Module 5 Critical Thinking Competencies

At this half-way point in the course, you have completed all of the readings related to critical thinking. You took the Critical Thinking Basic Skills and Assessment test, discussed issues with your peers, and completed several writing assignments. It is time to take stock of where you are.

Prompt: Becoming a Critical Thinker

Reflect on the current state of your critical thinking competencies. Consider your thinking processes when you started the course. How have they changed? In what ways have you internalized the techniques and concepts you learned? What interventions will you take to make lasting changes to your thinking habits? How might you use a thinking partner or coach to help you advance your goals? Make sure to reflect on the distinction between intellectual virtues and barriers to thinking.

Use your leadership blog to reflect on these questions and to discuss how you will continue to advance your critical thinking skills.

The Critical-Thinking Leader

How have my thinking processes changed since starting MSLD 500? How might I use a thinking partner or coach to help advance my goals? Reflect on the distinction between intellectual virtues and barriers to thinking.

My thinking processes completely changed since the beginning of this course. I often considered myself a strong thinker because on almost every personality test my results equate to me being an analytical and logical person. I assumed that there was no real science or method behind thinking, but that some people are just more gifted than others when it comes to this subject. In reality, there are real components and competencies that can enable individuals to progress their ability to think critically.

Critical Thinking Assessment Results

Test #31874 - Sunday 01/16/2022
Basic Critical Thinking Insight	20 of 25	80%
Element or Component Part of Thought	25 of 37	68%
Intellectual Standard	18 of 29	62%
Intellectual Trait or Virtue	10 of 14	71%
Obstacle to Critical Thinking	11 of 14	79%

Test #31874 Section Scores

Part One: On the Nature of Critical Thinking 94%33 out of 35 were correct

Part Two: On the Nature of Critical Thinking 48%12 out of 25 were correct

Part Three: On Recognizing Important Distinctions in Critical Thinking 63%25 out of 40 were correct

Final Score 70% 70 out of 100 were correct

To become a critical thinker, one must set aside any and all preconceptions and biases while having the ability to assess a situation, issue, or problem with an open-mind, welcoming perspectives contrary to one's own. This requires deep thinking (intellectual standards), thorough analysis (elements of reasoning), and a new lifestyle (intellectual virtues).  

Critical thinking requires looking at and analyzing information through the lens of the intellectual standards like clarity and significance . They question information, conclusions, and points of view, while striving to be accurate, precise, and relevant (Paul & Elder, 2020, p. 6). Critical thinkers are deep thinkers, "they look beneath the surface; they are logical and reasonable." Most importantly, critical thinkers value the opinions of others while seeking to improve their own thinking. 

Critical thinking can be applied in any discipline and in one's personal life. Lifelong critical thinkers continually seek to target problem areas within their own thinking, with the intellectual humility and understanding to embrace them and improve them. In order to be the most effective thinker possible, one must take control of one's own thoughts to experience a "happier, more satisfied inner sense of self," and to be able to "reason more rationally, logically, and justifiably" (Paul & Elder, 2020, p. 7). This requires striving to become a virtuous critical thinker willing to work on the intellectual virtues (traits) throughout one's lifetime.

Critical Thinking Process

It is one thing to say that after taking MSLD 500 that I will be a better critical thinker, but it is another to actually put it into practice. As Nosich (2012) mentions, "the temptation to isolate course material as merely school stuff is heightened by ingrained study techniques: passive listening, memorizing information rather than organizing and synthesizing it, simply  repeating information from the book or a lecture, not formulating  questions" (p. 117). 

Taking this point into consideration, the point of MSLD 500 is not to memorize and regurgitate the Paulian model of critical thinking, but rather to actually become better at developing thorough, thought-provoking, and deep questions in the reality of everyday life. Moreover, for myself, I must question my critical thinking weak areas in order to work on them, but I must also internalize the general process of asking better questions in the application of my personal and work lives. Inevitably, I will not retain the exact names of the elements of reasoning, the intellectual standards, nor the intellectual virtues, however, I will retain the concepts of questioning information, valuing alternative points of view, and the importance of being willing to admit that my thinking is not perfect.

Unfortunately, several barriers exist which challenge and impede critical thought in which the Paulian model places into two categories: egocentric and sociocentric thought (Paul & Elder, 2020, p. 7). The authors write that these impediments include "closemindedness, self-deception, rationalization, intellectual arrogance, hypocrisy, greed, selfishness, herd mentality, prejudice, and many other pathological ways in which people think, feel, and act." 

Dr. Daniel Kahneman (2021) writes that bias and noise, systematic deviation and random scatter, are different components of error (p. 75). While Kahneman (2021) mentions that “diversity of tastes is welcome and entirely expected,” he also claims that this can account and attribute to errors, too (p. 401). In essence, the backgrounds of individuals such as how each person grew up, where they live, their socioeconomic background, significant events in their lives, their relationship struggles, and even their favorite sports teams, all play into this concept of human variables, biases, and noise. In order to mitigate the effects of these human variables, a strong critical thinker must set aside personal bias and noise. 

The barriers to thinking are the basically the opposite of intellectual virtues - a very distinctive relationship. In order to become a virtuous critical thinker, one must overcome the barriers to thinking by becoming more open-minded, self-aware, intellectually humble, and, essentially, by striving toward the intellectual virtues as a whole. 

To become a fair-minded critical person, as defined by Paul & Elder (2020), one should develop intellectual abilities to serve one's interests while respecting the rights and needs of others, act as forthrightly as possible resulting in people being treated reasonably and fairly, and be as ethical, empathetic, and just as possible (p. 13). In order to do this, finding coaches mentors, and thinking partners is incredibly important in advancing one's goals. 

For myself, having people willing to call me out when my thinking is off or out of line has helped me improve my leadership ability. As a junior military officer, my critical thinking skill is often not at the same level as officers and enlisted with more time and experience than me. Nosich succinctly states, "you need to distinguish information from your interpretation of that information" (Nosich, 2012, p. 55). By recognizing imperfections within my own thinking, I can leverage the expertise of those around me; in fact, those I lead tend to feel more buy-in to the organization and decisions that are made. Moreover, I am able to gather more data and viewpoints to ensure that my interpretation of information is valid. Ultimately, coaching can help develop my critical thinking skill because no matter how much personal reflection I conduct, my inherent biases and preconceptions will continually cloud my judgement for how much of a fair-minded critical person I really I am. Knowing this, I will ensure to seek out coaches and thinking partners to make myself a better leader overall.

A developing fair-minded critical person,

Chad

References:

Kahneman, D. (2021). Noise: A flaw in human judgement. Hatchette Book Group, Inc.

Nosich, G. (2012). Learning to think things through: A guide to critical thinking across the curriculum (4th ed.). Prentice Hall. 

Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2020). The miniature guide to critical thinking concepts and tools. Rowman & Littlefield.