Student Success/Critical Thinking

This lesson introduces critical thinking. In this lesson you will learn about patterns of thought, critical thinking skills, creative thinking skills, and learning with technology.

Thinking

Critical thinking

Creative thinking

Thinking with technology

Objectives and Skills

Objectives and skills for this lesson include:

• Identify different patterns of thought, such as those found in Bloom’s taxonomy
• Describe how critical thinking skills can be used to evaluate information and solve problems
• Describe the role of creative thinking skills in problem-solving
• Identify technology tools that enhance student learning

Readings

1. Lumen: College Success - Patterns of Thought
2. Lumen: College Success - Critical Thinking Skills
3. Lumen: College Success - Creative Thinking Skills
4. Lumen: College Success - Thinking with Technology

Multimedia

1. YouTube: Bloom's Taxonomy
2. YouTube: Bloom's Taxonomy Featuring Harry Potter Movies
3. YouTube: Critical Thinking
4. YouTube: Critical Thinking 101: Spectrum of Authority
5. YouTube: How to Stimulate the Creative Process
6. YouTube: Internet Skills 3: How to Use the Internet to Find Scholarly Material
7. YouTube: Internet Skills 1: How to Evaluate a Website

Activities

1. Explore student services.
   • Contact your advisor or counselor to learn about counseling and psychological services available to students.
2. Practice critical thinking.
   • Review Lumen: College Success - Assignment: Critical Thinking Skills.
   • Complete the Quia: Critical Thinking Quiz.
   • Reflect on a recent discussion you participated in for a class or with family or friends. Did you accept the given arguments and reasoning, or did you evaluate the information presented based on the six questions a critical thinker asks?
   • Consider whether or not we have a tendency to apply critical thinking differently depending on context or environment. Do you evaluate ideas the same way in a class environment vs. a work or social setting?
3. Practice creative thinking.
   • Review Lumen: College Success - Assignment: Creative Thinking Skills.
   • Complete the Psychology Today: Creative Problem-Solving Test.
   • Consider how your creative thinking helps you look at problems and situations from a fresh perspective. What steps can you take to enhance your creative thinking when faced with a challenging problem?
4. Check your technology.
   • Review Lumen: College Success - Assignment: Thinking With Technology. Note: Technology tests such as this are quickly outdated as technology is updated or replaced.
   • Research how to apply updates to your operating system, browser, anti-malware software, and any other frequently-used software. Apply any missing updates to ensure compatibility and security compliance. See IT Fundamentals/Operating Systems for information on operating system updates and Internet Fundamentals/Web Browsers for browser settings and add-ons.
5. Blog / Journal / Wiki
   • Update your blog, journal, or wiki page summarizing your experience this week. Include a list of resources and links or contact information for each resource.

Lesson Summary

Patterns of Thought

Learning skills can be divided into three main categories or “domains”:

• The cognitive domain (what you should know)
• The affective domain (what you should care about)
• The psychomotor domain (what you should be able to do)

Cognitive domain levels include:

• Remembering
• Understanding
• Applying
• Analyzing
• Evaluating
• Creating

Affective domain levels include:

• Receiving
• Responding
• Valuing
• Organizing
• Characterizing

Psychomotor domain levels include:

• Perception
• Set
• Guided response
• Mechanism
• Complex overt response
• Adaptation
• Origination

Critical Thinking Skills

Critical thinking is clear, reasonable, reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do.

Critical thinking questions:

• What’s happening?
• Why is it important?
• What don’t I see?
• How do I know?
• Who is saying it?
• What else? What if?

Problem-solving strategies:

• Define the problem
• Identify available solutions
• Select your solution

Strategies to evaluate information include:

• Read for understanding by using text coding
• Examine arguments
• Clarify thinking
• Cultivate "habits of mind"

Critical thinking strategies include:

• Reflect and practice
• Use wasted time
• Redefine the way you see things
• Analyze the influences on your thinking and in your life
• Express yourself
• Enhance your wellness

Creative Thinking Skills

Creativity can be understood as a skill—as opposed to an inborn talent or natural "gift"—that can be taught as well as learned.

Creative thinking helps you look at problems and situations from a fresh perspective.

To stimulate creative thinking:

• Sleep on it.
• Exercise.
• Daydream occasionally.
• Keep learning.
• Add stress occasionally.
• Make note of new ideas.

Actions which support creative thinking include:

• Sense
• Think
• Imagine
• Speak and write
• Draw
• Learn
• Move
• Rest

Thinking with Technology

Technology learning tools include:

• Computer software and Internet resources
• Video recordings
• Interactive screens and whiteboards
• Student response systems
• Blogs, wikis, and discussion boards

Technical requirements for online learning include:

• Hardware and software
• A fast Internet connection
• Browser plug-ins
• Email
• Technical support resources

Effective online learning requires:

• Organization
• Communication
• Adapting to online reading and mobile learning

See Also

• Wikipedia: Bloom's taxonomy
• Oberlin College: The Stereotype Threat

References

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