Thinking In College In this lesson, we’ll explore what it means to be a college-level thinker, and how to develop strong thinking skills. Any questions before we start?

College-Level Thinking Fast thinking: Automatic, emotional, stereotyped, subconscious Good for quick decisions Slow thinking: Logical, rational, deep Takes effort and careful attention Slow thinkers Investigate problems Ask questions Pose new answers Discover new information The level of thinking your college instructors expect from you is greater than that of your high school teachers. You will find that important questions usually do not have simple answers. Economist Daniel Kahneman describes two types of thinking: “fast thinking” and “slow thinking.” Fast thinking is automatic, emotional, stereotyped, and subconscious. It is useful to make quick and easy decisions. Slow thinking takes more effort, careful attention, and is logical, rational, and deep. Slow thinking makes you a better learner and problem solver; slow thinkers examine problems, ask questions, suggest new answers, discover new information, question authorities, make independent judgments, and develop creative solutions. See text p. 225

Developing Strong Thinking Skills Ask questions Engage curiosity and question statements and assertions Consider multiple points of view Be fair and open-minded to all ideas Draw conclusions Examine the outcome of your inquiry in a more demanding, critical way The first step of thinking at a deeper level, of true critical thinking, is to be curious. You must ask questions – about everything. Before you draw any conclusions, it is important to consider multiple points of view. You should be fair and open-minded, and consider all ideas. The more ideas you consider, the better your thinking will become. After considering multiple ideas, you can begin to draw conclusions. You will need to examine the outcomes of your inquiries in demanding, critical ways. Why have you come to the conclusion that you did? The point isn’t to arrive at the “right” answer, but at the one you think is most practical. See text pp. 226-228

Developing Strong Thinking Skills: Arguments Make arguments Make a claim, provide reasons to support it, and use evidence Challenge assumptions Listen to both sides before making a judgment Examine the evidence Check for quality Arguments are not just fights; the word also refers to a calm, reasoned effort to persuade someone of the value of an idea. Effective arguments make a general claim, provide reasons to support it, and back those reasons up with evidence. It is important to challenge your implicit assumptions and beliefs when you consider an argument. Listen to both sides before making a judgment. Evidence is a key part of any argument, so a key point of critical thinking is checking that the evidence that supports an argument is of the highest quality. If you are uncertain of a piece of evidence, find another one – drawing on questionable evidence has a tendency to backfire. See text pp. 228-230

Recognize and Avoid Faulty Reasoning Logical fallacies Attacking the person Begging Appealing to false authority Jumping on a bandwagon Assuming truth because it hasn’t been proven false Falling victim to false cause Hasty generalizations Slippery slope You will need to make sure that an argument hasn’t been compromised by faulty reasoning or logical fallacies. Some common logical fallacies include: Attacking the person. Arguing against other people’s positions or arguments is perfectly acceptable Going after their personalities, however, is not. Begging. Begging doesn’t offer evidence, appeal to facts, or reason. It is based purely on emotional appeals. Appealing to false authority. Citing experts and authorities can be valuable support for an argument. However, claims based on the authority of someone with questionable expertise don’t use real evidence. Jumping on a bandwagon. Sometimes we are more likely to believe something many others also believe. That doesn’t make it true, however. Assuming something is true because it hasn’t been proven false. It is hard to prove complete negation, but evidence can be discredited. Falling victim to false cause. Frequently, we make the assumption that just because one event followed another, the first event must have caused the second. Making hasty generalizations. Sometimes it is tempting to draw conclusions based on limited evidence. Slippery slope. Don’t allow arguments to escalate beyond what is logical. See text pp. 230-232

Applying Your Critical-Thinking Skills Collaborate Generates a greater number of ideas Can happen face to face and over the Internet Improves ability to think critically Be creative and solve problems Use critical thinking and creativity to be resilient and successful You need to practice thinking critically in order to get good at it. One way to become a better critical thinker is to practice with others. Collaboration and critical thinking go hand in hand. Having more than one student involved in the learning process generates a greater number of ideas. You can collaborate in person or through digital communication. Taking advantage of opportunities to be creative will also develop strong thinking skills. Many famous people in history have become successful by thinking outside of the box. Learning to solve problems will aid not just your thinking skills, but also your resilience. See text pp. 233-236

Bloom’s Taxonomy and the First Year of College Bloom’s Taxonomy: a system of classifying goals for the learning process Level 1: Remember Level 2: Understand Level 3: Apply Level 4: Analyze Level 5: Evaluate Level 6: Create Benjamin Bloom, a professor of education at the University of Chicago, designed a system of classify goals for the learning process, known as Bloom’s Taxonomy. Bloom’s Taxonomy has six levels of learning, and the higher the level, the more critical thinking it requires. Level 1: Remember – Being able to recall ideas and information Level 2: Understand – Being able to restate in your own words what ideas mean Level 3: Apply – Applying abstract, theoretical information to practical situations Level 4: Analyze – Breaking information into parts. Determining structure, logic, consistencies, inconsistencies Level 5: Evaluate – Making judgments and decisions about the value of new information Level 6: Create – Combining concepts and theories to form new, unique ideas See text pp. 236-237

Tech Tip: Use Your Thinking Skills in Conducting Research Use critical thinking to conduct online research Start with good questions Use databases Use a variety of locations to confirm information Consider the quality What does an instructor mean when they ask you to conduct research? You’ll need to use your critical thinking skills to conduct your research. Start with good questions about a topic, and use databases to find credible sources online without just using a search engine such as Google. Don’t trust the accuracy of information if you can only find it in one place. Confirm information by looking in a variety of locations. Consider the quality of the information. Where did it come from? Combine your information literacy and thinking skills to conduct focused, credible research. See text p. 238