DEBRE

BIRHAN
UNIVERSIT
Y
DEPARTMENT NATURAL SCIENCE
SECTION J
ASSIGNMENT SKILL AND BENEFIT OF
CRITICAL THINKING

NAME
 CONTENT

1.SKILL OF CRITICAL THINKING ………………………….. 3

Benefits of Critical Thinking
Kadie Regan Aug 05, 2015

Critical Thinking is more than just a concept, it is a real-life model upon which you can build
successful and efficient problem solving skills, skills that prove highly valuable in the
workplace and beyond.

This technique, with its roots in Greek philosophy, is the application of logic to enable better,
more reasoned decision-making. It can revolutionise your everyday life, by improving how
you interpret opinions, rationalisations and problem solving practices.

Critical Thinking is a system that is often misjudged as criticism, but rather it focuses on the
ability to follow logical steps and arrive at a decisive and appropriate conclusion.

Critical thinking is the analysis of facts to form a judgement.[1] The subject is complex, and several
different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, unbiased analysis, or
evaluation of factual evidence. Critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and
self-corrective thinking. It presupposes assent to rigorous standards of excellence and mindful
command of their use. It entails effective communication and problem-solving abilities as well as a
commitment to overcome native egocentrism[2][3] and sociocentrism.

With some careful and structured training, you too can become a more informed, reasoned
decision maker.

1. Approach. With Critical Thinking, one of the crucial learning developments is an

awareness of differing approaches to a problem, alongside an ability to assess those
approaches critically. Rather than relying on a standard, uniform problem-solving
method, you can learn how to identify other, often more valuable, approaches,
inevitably increasing your success. 

2. Save time with a Critical Thinking mindset. You will already know that not all
information is relevant to your decision-making, but often we do not know how to
filter out the irrelevant from the relevant. Critical Thinking teaches you how to
prioritise your time and resources by analysing what is essential to the process. This
also helps you to know that a decision is ultimately a good one.

3. An appreciation of differing worldviews is a direct result of learning how to

empathise with other points of view. Critical Thinking enables you to see beyond, not
judge, cultural norms and learn how to understand other factors that can influence
decision-making. This empathy and understanding is crucial to effective teamwork
and leadership.
 4. Enhanced Communication. By teaching you to analyse and build your evidence for
any given premise, Critical Thinking can make you a more effective communicator.
Consistent and relevant points to support your theory are pivotal in communicating a
proposal or idea proficiently. When you know your stuff, so will they.

5. Decision-making abilities are transformed with a Critical Thinking approach, and

made a lot easier. You leave intuition or guesswork decision-making behind, and
begin to work on a more analytical and considered basis, resulting in sounder
decisions.

6. Reason. Not only will you become a more reasoned and balanced problem solver,
you will learn the two types of reasoning – inductive and deductive – and when it is
appropriate to use one over the other. Grounding decisions in reason and logic over
emotion or instinct makes for effectual problem solving.

**Etymology

In the term critical thinking, the word critical, (Grk. κριτικός = kritikos = "critic") derives
from the word critic and implies a critique; it identifies the intellectual capacity and the
means "of judging", "of judgement", "for judging", and of being "able to discern".[9] The
intellectual roots of critical[10] thinking are as ancient as its etymology, traceable, ultimately,
to the teaching practice and vision of Socrates[11] 2,500 years ago who discovered by a
method of probing questioning that people could not rationally justify their confident claims
to knowledge.

History
The earliest documentation of critical thinking are the teachings of Socrates recorded by Plato.
Socrates established the fact that one cannot depend upon those in "authority" to have sound
knowledge and insight. He demonstrated that persons may have power and high position and yet be
deeply confused and irrational. He established the importance of asking deep questions that probe
profoundly into thinking before we accept ideas as worthy of belief.

Socrates set the agenda for the tradition of critical thinking, namely, to reflectively question
common beliefs and explanations, carefully distinguishing beliefs that are reasonable and
logical from those that—however appealing to our native egocentrism, however much they
serve our vested interests, however comfortable or comforting they may be—lack adequate
evidence or rational foundation to warrant belief.

