Critical Thinking
The phrase “critical thinking” often gets conflated with a vague notion of discussing a text: something like, “Let’s read this thing and talk about it.” Critical thinking, both as a skill and discipline, includes a much more methodical and developed way of assessing evidence and arguments to make informed judgments of their meaning and application. It is both a way of doing business in academic settings and a common practice of how we think about, and operate within, the world around us. We slow down our thought processes and question most every aspect of study to make sure we are not rushing into sketchy judgments, committing fallacies because of unexamined blind spots, or accepting propositions casually rather than holding them up to rigorous inspection.
Just as every draft can be improved with more revision, every critique makes a thought that much more sophisticated. The resources below provide tips and ideas about how to establish concrete beliefs and make informed judgments about topics and concepts equally vital to your academic and common day pursuits.
ConnectED skills related to Oral Communication: Communicative fluency; Ethical reasoning; Problem Solving
General Resources
- 5 Tips to Improve Your Critical Thinking – (video) Samantha Agoos, TED-Ed
- Defining Critical Thinking – The Foundation for Critical Thinking
- Fundamentals: Introduction to Critical Thinking – (video) Geoff Pynn, Northern Illinois University
- How to Ask a Smart Question – Steve Snyder
- The Ultimate Cheatsheet for Critical Thinking – Global Digital Citizens Foundation [screen reader-friendly version]
- What Defines a Meme? – James Gleik
Logical Fallacies
- Logical Fallacies – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
For resources to assist with ethical reasoning, see the Ethical Reasoning page.