The Elements of Critical Thinking

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The Elements of Critical Thinking

• Task 1 Establish a Shared Vocabulary

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Why does identifying elements help you think
mindfully?

• Makes you really LOOKfights habitual and
  enculturated patterns, autopilot thinking
• Allows you to identify barriers, filters,
  impediments, biases, predispositionsyours AND
  others
• Gives you more tools to analyze an issue
• Helps you demonstrate fair-mindedness

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A current example

• What happens when you dont think mindfully?
  http//www.youtube.com/watch?vhPpzj4PjNjU
• And what happens when you dont think mindfully
  about what you just did?

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WA uses three key terms based on what you DO with
your thinking

• The pitchthe position you are trying to sell
  to your audience (often expressed in a THESIS)
• The momentthe context, relation of you to
  audience, etc.
• The complaintwhat impels you to make your pitch

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Ch. 3 of WA gives you a toolkit to use to
express your thinking process

• Paraphrase x 3makes you clarify and restate so
  youre sure youve got it (p. 33)
• Notice Focuslets you pick out, prioritize, and
  refine ideas (p. 35)
• The Methodlets you play with binaries,
  oppositions, threads that emerge (p. 37)
• Focused freewritinglets you gather ideas on a
  slice quickly (p. 44)

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Nosich focuses not on the writing that comes out
but on the thinking that leads to it

• Purpose p. 52
• Question at Issue (q at i) p. 53
• Assumptions p. 54
• Implications, Consequences, Outcomes p. 55
• Information p. 57
• Concepts p. 58
• Conclusions, Interpretations, Decisions p. 60
• Point of View (p.o.v.) p. 61
• Alternatives p. 64
• Context p. 66

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Nosichs Circle of Elements
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Two ways to see the elements (from Richard Paul,
Nosichs teacher)
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Or, from your point of view
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Additional Terms You May Use

• Reasons/Reasoningdescribes the process of
  thinking
• Claims (theses based on your assumptions that you
  try to prove)
• Arguments (pitches made with theses and support)
• Hypotheses (assumptions based on evidence
  testing that you prove or disprove)
• Most of these terms are involved with what we
  call a deductive or thesis-driven way of
  thinkingone that attempts to eliminate
  possibilities. Initially, were going to avoid
  them.

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Thinking critically is messy, non-linear, and
recursive
Purpose
Conclusions,Interpretations,Decisions
POV
Assumptions
Information
Alternatives
Concepts
Q at I
Implications,Consequences,Outcomes
Barriers, FiltersBiases,Pre-dispositions
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Going around the circle

• Can start on any slice
• Gets easier as you repeat it
• Often shows you which areas will be most
  productive to work with (not always the ones
  where the answers come most easily!)
• Generates lots of raw material to draft
  fromgives you luxury of selecting the best

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To master these concepts

• Practice, practice, practice till this starts to
  feel comfortable to you.
• Try exercises 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 in your thinking
• If theres an element you have trouble with, do
  the corresponding exercise at chapters end in
  your thinking notebook.
• Look at p. 80 as a self-test.

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What does marriage mean to you?prewriting for
paper 1