Critical Thinking Explained
Critical and creative thinking are vital to not only your college experience, but also to your opportunities as an adult. In the past you may have associated these skills only with academic work, but in FYE we want to support you in thinking critically and creatively about all realms of your college experience and beyond.
WhatCritical Thinking IS / What Critical Thinking IS NOT- Illustrating command of information/sources
- Unsupported criticism (Just disagreeing)
- Recognizing the biases, strengths, and weaknesses of sources, including yourself
- Name dropping (Assuming something is correct because someone agrees)
- Contributingyour own thoughtful analysis to a dialogue
- Empty citation stacking (Referencing irrelevant sources)
- Anticipating and exploring potential critiques
- Simply summarizing another’s argument
According to Educational Psychologist Dr. Linda Elder of the Foundation for Critical Thinking and the Center for Critical Thinking, it is an ongoing process of intentionality in thought and behavior that individuals continually practice but never perfect.
“Critical thinking is self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which attempts to reason at the highest level of quality in a fair-minded way. People who think critically consistently attempt to live rationally, reasonably, empathically… They work diligently to develop the intellectual virtues of intellectual integrity, intellectual humility, intellectual civility, intellectual empathy, intellectual sense of justice and confidence in reason. They realize that no matter how skilled they are as thinkers, they can always improve their reasoning abilities and they will at times fall prey to mistakes in reasoning, human irrationality, prejudices, biases, distortions, uncritically accepted social rules and taboos, self-interest, and vested interest.”[1]
Yes, that’s an important life-long challenge, not something you will master in your first semester of college for sure. While that may seem daunting, I hope that you’ll find it’s actually pretty liberating. You can forget about getting it exactly right in this course, or even at the end of a long life. And instead you can focus on practicing to get a little better every day.
What will this look like in action? Critical thinking means questioning your assumptions, always being open to asking the next deep question, and exploring the implications, the “so what,” of your answers. For example, in the classroom you will be expected to do more than memorize and repeat information. You will now need to understand it well enough to draw connections among topics and to connect your learning to real world problems. Personally, you will need to use your resources to make major life decisions for yourself that will lead you to a successful life, however you define “success.” And socially you will be part of a diverse community of learners from around the world who may have vastly different beliefs, backgrounds, values, aspirations, and personal characteristics.
Additionally, beyond the classroom one of the greatest privileges you have as a UConn student is regular access to internationally recognized scholars and leaders who want to tell you about their work and what it means to our world. These are perfect chances to practice your critical thinking skills and to see how creative, innovative ideas are making a difference on campus, in Connecticut, in the United States, and globally. Don’t wait to take advantage of these events.
[1] Elder, Linda. (2007). “Another Brief Conceptualization of Critical Thinking.” from The Critical Thinking Community. “Defining Critical Thinking. .