Critical thinking

Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying,
analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by,observation,
experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.

In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions :
clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and
fairness.

Note that the beginni

ng

of this definition

empha

sizes that critical thinki

ng

must be actively and

skillfully appl

ied. The essential elements of reasoni

ng

that shoul

d be employe

d in all

thinki

ng,

regardless of discipline, are given in Table 4. Addi

tiona

lly, intellectual standa

rds (e.g., clarity,

accuracy, precision,
 relevance, depth, breadth, logi

c, signi

ficance, and

fairness) and

traits (e.g.,

intellectual integrity, intellectual hum

ili

ty, confidence in

reason,

intellectual perseverance,

fairminde

dne

ss, intellectual cour

age, intellectual empathy,

and intellectual autonom

y) shoul

also be appl

ied to thinki

ng

to ensure qua

lity (

http://www.criticalthinki

ng.

org/articles/critical
-

mind.

cfm

).

tated anot

her way, critical thinki

ng

is thinki

ng

that assesses itself. It examines the elements

of thought

and

is based on

intellectual values that transcend

the frame of reference of the thinke

and

the subj

ect matter, pur

pos

e, implications

, and

cons

eque
nces of the thinki

ng.

Scriven and

Paul also not

e that critical thinki

ng

has two com

pone

nts: 1) a set of skills to process and

generate

information,

and

2) the habit of using

thos

e skills to gui

de behavior. In other words, its not

sufficient to have the s

kills for critical thinki

ng,

you

also need to employ

them. In anot

her

doc

um
ent from

the Nationa

l Counc

il for Excellence in Critical Thinki

ng,

Paul and

Elder (2004)

argue

that there are two essential dimensions

of thinki

ng

that stude

nts need to master: 1)

be able

to identify the parts of their thinki

ng,

and

2) be able to assess their use of thos

e parts in

thinki

ng.

Paul and Elder (2004

) sugge

st the follow

ing
elements of critical thinki

ng:

All reasoni

ng

has a pur

pos

All reasoni

ng

is an attempt to figur

som

ething

out

, to settle som

e que

stion,

to solve

som

e probl

em

All reasoni
ng

is based on

assum

ptions

All reasoni

ng

is done

from

som

e poi

nt of view

All reasoni

ng

is based on

data, information,

and

evidence