What is Critical Thinking?

The question of what is critical thinking can be answered in a lot of different ways which are in effect very much related to each other. But what is critical thinking exactly? According to experts on the subject, there is no one concrete definition of what is critical thinking  and that all definitions should be considered as a good reference on how to understand such a topic. According to the statement made by Michael Scriven & Richard Paul for the National Council for Excellence in critical thinking, in 1987, critical thinking is the rationally or intellectually disciplined process of skilfully and actively conceptualizing, analyzing, applying, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information generated by, or gathered from, reflection, experience, observation, communication, or reasoning, as a guide to belief and action.

Other sources also cite that “what is critical thinking” is not merely thinking but also trying to improve on the quality of your thoughts. It is about imposing discipline and restraint on our thought processes by putting a standard on our thinking level, thus making it possible for improvement. It is also the ability to apply logic and reasoning to unfamiliar opinions, ideas, and situations and involves seeing things in an open-minded way. What is critical thinking is it allows people to look past their own points of view and to adopt a more aware way of seeing the world around us.
What is critical thinking: It is also a combination of skills that are complex and characterized by traits such as rationality, self-awareness, open-mindedness, discipline and judgment.

According to John Dewey, the acknowledged father of the modern critical thinking tradition, it is about “reflective thinking” and is an active, persistent consideration of a perceived form of belief or knowledge in light of the ground which support it and the deeper conclusion on which it tends. As an active process, what is critical thinking goes way beyond the normal thought process in which you are just listening to a certain piece of idea or information and understanding that idea or bit of information. It is about thinking thoroughly on the information, raising questions and finding other relevant ideas and/or information regarding the knowledge received. Hence, it is a contrast from making rash judgments and snap decisions. In a way, it allows you to be more careful in making decisions or forming opinions especially regarding important matters or sensitive issues.

Even more so, what critical thinking is, it is an effort to develop reliable thought processes that enables you to make evaluations that are reasonable enough for you to believe or not to believe. It also helps you to differentiate or separate these beliefs based on how you perceive it emotionally and logically.
This is necessary in the application of what is critical thinking because a person’s emotional state can interfere with their logical perception of an idea. It is quite understandable that you, as a human being, tend to believe an idea because of the way you feel towards that idea but sometimes the way you feel is contrary to the logical perception of that idea that what you feel could not be considered as a rational thought. That is why, in some instances, the concept of what is critical thinking is applied in order for people to avoid assumptions that may seem irrational or illogical.
It also helps you to develop a non-prejudiced and objective approach to reasoning because with what is critical thinking, people are able to accept the fact that not all knowledge and information is known to everyone and that some of these knowledge and information have to be thoroughly thought about as to leave no room for hasty conclusions. It can save you a lot of anxieties because you are limiting the amount of erroneous judgment that you could be making otherwise, if you do not practice what is critical thinking.

There Isn’t A Sure Definition Of Critical Thinking

What is critical thinking? This is the question that makes people argue because of the conflicting ideas on what critical thinking really is. There have been so many definitions of critical thinking that have been created by different people from all walks of life but there isn’t a sure definition of critical thinking.

People who have to study critical thinking in college think of the subject as something that is hard to comprehend and the students themselves try to answer what is critical thinking? But in the end, their understanding and definition of it would differ from another person who have also studied the possible description of critical thinking.

From the term “critical thinking”, a person can already decipher that it deals with thinking about something important. But if this is the case, does it mean that just because a person is thinking about something important like money and paying the bills, it already means that he is thinking critically?

Primarily critical thinking deals with thinking about certain things and making assumptions about some of the things. There are some people who have said that if a person still hasn’t opened her depth to think, she still isn’t a critical thinker. There have been arguments about what types of thoughts make people think critically because if this is the case then even people who still haven’t found their depth or “inner voice” have already started to think critically before.

The definition for "Critical thinking" is hard to explain because of the different, conflicting ideas of people from all over the world. Even the profession of a certain individual will affect how he views what critical thinking is. Maybe it would be best for critical thinking not to be defined and to continue being a favorite argument topic among professors and diplomats.

Critical thinking exercises for nurses

Every profession employs a level of thinking that uses the theoretical foundations learned in the classroom.  Whilst traditional learning offers the student  a way to absorb things, practice enables him/her to let it out.  Critical thinking is essential in every profession, especially to one devoted to preserving life: nursing.  The goal may be to save lives but there are critical situations that call for unconventional thinking.  That is why before immersion to the field, nursing students are being prepared to face the challenges of life-threatening situations.  One of the preparations employed are critical thinking exercises for nurses.  These are activities that may be facilitated in the classroom, in health institutions, or even outside of these settings.  The list below is only a few of the critical thinking exercises for nurses.

Elder-life.  A game invented by Kathleen Walsh Free, a lecturer, this played an essential key in the development of critical thinking exercises for nurses.   The goal of the game is to think of unconventional ways of responding to an elderly care situation by playing five different roles in different scenarios.  The scenarios are written on cards where the roles played by those involves have to respond to the situation accordingly.  In view of prospering critical thinking exercises for nurses has proven to be useful in the empathic understanding of the patient and those taking care of him/her.

