Critical thinking

6/10/21, 6:47 AMCritical Thinking and Analysis

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Cri!cal Thinking and Analysis

First, let’s consider what it means to engage in cri!cal thinking. While the applica!on of cri!cal thinking may

vary across disciplines, the steps are universal. Adapted from the wri!ngs of Bassham, Irwin, Nardone, and

Wallace (2011), Lau (2011), and Lau and Chan (2015), cri!cal thinking involves thinking clearly and

systema!cally, and includes:

formula!ng ideas succinctly and precisely

iden!fying the relevance and importance of ideas

understanding the logical connec!ons between ideas

iden!fying, construc!ng, and evalua!ng arguments, claims, and evidence

recognizing explicit and implicit assump!ons, arguments, and biases

detec!ng inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning

formula!ng clear defensible ideas and conclusions

evalua!ng the pros and cons of decisions

reflec!ng on one’s own beliefs and values

applying ethical decision making

References

Bassham, G., Irwin, W., Nardone, H., & Wallace, J. (2011). Cri!cal thinking: A student's introduc!on. (4th ed.)

New York, NY: The McGraw Hill Companies.

Lau, J. (2011). An introduc!on to cri!cal thinking and crea!vity: Think more, think be"er. Hoboken, NJ:

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Lau, J., & Chan, J. (2015). What is cri!cal thinking? Retrieved

from h"p://philosophy.hku.hk/think/cri!cal/ct.ph

Resources

Cri!cal Thinking: What It Is and Why It Counts (/content/dam/course-content/tgs/pro/pro-

600/document/Cri!calThinking_WhatItIsandWhyItCounts_checked.pdf?ou=584686)

Moving Beyond Biases and Stereotypes: The Cri!cal Stance (/content/dam/course-

content/tgs/pro/pro-600/document/movingBeyondOLR_checked.pdf?ou=584686)

Learning Topic

6/10/21, 6:47 AMCritical Thinking and Analysis

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