Critical Thinking - Allison

Critical thinking is deciding rationally what to or what not to believe."
Norris, Stephen P. "Synthesis of Research on Critical Thinking. Educational Leadership, v 42 n 8 May 1985. 40-45.

• I think this definition is very accurate regarding hypertexts. It’s like the debate about Wikipedia. When looking at a website you need to evaluate information and look at it from a reasonable perspective. Does the information look reliable? That’s a critical thinking skill of deciding rationally what to or what nor to believe.

"The purpose of critical thinking is, therefore, to achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems. Since all three areas involve the asking of questions, we can say that critical thinking is the questioning or inquiry we engage in when we seek to understand, evaluate, or resolve."
Maiorana, Victor P. Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum: Building the Analytical Classroom. 1992.

• I think an important part of critical thinking is to evaluate view points and solve problems. In doing so one must be open minded. In creating my hypertexts this quarter I think that it was very important to evaluate different view points and find solutions or solve problems to the question that you were investigating. Similarly in researching something we seek to understand both sides of a problem, evaluate what it is and try to resolve it. This is a good description of the assignment of our last hypertext.

Critical thinking is "a process which stresses an attitude of suspended judgment, incorporates logical inquiry and problem solving, and leads to an evaluative decision or action."
NCTE Committee on Critical Thinking and the Language Arts.

• From my experience I think critical thinking is a process and a skill that needs to be developed. Over time I’ve learned how to think critically, but when I was younger I had a difficult time doing so because I couldn’t see the big picture or different viewpoints. Now in creating hypertexts I think that our websites are very important in incorporating a logical inquiry. As we’ve been working on in class – what does our website have to offer? It should offer a problem to the solution or a judgment that’s a different point of view from many others.

"Broadly speaking, critical thinking is concerned with reason, intellectual honesty, and open-mindedness, as opposed too emotionalism, intellectual laziness, and closed-mindedness. Thus, critical thinking involves: following evidence where it leads; considering all possibilities; relying on reason rather than emotion; being precise; considering a variety of possible viewpoints and explanations; weighing the effects of motives and biases; being concerned more with finding the truth than with being right; not rejecting unpopular views out of hand; being aware of one's own prejudices and biases, and not allowing them to sway one's judgment."
Kurland, Daniel J. I Know What It Says . . . What does it Mean? 1995.

• As I’ve discussed in previous responses, critical thinking involves multiple concepts. These concepts are mainly seeing variety of viewpoints, weighing biases as well as being concerned with finding the truth. By being an investigator and thinking critically, I have found interest in research and inquiries when it comes to brainstorming a topic for my hypertexts. I like the part of the definition that states “being concerned more with finding the truth than with being right.” This I because it is not about your opinion or bias or thinking you knowing the best solution – its finding the truth to whatever topic you are researching.

  Critical thinking is deciding rationally what to or what not to believe."
  Norris, Stephen P. "Synthesis of Research on Critical Thinking. Educational Leadership, v 42 n 8 May 1985. 40-45.

  • I think this definition is very accurate regarding hypertexts. It’s like the debate about Wikipedia. When looking at a website you need to evaluate information and look at it from a reasonable perspective. Does the information look reliable? That’s a critical thinking skill of deciding rationally what to or what nor to believe.

  "The purpose of critical thinking is, therefore, to achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems. Since all three areas involve the asking of questions, we can say that critical thinking is the questioning or inquiry we engage in when we seek to understand, evaluate, or resolve."
  Maiorana, Victor P. Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum: Building the Analytical Classroom. 1992.

  • I think an important part of critical thinking is to evaluate view points and solve problems. In doing so one must be open minded. In creating my hypertexts this quarter I think that it was very important to evaluate different view points and find solutions or solve problems to the question that you were investigating. Similarly in researching something we seek to understand both sides of a problem, evaluate what it is and try to resolve it. This is a good description of the assignment of our last hypertext.

  Critical thinking is "a process which stresses an attitude of suspended judgment, incorporates logical inquiry and problem solving, and leads to an evaluative decision or action."
  NCTE Committee on Critical Thinking and the Language Arts.

  • From my experience I think critical thinking is a process and a skill that needs to be developed. Over time I’ve learned how to think critically, but when I was younger I had a difficult time doing so because I couldn’t see the big picture or different viewpoints. Now in creating hypertexts I think that our websites are very important in incorporating a logical inquiry. As we’ve been working on in class – what does our website have to offer? It should offer a problem to the solution or a judgment that’s a different point of view from many others.

  "Broadly speaking, critical thinking is concerned with reason, intellectual honesty, and open-mindedness, as opposed too emotionalism, intellectual laziness, and closed-mindedness. Thus, critical thinking involves: following evidence where it leads; considering all possibilities; relying on reason rather than emotion; being precise; considering a variety of possible viewpoints and explanations; weighing the effects of motives and biases; being concerned more with finding the truth than with being right; not rejecting unpopular views out of hand; being aware of one's own prejudices and biases, and not allowing them to sway one's judgment."
  Kurland, Daniel J. I Know What It Says . . . What does it Mean? 1995.

  • As I’ve discussed in previous responses, critical thinking involves multiple concepts. These concepts are mainly seeing variety of viewpoints, weighing biases as well as being concerned with finding the truth. By being an investigator and thinking critically, I have found interest in research and inquiries when it comes to brainstorming a topic for my hypertexts. I like the part of the definition that states “being concerned more with finding the truth than with being right.” This I because it is not about your opinion or bias or thinking you knowing the best solution – its finding the truth to whatever topic you are researching.