~ A Note on Critical Thinking (CT) ~
Colleges proclaim its importance, foment its development and bemoan its absence. There is wide agreement on the essential need of developing, engaging and learning how to approach a CT task with a meta-cognitive framework, and how the development of CT as a skill and its incorporation as a learned behavior is an essential component of our student's success in college and beyond.
Critical Thinking is the fulcrum upon which we make sense of the world, acquire and produce new knowledge, and locate answers. But, MOST IMPORTANTLY Critical Thinking must be taught- its fundaments illustrated.
Students need to be taught how to challenge their frame of thinking, place new schemas on what they already know, develop new conclusions and apply new information. To this end an operational definition of critical thinking, its framework of operation and its instructional applications are of imperative importance.
