It’s not restricted to a particular subject area.Ĭritical thinking is clear, reasonable, reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do. Critical thinking is important because it relates to nearly all tasks, situations, topics, careers, environments, challenges, and opportunities. One of the most important of these skills is critical thinking. What are some forms of thinking you use? When do you use them, and why?Īs a college student, you are tasked with engaging and expanding your thinking skills. These are a few of multiple ways in which the mind can process thought. You can also think strategically and analytically, and mathematically and scientifically. You can think with “heart” and you can think with rational judgment. For example, you can think positively or negatively. But you can make it happen in different ways. You don’t have to make it happen-it just does. Andrew Robert Baker, Foundations of Academic Success: Words of Wisdom It is only through purposeful, frequent, intentional questioning such as this that we can sharpen our critical thinking skills and improve as students, learners and researchers. We must ask questions-What is the source of this information? Is this source an expert one and what makes it so? Are there multiple perspectives to consider on an issue? Do multiple sources agree or disagree on an issue? Does quality research substantiate information or opinion? Do I have any personal biases that may affect my consideration of this information? In this environment we must consider information in an analytical, critical manner. It is the environment where our critical thinking skills can be the difference between success and failure. It demands that we evaluate information and analyze myriad issues.

The academic setting demands more of us in terms of critical thinking than everyday life. Is it a quality product because a celebrity endorses it? Because a lot of other people may have used it? Because it is made by one company versus another? Or perhaps because it is made in one country or another? These are questions representative of critical thinking. For example, we use critical thinking every day as we consider the latest consumer products and why one particular product is the best among its peers. We all use this skill to one degree or another almost every day. It is the sharp knife that, when honed, separates fact from fiction, honesty from lies, and the accurate from the misleading. The ability to think critically about a matter-to analyze a question, situation, or problem down to its most basic parts-is what helps us evaluate the accuracy and truthfulness of statements, claims, and information we read and hear. You use them every day, and you can continue improving them. Critical thinking skills are perhaps the most fundamental skills involved in making judgments and solving problems.

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