Schwartz and Parks (1994) and McGuinness(1999). These resulting approaches are hard to classifythough elements from the other approaches can be seen. Of

particular note is the work of Michael Shayer and Philip Adey(1994) at Kings College in London. Most programmes andapproaches acknowledge the importance of language,articulation and discussion as a key element in “ThinkingTogether” (Dawes 2000). The influence of Robert Fisher(1987, 1990, 1995) in developing classroom resources todevelop a 'community of enquiry' is particularly significant, asis the work of Karin Murris (1999) and the Society for theAdvancement of Philosophical Enquiry in Education.S. Ferrett (1997) in “Peak Performance” advances the followingcharacteristics of critical thinker:1.

Asks pertinent questions2.

Assesses statements and arguments3.

Is able to admit a lack of understanding or information4.

Has a sense of curiosity5.

Is interested in finding new solutions6.

Is able to clearly define a set of criteria for analysing ideas7.

Is willing to examine beliefs, assumptions, and opinions,and weigh them against facts8.

Listens carefully to others and is able to give feedback9.

Sees that critical thinking is a lifelong process of self-assessment10.

Looks for evidence to support assumptions and beliefs11.

Is able to adjust opinions when new facts are found12.

Looks for proof13.

Examines problems closely14.

Is able to reject information that is incorrect or irrelevantJoe Old, in an October 15, 1998 online article entitled "WhatIs Critical Thinking?" recommends that all college studentslearn to practice 14 activities. His list is compiled frommultiple sources on the topic of critical thinking.1. prioritise things

2.identify purpose in things they read

3.determine consequence

4.determine effects

5.identify bias

6.identify assumptions

7.draw conclusions

8.make contrasts and comparisons

9.do syntheses

10.develop hypotheses (and test them)

11.use figurative language

12.make critiques

13.make summaries

14.make evaluationsIn their scientific publications Lithuanian scholars focus ondifferent aspects of the critical thinking concept.T. Stulpinas (1993) analyses some structural elements ofcritical, reflective thinking. The research of V. Valatkait

ė

-Rimien

ė

(1998) suggests that a large majority of students isnot able to think critically. P. Jucevi

č

ien

ė

(1999) outlinesthe problems of the development of critical thinking andresearch skills. V. Gudžinskien

ė

(2000, 2006) emphasises theimportance of collaboration between the educator and thestudent in the process of development of critical thinking skills.O. Visockien

ė

(2001) elaborates on the causes of change ineducation and considers fostering critical thinking to be amajor factor in the context of contemporary educationalchange.The focus of classroom research carried out in the springof 2004 was on 7 components of critical thinking, whichwere chosen with reference to the works of B. Bloom andD.

Krathwhol (1956), S.

Ferrett (1997) and J.

Old (1998)The divergent ways of conceptualising critical thinking can be attributed to the fact that a vast number of definitions ofcritical thinking have appeared in the educational researchliterature. The existing definitions of critical thinking can be represented on a scale starting with its wider interpretationwhich includes both subjective and objective aspects i.e. thedomain of action as well as the domain of thoughts (Barnett1997) and ending with a narrower definition which looksupon critical thinking as the ability of thinking (Elder andPaul 1994). Between these extreme positions, some otherdefinitions involving various aspects of critical thinking can be found, as the following list indicates:

“the thinking which includes self-reflection and critical action”“a skill of thinking as well as a personalattribute”“a process based on reason, intellectualhonesty, and open-mindedness”“the development of cohesive and logicalreasoning patterns”“the directed thinking that focuses on adesired outcome”“the questioning or inquiry while seekingto understand, evaluate, or resolve”“the examination and testing of suggestedsolutions”“a rational decision what to or what not to believe”“the ability to take charge of one’s ownthinking”“an attitude of being disposed to considerin a thoughtful way the problems andsubjects that come within the range ofone's experiences”.(Barnett1997)(Facione1995)(Kurland1995)(Stahl andStahl 1991)(Halpern1996)(Maiorana1992)(Lindzeyand Hall1978)(Norris1985)(Elder andPaul 1994)(Glaser1941).The variety of ways in which critical thinking isconceptualised gives rise to different interpretations as faras its key elements (abilities, knowledge, skills, processes,values, attitudes) are concerned. It is important to noticethat none of these definitions capture the same combinationsof critical thought elements. While the knowledge baserequired for critical reflection varies from subject to subject,the underlying values and attitudes remain constant acrossschool subjects. Although skills and processes are somewhat

