Elements of Critical Thinking Essay

Elements of Critical Thinking Essay

Instructions/Descriptions

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When responding to your classmates, please provide feedback on their examples of good and poor critical thinking skills. Discuss additional ways one can think more critically. Each participation post should be a minimum of 75 words.

Melissa-Explain at least five elements of critical thinking that you found in the reading material.

Plencner (2014) summed up Carroll’s view of critical thinking like this, “when we are thinking critically, we are using our knowledge and intelligence effectively to arrive at the most reasonable and justifiable position possible.” After reading this week’s articles and watching the videos, I believe the most imperative aspect of critical thinking is curiosity or asking open-ended questions (Erstad, 2018).

The old adage, don’t believe everything you read (or see), is especially true in a world where anyone can get anything published. Asking questions and not taking everything we find online at face value is essential to critical thinking. Asking questions leads us to our own research, examining the facts or figures presented as truth (Erstad, 2018). Are there other reliable sources that have the same information? Where did the author get their data? By following up on the references cited by a story, we can find out where the data comes from.

Another seemingly obvious facet of successful critical thinking is identifying the issue or problem at hand (QuailiaSoup, 2009). Without this essential step of thinking, it is easy to get hung up on one’s own opinion or some side issue of the main problem. What factors might influence the issue? Is it an emotionally volatile problem?

Narrowing the problem helps us to focus on our problem-solving options. Once we have a better handle on the topic, we can use logic and reasoning to analyze what is being presented as fact (or evidence) (QuailiaSoup, 2009). One problem people run into when they are utilizing their reasoning skills is seeing only two choices. Life rarely has only two options or conclusions when it comes to solutions to challenges (QuailiaSoup, 2009).

The last element of critical thinking that I will list is inference (Erstad, 2018). A single article or news story cannot contain every iota of information on a topic. What is inferred by the data? What conclusions might not be strictly stated about the information provided that could affect a study’s outcome? Confounding variables can often be identified by looking at inferences.

Search the Internet, media, or the Ashford University Library, and find an example in which good critical thinking skills are being demonstrated by the author or speaker. Summarize the content and explain why you think it demonstrates good critical thinking skills.

Pijl and Veneman’s (2005) article evaluating new funding procedures and criteria for special needs education is a good example of critical thinking. In 2003, the Netherlands sought to develop a new way to fund special education, throughput-based funding instead of input-based funding (Pijl & Veneman, 2005). This change was suggested in response to a wish to de-segregate the former system and support students and parents that wanted to attend inclusive schools.

The authors do a thorough job of identifying the problem, and the listed references are reliable and scholarly. Shortcomings of the proposed new way of funding are also discussed, as at least 10% of students currently eligible for funding did not meet the latest assessment requirements (Pijl & Veneman, 2005). By offering both pros and cons of the funding system, the authors avoid bias.

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Search the Internet, media, or the Ashford University Library, and find an example in which the author or speaker lacks good critical thinking skills. Summarize the content and explain why you think it demonstrates the absence of good, critical thinking skills.

I chose an article that I found on fatherly.com as an example of the absence of good critical thinking skills. Again, the piece is written about special education funding, but this time the author shares opinions and numbers that are not backed up with any verifiable sources. Francis (2019) shares that IDEA was only funded with $12 billion in 2017 (for over 6 million students with disabilities), which is about 14.6% of the 40% commitment that the government has said they would cover previously.

While I agree that funding for students with disabilities should not be part of the discretionary side of the budget, Francis offers no scholarly research or possible solutions for funding in her opinion piece. This piece contains definite bias and is not a critically thought out article.

Dina-Explain at least five elements of critical thinking that you found in the reading material.

Acquiring critical thinking skills and becoming proficient at applying it requires practice and is a time-consuming process. The first step involved in critical thinking skills is to identify the problem or situations and other influential factors (Erstad, 2018). Analyzing the problem is another essential element of the critical thinking process.

Breaking down the topic of conflict at hand into parts and evaluating each component individually (Critical thinking skills, n.d.) to find the root cause of the problem. Critical thinking demands factual data and evidence from credible sources to make an informed decision (Critical thinking skills, n.d.). When decisions made based on personal opinions or beliefs, it produces a biased decision as well as stops individuals from looking at the problem from other perspectives.

Drawing conclusions from available information is another essential element of critical thinking skills (Erstad, 2018), which requires careful assessment of the available information and evidence through engaging in logical reasoning. Predicting the consequences of each possible solution is a critical element of critical thinking skills (Critical thinking skills, n.d.), which allows individuals to choose the best possible solution.

Search the Internet, media, or the Ashford University Library, and find an example in which good critical thinking skills are being demonstrated by the author or speaker. Summarize the content and explain why you think it shows good critical thinking skills.

The article I selected to show evidence of good critical thinking skills is published in the Journal of Economics and Economic Education Research. The article discusses and supports that educations play a crucial role in contributions to the economy. The authors provided data and evidence to prove the claim, which is the element of critical thinking skills. The authors also looked at the issue from a wider angle of why children in South Africa are not getting adequate education and provided information on various factors and hardships.

The authors proved theirs claim through the statistical data in the form of tables and graphs concluded that despite South Africa mandated the primary and secondary school for all children, nearly half the school-age population never set foot in the school due to those hardships (Ardiente & Guiking, 2015).   The authors did not display any bias towards one particular race or ethnicity when providing information that is based on facts and not opinions.

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Search the Internet, media, or the Ashford University Library, and find an example in which the author or speaker lacks good critical thinking skills. Summarize the content and explain why you think it demonstrates the absence of good, critical thinking skills.

The article I chose to show a lack of good critical thinking skills was posted under monthly reports on the Caixa Bank Research website. The article looks reliable in the form of visual and statistical data, including the sources that were listed at the end of the article, and its respective numbers were used for in-text citations.

The article shows the relationship between the worker’s education and productivity but excluded other information about why the workers in Spain remain illiterate despite their economic development. According to QualisSoup (2009), critical thinkers develop curiosity and “widen their perspectives and broaden their knowledge” (5:12), which is lacking in this article.

Another evidence of lack of good critical thinking is that some claims are not supported by evidence. The author provided a statistical number in percentages but did not back up by evidence. For example, in the first paragraph, the author mentioned that in “1990, only 40% of the population was literate in Spain and Finland without providing the evidence” (Canals, 2019).

The article showed a lack of critical thinking skills because the information is slanted and opinionated towards the side of economic development and ignoring the factors that affect education. The web page has social media links embedded on the page to share the information.

Elements of Critical Thinking Essay

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