Critical Thinking
The ability to think in ways that encourage creative and effective problem solving and sound judgment.
An important goal of a college education is to enable students to become more adept at critical thinking. Critical thinking is a skill, a habit of inquiry that can be learned and developed. During your years in college we expect you to become more skillful thinkers – better able to sort through the nature of a problem, more adept at identifying and evaluating various points of view, and more skillful at coming to conclusions or decisions, based on careful consideration and assessment of a variety of sources of information.
As you assess your own progress with regard to the development of critical thinking skills, think about the papers you have written or decisions you have made. What thought processes did you go through as you considered the topic or issue? What changes do you see in the way you approach information? Select one or more artifacts that you think represent some of the changes in the way you think, and write a reflection that discusses some of these changes. You will find it useful to consider some of the following questions as you consider how your thinking skills have developed and what artifact(s) to choose:
- Identify a time in the past in which you made a decision, solved a problem, or formed an opinion without using steps of critical thinking (i.e. identifying the various issues involved, appropriately weighing evidence, considering alternative interpretations or solutions, etc.). How would the result have differed if you had used the skills of critical thinking?
- Have you found your own initial position regarding a particular issue or argument changing after learning about other points of view or information you hadn’t previously known?
- Consider the sources of evidence you used in making your argument. Do you consider them reliable/valid? Would others consider them reliable/valid? What other sources might have helped strengthen your position?
- What do you do when the evidence you find seems to contradict the argument you wanted to make (or the opinion you’ve already formed)?
- On what basis might one criticize your argument or conclusions? What evidence might support such criticism? How might you respond to the criticism?
- With regard to your artifact, how did you evaluate the quality of the sources of information or evidence you used (or collected)?
- As you continue your education at PMC and beyond, what aspects of critical thinking have you learned that you can apply in future assignments or situations calling for problem solving skills?
Criteria for evaluating reflections on Critical thinking
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Exemplary |
Satisfactory |
Needs Improvement |
Not Acceptable |
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Formulates and employs criteria for consistently deciding between theories or alternative points of view Proposes alternative solutions to previously existing problems Recognizes different interpretations from the same data |
Evaluates legitimacy of arguments or sources based on appropriate evidence Distinguishes relevant from irrelevant arguments Draws appropriate conclusions from evidence |
Describes an assignment or experience in which a thesis is presented Illustrates recognition of components of an argument Identifies alternative points of view |
Inadequate reflection or is missing artifact. |