Critical thinking was described by Richard W. Paul as a movement in two waves (1994).[5]
The "first wave" of critical thinking is often referred to as a 'critical analysis' that is clear,
rational thinking involving critique. Its details vary amongst those who define it. According
to Barry K. Beyer (1995), critical thinking means making clear, reasoned judgments. During
the process of critical thinking, ideas should be reasoned, well thought out, and judged.[6] The
U.S. National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking[7] defines critical thinking as the
"intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying,
analyzing, synthesizing, or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by,
observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and
action."[8]

The Balance, 2018

Skill s Critical Thinking

Analysis

Part of critical thinking is the ability to carefully examine something, whether it is a problem,
a set of data, or a text. People with analytical skills can examine information, understand
what it means, and properly explain to others the implications of that information.

 Asking Thoughtful Questions

 Data Analysis
 Research
 Interpretation
 Judgment
 Questioning Evidence
 Recognizing Patterns
 Skepticism

Communication

Often, you will need to share your conclusions with your employers or with a group of
colleagues. You need to be able to communicate with others to share your ideas effectively.
You might also need to engage critical thinking in a group. In this case, you will need to work
with others and communicate effectively to figure out solutions to complex problems.

 Active Listening
 Assessment
 Collaboration
 Explanation
 Interpersonal
 Presentation
 Teamwork

 Verbal Communication
 Written Communication

Creativity

Critical thinking often involves creativity and innovation. You might need to spot patterns in
the information you are looking at or come up with a solution that no one else has thought of
before. All of this involves a creative eye that can take a different approach from all other
approaches.

 Flexibility
 Conceptualization
  Curiosity
 Imagination
 Drawing Connections
 Inferring
 Predicting
 Synthesizing
 Vision

Open-Mindedness

To think critically, you need to be able to put aside any assumptions or judgments and merely
analyze the information you receive. You need to be objective, evaluating ideas without bias.

 Diversity
 Fairness
 Humility
 Inclusive
 Objectivity
 Observation
 Reflection

Problem Solving

Problem solving is another critical thinking skill that involves analyzing a problem,
generating and implementing a solution, and assessing the success of the plan. Employers
don’t simply want employees who can think about information critically. They also need to
be able to come up with practical solutions.

 Attention to Detail
 Clarification
 Decision Making
 Evaluation
 Groundedness
 Identifying Patterns
 Innovation

More Critical Thinking Skills

 Inductive Reasoning
 Deductive Reasoning
 Compliance
 Noticing Outliers
 Adaptability
 Emotional Intelligence
 Brainstorming
 Optimization
 Restructuring
 Integration
 Strategic Planning
 Project Management
 Ongoing Improvement
  Causal Relationships
 Case Analysis
 Diagnostics
 SWOT Analysis
 Business Intelligence
 Quantitative Data Management
 Qualitative Data Management
 Metrics
 Accuracy
 Risk Management
 Statistics
 Scientific Method
 Consumer Behavior

6 Crucial critical thinking skills (and how you can

improve them)
While there’s no universal standard for what skills are included in the critical thinking
process, we’ve boiled it down to the following six. Focusing on these can put you on the path
to becoming an exceptional critical thinker.

1. Identification

The first step in the critical thinking process is to identify the situation or problem as well as
the factors that may influence it. Once you have a clear picture of the situation and the
people, groups or factors that may be influenced, you can then begin to dive deeper into an
issue and its potential solutions.

How to improve: When facing any new situation, question or scenario, stop to take a mental
inventory of the state of affairs and ask the following questions:

 Who is doing what?

 What seems to be the reason for this happening?
 What are the end results, and how could they change?

2. Research

When comparing arguments about an issue, independent research ability is key. Arguments
are meant to be persuasive—that means the facts and figures presented in their favor might be
lacking in context or come from questionable sources. The best way to combat this is
independent verification; find the source of the information and evaluate.