Thinking Nurse.  This is a board game invented which does not only list itself as one of the critical thinking exercises for nurses but a reviewer as well.  The game involves sets of cards containing scenarios that employ concepts on intervention, diagnosis, and goal setting.

Case Analysis.  This is a practical application falling under the critical thinking exercises for nurses category.  Actual cases can be used as well as hypothetical situations where certain situations can be analyzed in the perspective of nurses.  While the procedures are laid out for them, nurses may analyze a patient’s case differently.

Socratic Exercises.  This is a logical challenge that evolved with a goal of arriving at critical thinking exercises for nurses.  Similar to case studies, debating on a proposition involves taking sides.  In this game, people who are against a proposition may be assigned to defend it and vice versa.  It permits for logical thinking to be customized for the profession.

Synthesize Exercises.  this critical thinking exercises for nurses play a role in actual practice.  Insights are shared, methods discussed, accomplishments celebrated, and challenges are talked about.  It may sound like case analysis but it is on a more personal level of interaction because it involves practitioners talking amongst themselves without the worry of being evaluated.

In considering resources that provide details on critical thinking exercises for nurses, one may find quite a few.  This may be because people also tend to deviate from their daily nursing activities by playing other games

Critical Thinking Exercises For Kids

Education is not an end for development.  It is a means that plays a critical part in a person’s cognitive milestone.  Critical thinking means deviating from the normal notions encountered in daily life.  When one thinks critically, he embraces in-depth  assessment  and perception of things around and in himself with an open mind.  In the fulfillment of the progressive goal of development at the onset, children may start critical thinking in the form of games.  Online, various resources are dedicated to critical thinking exercises for kids.  Different forms are offered and methods have been laid out to achieve this goal.  The following options below are general categories that deal with critical thinking exercises for kids.

Puzzles.  Puzzles are a form of the critical thinking exercises for kids.  Apart from critical thinking, it also encourages a grasping exercise especially for toddlers.  Finding where an object fits familiarizes their thinking on patterns.  Being able to complete one whole and realizing what the pieces make up gives them a sense of accomplishment.

Board games.  Chess and scrabble are some of the things considered as critical thinking exercises for kids.  They foster logical thinking, imagination, attribution of cause and effect, and the consequent academic application of these things.

Building games.  A child goes around especially when they begin to walk.  For those that are a bit grown, they find themselves full of curiosity.  Building games are critical thinking exercises for kids.  Similar to the puzzle, it helps them build reason on who to organize things to form a structure and enter the concept of manipulation.  One classic and popular example is the Lego system.

Outdoor games.  Treasure hunting, group dynamic games, and a trip to the museum or the zoo are some of the outdoor mechanisms that fall under the critical thinking exercises for kids. Group dynamic activities foster strategic thinking, teamwork, and a sense of collective accomplishment.  It is also a means to reinforce interpersonal values when synthesizing their experiences are done.

Reading.  Parents often read to their kids as is.  Asking them what they think will happen or what they imagine something looks like make up a part of the critical thinking exercises for kids when it comes to books.  Asking those morals from stories and making them decide their preferred endings are also forms of critical thinking exercises for kids.

Matching and coloring games.  Things in life are assigned definite colors.  Kids’ perceptions may vary but coloring activities can lead them to match proper colors and to identify them.  Activities that permit imagination and expression through colors are still considered critical thinking exercises for kids.  It may lead them to pursue arts in the future.

Propositions.  Considered academic in nature, a lot of critical thinking exercises for kids are done in the confines of the classroom.  These are often combination of those cited above.  Debates, essay writing, story-telling, and even answering an open-ended question falls under this category.  It is a higher form of learning but continues on to explore the potentials of the mind.

Critical Thinking Answers

When a person thinks, it doesn’t mean that he’s already doing critical thinking. This has been a topic of people who do not know the difference between usual thinking to critical thinking. What is critical thinking exactly? The definition would depend on whoever is being asked. For a philosopher, critical thinking might be described as an aspect of situational thinking wherein thinking would go deeper beyond the usual things that people think about. If you would ask a scientist what is critical thinking, he would probably say that it’s making the right decision whether or not to try putting a certain formula to be part of the solution or not.

Critical thinking has been done by so many people already although they do not know it. When we think about something and we are not sure if that thing is real or not, we sometimes make assumptions based from what we think are facts. When we think about the possibilities why something may seem real though it is not, we are doing critical thinking. When we decide whether someone is saying the truth or not, we are critically thinking.

The definition of critical thinking by itself is already complicated. In fact a lot of people still ask to this day what is critical thinking and even if they are answered, they would usually just look lost because the definition did not make sense to them. They say that in order to know that critical thinking is, a person should have experienced it already.

By the time that a person reaches his teen years, that person is already expected to have had critical thoughts although the person probably didn’t realize it immediately. What is critical thinking? This question is still an ongoing debate wherein diplomats and professors all have different opinions on what it really is.