Critical Thinking: A Definition
Two definitions of critical thinking will be offered here as a reference for our work. The first is offered by Robert Ennis and is rootle in philosophy. "Critical thinking is reasonable reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do". Ennis believes that terms are key to this definition: practical, reflective, reasonable, belief, and action. Critical thinking is an activity, both practical and reflective, that has reasonable belief or action as its goal. When we come to investigate the skills that emerge from this definition, well discover chat Ennis's definition includes dispositions as well as abilities.
The second definition was proposed by Robert Sternberg and reflects Sternberg's psychological concerns about thinking and intelligence. Critical thinking comprises the mental processes, strategies, and representations people use to solve problems, make decisions, and learn new concepts" As Sternberg noted, his definition emerged from a psychological analysis of critical thinking, especially as it is thrilled to intelligence. Tracing Stemberg's view of intelligence will help us to discover those skills that seem most closely associated with critical thinking.
Having established in connection between thinking analysis biological else, the brain, we now turn our attention to the relations; tip between intelligence and thinking. We have all taken cognitive abilities tests and speculated about their results in comparison to our own assessments of our potential. You probably think in a similar way about your students: Are they working to their potential? How can I help them to improve their performance?
If we are 13 help students improve their performance on 1Q tests, achieve better grades, and prepare for life's problems, we would be wise not to be trapped by traditional views of intelligence. If we hope to did our students by directly teaching thinking skills, we must turn to a broader, more qualitative view of intelligence.
Any theory of intelligence must be able to do three things: (a) relate intelligence to an individual's internal world and explain what happens when a person thinks intelligently; (b) accept the relation between the external world and that person's intelligence, and explain how intelligence functions in the "real world"; and (c' relate intelligence to the individuals’ experiences, ith these criteria in mind, let's turn to three current interpretations of intelligence that have particular relevance for the caching of thinking skills.
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