How to improve: It can be helpful to develop an eye for unsourced claims. Does the person
posing the argument offer where they got this information from? If you ask or try to find it
yourself and there’s no clear answer, that should be considered a red flag. It’s also important
to know that not all sources are equally valid—take the time to learn the difference between
popular and scholarly articles.
3. Identifying biases

This skill can be exceedingly difficult, as even the smartest among us can fail to recognize
biases. Strong critical thinkers do their best to evaluate information objectively. Think of
yourself as a judge in that you want to evaluate the claims of both sides of an argument, but
you’ll also need to keep in mind the biases each side may possess.

It is equally important—and arguably more difficult—to learn how to set aside your own
personal biases that may cloud your judgement. “Have the courage to debate and argue with
your own thoughts and assumptions,” Potrafka encourages. “This is essential for learning to
see things from different viewpoints.”

How to improve: “Challenge yourself to identify the evidence that forms your beliefs, and
assess whether or not your sources are credible,” offers Ruth Wilson, director of development
at Brightmont Academy.

First and foremost, you must be aware that bias exists. When evaluating information or an
argument, ask yourself the following:

 Who does this benefit?

 Does the source of this information appear to have an agenda?
 Is the source overlooking, ignoring or leaving out information that doesn’t support its beliefs
or claims?
 Is this source using unnecessary language to sway an audience’s perception of a fact?

4. Inference

The ability to infer and draw conclusions based on the information presented to you is
another important skill for mastering critical thinking. Information doesn’t always come with
a summary that spells out what it means. You’ll often need to assess the information given
and draw conclusions based upon raw data.

The ability to infer allows you to extrapolate and discover potential outcomes when assessing
a scenario. It is also important to note that not all inferences will be correct. For example, if
you read that someone weighs 260 pounds, you might infer they are overweight or unhealthy.
Other data points like height and body composition, however, may alter that conclusion.

How to improve: An inference is an educated guess, and your ability to infer correctly can
be polished by making a conscious effort to gather as much information as possible before
jumping to conclusions. When faced with a new scenario or situation to evaluate, first try
skimming for clues—things like headlines, images and prominently featured statistics—and
then make a point to ask yourself what you think is going on.

5. Determining relevance

One of the most challenging parts of thinking critically during a challenging scenario is
figuring out what information is the most important for your consideration. In many
scenarios, you’ll be presented with information that may seem important, but it may pan out
to be only a minor data point to consider.
How to improve: The best way to get better at determining relevance is by establishing a
clear direction in what you’re trying to figure out. Are you tasked with finding a solution?
Should you be identifying a trend? If you figure out your end goal, you can use this to inform
your judgement of what is relevant.

Even with a clear objective, however, it can still be difficult to determine what information is
truly relevant. One strategy for combating this is to make a physical list of data points ranked
in order of relevance. When you parse it out this way, you’ll likely end up with a list that
includes a couple of obviously relevant pieces of information at the top of your list, in
addition to some points at the bottom that you can likely disregard. From there, you can
narrow your focus on the less clear-cut topics that reside in the middle of your list for further
evaluation.

6. Curiosity

It’s incredibly easy to sit back and take everything presented to you at face value, but that can
also be also a recipe for disaster when faced with a scenario that requires critical thinking. It’s
true that we’re all naturally curious—just ask any parent who has faced an onslaught of
“Why?” questions from their child. As we get older, it can be easier to get in the habit of
keeping that impulse to ask questions at bay. But that’s not a winning approach for critical
thinking.

How to improve: While it might seem like a curious mind is just something you’re born
with, you can still train yourself to foster that curiosity productively. All it takes is a
conscious effort to ask open-ended questions about the things you see in your everyday life,
and you can then invest the time to follow up on these questions.

“Being able to ask open-ended questions is an important skill to develop—and bonus points
for being able to probe,” Potrafka

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must become the teachers and the leaders. The point is that they never stop being learners.
This is what it means to be a lifelong learner, and a critical thinker.