Book Report My review of Critical Thinking

BookReportMyreviewofCriticalThinkingMyreviewofCriticalThinkingRecently,Ihavebeenreadingabook,CriticalThinking,whichcannotonlyteachushowtodistinguishrightfromwrong,butalsoofferusaextremelyefficientwaytoliveourlife,especiallyinthefieldofacademicstudyandresearch.Asweallknow,in1940s,criticalthinkingisusedtoidentifyathemeofeducationreforminAmerica;inthe1970s,inAmerica,BritainandCanadaeducationfieldamagnificentandvictoriouscriticalthinkingmovement;inthe1980s,theeducationreform,criticalthinkingbecamethefocus;inthebeginningof1990s,theeducationofalllevelsaseducationandcriticalthinkingskillswillbeteachingthebasicgoalinUS.But,thepeoplehavethefollowingseveralkindofmisunderstandingstothecriticalnessthought.Onekindofmisunderstandingis,somepeoplethoughtthatcriticalnessthoughtwhetherqualitative,namelyessentiallydiscoverstheflaw.However,criticalnessthoughtisnotonlythesuspensejudgment.Thequestion,thecritiquearetoseekthereasonorguaranteethevalidity,carriesontherationalityforoursfaithandthebehaviortolayafoundation.Therefore,thecriticalnessthoughtisalsoconstructive.Thecriticalnessthoughtcausesthepeopletorealizeitselfintheworldvalue,thebehaviorandthesocialstructuremultiplicity.Thepeoplealsobelievedthatthecriticalnessthoughttakesonekindofcontrolthemethodtohaveaneffectuses,isthingwhichharmful,shouldavoid.Thegoodfriendonekindofmisunderstandingis,thecriticalnessthoughtnotincludingorencouragesthecreativity.And,whatiscriticalthinking?Therearemanywaystoinitiallydefineit.SometimesI’vethoughtofitasasystemforopeningeverysystem(thatexists).Itopensupbusiness.ItopensupChemistry.Itopensupsportsliketennisandbasketball.Itopensupprofessionalpractice.ItopensupEthicsandenablesustoseethroughideology.Itenablesustoputthingsintointellectualperspective.Asystemthatopensupsystemsisonewaytothinkofcriticalthinking.Here’sanotherway.Criticalthinkingisthinkingthatanalyzesthought,thatassessesthought,andthattransformsthoughtforthebetter.Here’sathirdwaytotalkaboutcriticalthinkingoverlappingandrelatedtotheothertwo.It’sthinkingaboutthinkingwhilethinkinginordertothinkbetter.Everyonethinks.Wehavenochoiceaboutthat.But,noteverybodythinksabouttheirthinking.Andnoteveryonewhothinksabouttheirthinkingthinksaboutitwell.Youcanworryaboutyourthinking.Youcanthinkbadlyofyourthinking.Youcanbeembarrassedbyyourthinking.Youcanfocusonitinadysfunctionalway---thatisnotcriticalthinking.However,whatiscriticalthinking?Beingcriticalintheacademicworlddoesnotmeanbeingnegative–itmeansaskingquestionstofindoutifinformationandideasareaccurate,appropriateforthecircumstances,oruseful.Despitetheimportantemphasisatuniversityonacquiringknowledge,thetaskssetforstudentsrequiremorethanjustademonstrationthatmaterialhasbeenmemorized.Avitalsteptolearningandtoproducingsuccessfulassignmentsisshowingthatyoucanmakeuseof,andmakejudgmentsaboutknowledge.Thisiswherethinkingcriticallycomesin.Itishardtogiveabriefdefinitionof…criticalthinking?becausethephrasecanrefertoanumberofcomplexprocesses,andmaybeusedratherdifferentlyinsomesubjectsanddisciplines.Ifyougotoatextbookitmaytakeyouthroughthebasicsoflogic–whichisaboutreasoning,orhowtomakestatementsbasedonsoundprinciplesor“premises”,sothatthevalueofargumentsbasedonthesestatementscanbejudged(See,forexample,BowellandKemp,2021;Thomson,2021).Butcriticalthinkingisnotjustasetofactivitiesandfunctionsforreasoning;itisalsoanattitude,approachordispositiontowardsstudy.Inthisway,acriticalthinkingattitudeisacommitmentthatyoumaketolookingatissuesindepth.Whenacriticalthinkingapproachisembeddedintoallofyourwork,itwillleadyoutodeeperratherthanmoresurface-levellearning.Thereisawiderangeofbooksandmaterialsaboutthissubject–someofwhicharelistedinthereferencessectionbelow-thepointofthisstudyguidehowever,istogiveapracticaloverviewofcriticalthinkingthatcanbeusedbystudentsinanysubjectandatalllevelsofstudy.Personally,criticalthinkingisforlife;insociallife,work,employmentandbusiness,criticalthinkingiswhatturnsinspiration,originality,andcreativityintopracticalprojects;inuniversitywork,criticalthinkingiswhatturnsrawideasintoconsideredarguments.And,criticalthinkingiswhatisneededtoturn‘average’assignmentsintogoodorexcellentones.Inaword,Ithinkthatcriticalthinkingshouldandcanbeplayinganextremelyimportantroleinourallaspectsoflife.ButnowIwonderwhymostlyuniversitiesinChinaareunwillingtoofferthiscoursetoChinesestudents.SoIthinkitisverynecessarytoofferthiscourseinChineseuniversities.Theadvantagesofcriticalthinkingarereflectedinmanyaspects,andbynowallthethingsofferedabovearewhatIhavelearntandunderstoodfromthebook,CriticalThinking--Prooflogicangleofview(RevisedEdition).References:1.CriticalThinking,astudypaperfromLearningDevelopment,Web::learn@:01752587456.2.Bloom,B.S.(ed.)(1956)Taxonomyofeducationalobjectives.NewYork:Longmans.3.CriticalThinking--Prooflogicangleofview(RevisedEdition),editedbyWuHongzhiandZhouJianwu,publishedbyChinesePeople'sUniversityPress,acourseandlearningtextbo