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Think Critically to Lead a Healthier Life

September 17, 2018
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By GradProSkills


students thinking critically

As graduate students, we have become accustomed to think before we act, whether it’s choosing between courses or determining how to best approach a professor. We use our judgement to think critically in our everyday lives, without even realizing it. In a recent workshop, Health Promotion Specialist from Concordia’s Health Services, Owen Moran, shared some strategies for thinking critically in everyday tasks, which can lead to less stress and better performance.

Defining Critical Thinking    

Our thinking determines our feelings and our behaviors, and ultimately, the quality of our lives depends on the quality of our thoughts. Developing high-quality critical thinking skills can help you better navigate everyday issues and achieve your life goals.

Owen presents a proven critical thinking model, the framework of Paul and Elder. According to Paul and Elder, critical thinking is “a mode of thinking - about any subject, content or problem - in which the thinker improves their quality of his or her thinking by skillfully analyzing, assessing and reconstructing it.” Essentially, it is the systematic monitoring of thought with the goal of improving it.

Why Care about Critical Thinking?

Good critical thinking benefits both our physical and mental health. Critical thinking (also known as analytical reasoning) is essential to overcoming the stress and anxiety that comes from poor thinking. All our actions are based on what we think. If our thinking is poor, we will make poor decisions and actions. By making better decisions we waste less time, money and energy and perform better in school and work.

Developing Good Critical Thinking Skills  

Every time we think, whether we are thinking critically or not, we do several things, which Paul and Elder call the eight “elements of thought”:  We generate a purpose for our thinking, raise questions, use information and concepts, make inferences, use assumptions, and generate implications; all within our point of view.

Skilled critical thinkers are those who evaluate the quality of these eight elements of their thinking.  Paul and Elder’s framework includes nine criteria called the “intellectual standards”, which can be used as tools to assess the quality of thinking in all the “elements of thought”:

1. Clarity: Understandable, the meaning can be grasped.              

Ways to improve clarity in your thinking include: stating the idea, elaborating upon the idea, illustrating the idea, and providing examples. With respect to concepts, for example, gaining clarity of the concepts in your academics will lead to a better understanding of the material and better performance in school.

2. Accuracy: Free from errors or distortions, true.

With respect to information, for example, the information you use must be true for thinking to lead to good decision making. Scam academic journals and fake news are examples of where you can easily access and misuse false information if not thinking critically. You must research and evaluate the reliability of information on the internet or elsewhere.      

3. Precision: Exact to the necessary level of detail. 

With respect to information, for example, the right level of detail in the information used will depend on the context. Be as specific as necessary in your wording to support your point. Ask yourself if you are providing enough details for the other person to understand what you mean?      

4. Relevance: Relates to the matter at hand.

With respect to concepts, for example, ask yourself: Am I using concepts that are relevant to my question? If it directly relates to the matter in question, you will stay on track in your thinking.

5. Depth: Contains complexities and multiple interrelationships.

With respect to inferences, for example, ask yourself if there is enough depth in the inferences you are making.

6. Breadth: Considers multiple viewpoints.

Recognize the viewpoint you’re taking in your thinking and determine if considering a different perspective will help your understanding.

7. Logic: The parts make sense together, no contradictions.

With respect to information, for example, ask yourself: Does this information make sense? Or are there any contradictions in the information I am using in my thinking/writing/presentation?

8. Significance: Focuses on the important, not trivial.

With respect to questions, for example, ask yourself: Is the question I am asking a significant one?     

9. Fairness: Justifiable, not self-serving or one-sided.

With respect to the conclusions you draw (i.e. the implications of your thinking) for example, ask yourself: Am I fair in my conclusions?

Additional Resources:

The Foundation for Critical Thinking

Health Services on Critical Thinking

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