CriticalThinking Definition and how to display By Craig Gibson

Critical Thinking

1. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 1
Critical Thinking: Definitions and
Dispositions
Library Instruction Round Table
Program
ALA/CLA Conference
Toronto, Ontario
June 22, 2003

2. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 2
What is Critical Thinking?
Classic definitions:
“reasonable reflective thinking focused on
deciding what to believe or do” (Ennis)
“thinking that assesses itself” (Center for
Critical Thinking)

3. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 3
What is Critical Thinking?
Classic definitions:
“the intellectually disciplined process of actively
and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing,
synthesizing,and/or evaluating information gathered
from, or generated by, observation, experience,
reflection, reasoning, or communications, as a guide
to belief and action” (Scriven & Paul)

4. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 4
Critical Thinking Definitions:
Common Elements
Self-discipline, self-assessment
Standards for thinking
Meta-level of thinking: more than just skills
or abilities
Thinking as a basis for informed action

5. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 5
Barriers to Critical Thinking
(Think-Pair-Share)

6. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 6
Critical Thinking: the Two
Traditions
Philosophers
-normative standards
-formal reasoning and
logic
-”intellectual virtues”
Psychologists
-empirically based
-informal reasoning
-thinking processes
-expert-novice
distinctions

7. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 7
Critical Thinking: Other Issues
Is critical thinking “generic” or discipline-specific?
How does critical thinking relate to learning “basic”
skills?
How does critical thinking support the learning of
concepts?
How does critical thinking relate to
“constructivism?”

8. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 8
Critical Thinking Principles
(Richard Paul)
Knowledge is an “achievement”;
Students must be actively engaged in
learning process
Multiple perspectives are important in
solving problems
Students should learn standards for assessing
the quality of their own thinking

9. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 9
Critical Thinking: Another
Perspective
Tell about a time when you knew you were thinking
critically. What caused you to think that way?
(Think-Pair-Share)

10. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 10
Critical Thinking Dispositions
What is a disposition?
--different from (or larger than) abilities
or skills
--tendencies to think, act, behave in a
certain way under given conditions
(David Perkins, Shari Tishman, Robert Ennis, Stephen
Norris)

11. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 11
Critical Thinking Dispositions:
A Triad
Sensitivities: alertness to appropriate occasions for
using critical thinking
Inclinations: the tendencies to actually behave in a
certain way, to use critical thinking
Abilities: capabilities and skills required to carry
through and think critically
(Shari Tishman, Albert Andrade)

12. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 12
Thinking Dispositions: A List
1. The disposition to be broad and
adventurous
2. The disposition toward sustained
intellectual curiosity
3. The disposition to clarify and seek
understanding
4. The disposition to be planful and strategic

13. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 13
Thinking Dispositions: A List
(cont’d)
5. The disposition to be intellectually careful
6. The disposition to seek and evaluate
reasons
7. The disposition to be metacognitive
(Shari Tishman, Eileen Jay, David Perkins)

14. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 14
Dispositions,Information
Literacy, and Kulthau’s Process
Approach
“Broad and adventurous”: topic exploration
“Sustained intellectual curiosity”:persistence
“Seek understanding”: seeking meaning
“Planful and strategic”: search strategies

15. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 15
Creating a Culture of Thinking
Assumptions:
--Critical thinking develops in an
“immersive environment”
--Critical thinking needs social supports
--Critical thinking depends upon models
and standards
--Critical thinking is not just skill
development, but acculturation
(Shari Tishman, David Perkins)

16. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 16
Teaching Thinking Dispositions
Create a culture of thinking
-provide exemplarsof critical thinking
dispositions
-provide explanationsof thinking dispositions
-create opportunities for interactionsthat
promote critical thinking dispositions
-teach the dispositiondirectly
(Tishman, Andrade)

17. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 17
Critical Thinking Dispositions
and the “One Shot”
(Exercise)

18. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 18
Resources
Center for Critical Thinking (1996). Three
Definitions of Critical Thinking.[Online]. Available
at
http://www.criticalthinking.org/University/univlibra
ry.library.nclk
Ennis, Robert (1992). Critical Thinking: What is it?
Proceedings of the 48
th
Annual Meeting of the
Philosophy of Education Society, