Prepare: In preparation for discussing the importance of critical thinking skills, please read Chapters 1 through 3 of Think Smarter: Critical

Thinking to Improve Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Skills, as well as the following articles: "Critical Thinking and the Challenges of Internet," "Common Misconceptions of Critical Thinking."

Reflect: Critical thinking gets you involved in a dialogue with the ideas you read from others in this class. To be a critical thinker, you need to be able to summarize, analyze, hypothesize, and evaluate the new information that you encounter.

Write: For this discussion

Define, describe, and explain the principles of critical thinking.

Search the Internet, media, or the Ashford University Library, and find an example of good, careful (critical) thinking, and explain why you think it exemplifies strong critical thinking skills. Post a link or reference information for that source, describe the content, and explain how it is a good example of critical thinking.

Search the Internet, media, or the Ashford University Library and find an example that lacks good, careful (critical thinking). Post a link or reference information for that source, describe the content, and explain why you think it demonstrates poor critical thinking skills.

Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly sources, and properly cite any references.
Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length.

Required Resources

Articles

Bailin, S., Case, R., Coombs, J. R., & Daniels, L. B. (1999). Common misconceptions of critical thinking. Curriculum Studies, 31(3), 269-283. Retrieved from ERIC database.

In this article, the authors present better ways for instructors to teach critical thinking skills to students in college. They go over the importance of developing critical thinking skills in the earlier years of acquiring one's education so to be better prepared for real-world problems after graduation. It is important for students to understand that the ability to think critically is not separate from attaining knowledge. Critical thinking skills can be applied to various domains of knowledge.

Plencner, A. (2014). Critical thinking and the challenges of Internet. Communication Today, 5(2), 4- 18.

The author presents ways in which to use critical thinking skills to evaluate Internet sources effectively. The author further elaborates on how critical thinking tools can help raise awareness, enhance one's reasoning, and enable one to evaluate other perspectives with an open mind.

This article will allow the reader to understand the importance of well-developed critical thinking skills.

Multimedia

Dewald, A. (2013, August 1). Episode 1.1: What is critical thinking? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0yEAE5owWw

This speaker of this video defines critical thinking and explains its purpose in solving problems. Critical thinking takes time and involves been thorough by focusing on all complexities of the issue at hand. Critical thinking is not about accepting or rejecting a claim. It is about evaluating all parts of the claim that someone has made before making an educative response to that claim. Transcript

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QualiaSoup. (2009, December 24). Critical thinking [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OLPL5p0fMg
In this YouTube video, the speaker provides a thorough explanation of how to improve one's critical thinking skills. The speaker compares different ways people solve problems. For instance, someone can memorize a solution to a problem, but to solve multiple problems of the same caliber would require critical thinking skills. The speaker expresses the importance of examining flaws and biases when approaching to answer a specific question. Students need to be better at thinking and should work on minimizing biases that have been influenced by culture and one's environment. Critical thinking means to seek out knowledge and evidence that fits with reality. Transcript

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Websites

Foundation for Critical Thinking. (2013). Valuable intellectual traits. Retrieved from http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/valuable-intellectual-traits/528

In this resource, the author provides brief explanations of the intellectual virtues that inform critical thinking skills. The author lists eight virtue traits that are necessary to the critical thinking mindset, providing definitions, explanations, and examples.

Lau, J. (2014). Welcome to critical thinking web. Retrieved from http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/

This website is a central gathering point for information about critical thinking websites. This central website provides links to several websites that cover different aspects of critical thinking skills, logic, and rhetoric. Each of the websites in the Critical Thinking Web provides additional resources concerning the principles and process of critical thinking, including guides to their use in different fields of study, and which critical thinking questions are most appropriate for given situations.

Scheffer, B. K., & Rubenfeld, M. G. (n.d.). Critical thinking skills. Retrieved from http://www.umich.edu/~elements/probsolv/strategy/ctskills.htm

In this resource, the authors provide examples of critical thinking tools in application. The authors present a set-by-step approach to the process of critical thinking, giving some suggested approaches as well as verb-active statements to serve as guides to help the student ensure that he/she is thinking critically.

Titus, G. (2012, December 11). 6 critical thinking skills you need to master now. Retrieved from http://www.rasmussen.edu/student-life/blogs/main/critical-thinking-skills-you-need-to-master-now/

In this resource, the author lists, describes, and explains six basic critical thinking skills. Each of the skills is named, defined, described, and explained, and examples are given as to their appropriate use.

eBook

Kallet, M. (2014). Think smarter: Critical thinking to improve problem-solving and decision-making skills. Somerset, NJ: Wiley. Retrieved from ProQuest database.

In the first three chapters of this book, the author describes and explains the basic framework of critical thinking tools. The author provides clear, step-by-step processes to use when approaching common, everyday problems from the critical thinking perspective.The author provides a specific tool set to use to improve critical thinking skills.