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dependent upon specific subject matter, the same valuesand attitudes are required in all subjects for their execution.Therefore it is very important to evaluate the above mentionedelements while incorporating critical thinking into the teaching.To sum up, the result of the collective contribution of thecritical thought is that it became possible to question:

•

ends and objectives

•

the wording of questions

•

the sources of information and fact

•

the method and quality of information

•

the mode of judgment and reasoning used

•

the concepts that make the reasoning possible

•

the assumptions that underlie concepts in use

•

the implications that follow from their use

•

the point of view or frame of reference within whichreasoning takes place.The latter fundamentals of thought and reasoning constitute a baseline in critical thinking. In the light of the aboveanalysis, a working definition of critical thinking has beendesigned:

“Critical thinking is thinking that focuses on ability to identify,question, criticise, analyse, develop own decision and backarguments, make decision, summarise and communicate issueseffectively”.

Classroom Research: The Development of CriticalThinking

The research aimed to reveal the significance of CLactivities while developing critical thinking during BEclasses. The investigation was conducted in the spring of2004. The research involved 90 second-year students of thefaculty of Economics and Management who had BE ascompulsory subject and three English language instructors.The students had 3 hours a week and stayed together asgroups for 4 months.The teachers who took part in the experiment had to follow practical step by step guidelines for integrating cooperativelearning techniques into their instructional and evaluativemethods. Step one was to use uncomplicated structures ofCL (Appendix, Table 1) and only after a successfulmastering of the techniques teachers were encouraged touse more complicated CL activities (Appendix, Table 2).Accordingly, not only essential cooperative learningstrategies (setting the tasks, reminding the students of the principles of cooperation, monitoring the process, givingassistance/ feedback, maintaining a standard of accountability)were used, but also more complicated CL techniques wereapplied. Cooperative learning was applied because it is anespecially effective method to be used with any problem-solving task. The students got plenty of opportunities to brainstorm ideas, to express divergent points of view, toimplement and to evaluate the solutions at the same timehelping them become better listeners, speakers, readers,and writers. These CL structures had the determinedinfluence on the development of critical thinking.90 students of Economics and Management faculty wherechosen to participate in the project because considerablefluency in English was required. Students of Economicsand Management faculty are better equipped with theknowledge of English. The primary reason for showing better results than students of other faculties is betterquality of teaching that they had got at school, as bigger part of them come from cities, whereas students of otherfaculties (Agronomy, Forestry, Engineering) come fromremote rural regions. These students confront many obstaclesin their pursuit of higher education-including difficulties inforeign languages.The skills of critical thinking and the knowledge of Englishwere evaluated on the basis of cooperative case-study tasksand written summaries (“Choosing the right person for the job”, “How to hit the market”).Students were given a scenario and asked to find a plausible solution. Feedback was provided on a group basiswhen students selected materials, discussed issues and prepared drafts. The focus areas for assessing criticalthinking skills were 7 components of critical thinking,which were chosen with reference to the works of B.

Bloomand D. Krathwhol (1956), S. Ferrett (1997) and J. Old (1998)and having the closest relation with the use of language:1.

ability to identify and state issues clearly, logicallyand accurately2.

ability to ask pertinent questions3.

ability to develop own position and back arguments4.

ability to make summaries, identify relevant points ofview5.

ability to analyse, do synthesis and make decisions6.

ability to make critiques and integrate other perspectives7.

ability to use explicit language, communicate effectivelyEach of the seven criteria was assessed by a numeric score from1 to 3, where a score of 1 represents no evidence of the skills, 2demonstrates adequate skills, 3 represents competency.After 4 months of focused and persistent effort studentswere reassessed to compare their performance with the no-intervention performance and all the participants were surveyedafter the pedagogical strategies used. Unanimously, all thesurveyed students felt that they met their expectations forcritical thinking.Creative thinking was incorporated into the developmentof critical thinking through CL activities. The reason forthat lies in the fact that almost all of the thinking which weundertake contains some critical and creative aspects.Creative thinking is generally considered to be involvedwith the creation or generation of ideas, processes, andexperiences, whereas critical thinking is concerned withtheir evaluation. Therefore critical and creative thinking, asinterrelated and complementary aspects of good thinking processes, should be developed together (Chubinski 1996;Klenz 1987). The attempt was made to involve the targetstudents in various critical and creative thinking activitie