For Freshman Orientation or Critical Thinking courses as well as a supplementary text for use in any subject-matter at any educational level.
This concise, effective guide is designed to help students learn to think critically in any subject-matter. A combination of instruction and exercises shows them how to use critical thinking to become active learners rather than passive recipients of information, to more fully appreciate the power of the discipline they are studying, to see its connections to other fields and to their day-to-day lives, and to maintain an overview of the field so they can see the parts in terms of the whole. The model of critical thinking (used throughout the book) is in terms of the elements of reasoning, standards, and critical thinking processes. This model is well-suited to thinking through any problem or question. The 4th Edition reflects streamlined writing, with changes and substantial edits on virtually every page.
Designed to fit with any level of teacher involvement–Works for instructors who want to focus directly on critical thinking in the way they teach their discipline, as well as those who want to allow their students to work through critical thinking questions on their own, while class time is spent on subject matter instruction. (Throughout.)
Based on Richard Paul's articulation of critical thinking–Used by hundreds of teachers with great success in all disciplines taught at the college level; the major theme of the annual International Conference on Critical Thinking, held each summer by the Foundation for Critical Thinking; and the model in workshops on critical thinking presented by the Foundation for Critical Thinking. (Throughout.)
Provides instructors with the first short published presentation of the model designed specifically for use in courses across the curriculum. Provides students with a flexible and generalizable model for thinking critically, one that is accepted widely, using a common and non-technical critical-thinking vocabulary.
A focus on high intellectual standards. (Throughout, but the intellectual standards are the focus of Chapter 4.)
Teaches students 1) to be clear in their writing, reading, speaking, understanding; in the problems they identify, reformulate, address, and find solutions for; 2) to be accurate in their reading and in their rendition of other points of view; 3) to focus on what is relevant and important to the question at hand, rather than dwelling on minor side issues; 4) to go deep enough to address the complexities and the underlying factors of an issue; 5) to be precise, sufficient in their reasoning, and as comprehensive as the topic requires.
A strong emphasis on critical writing, including a section on writing a critical-thinking paper of any length, as well as inset boxes, exercises, samples, and short sections on key aspects of critical writing in a discipline. (In every chapter, with the section on Writing a Paper at the end of Chapter 5.)
SEE-I: A process of clarifying by stating, elaborating on, exemplifying, and illustrating. (Introduced in Chapter 1, it is then used in exercises and explanations throughout the book .)
"Outcomes" sections. (At the end of each chapter.)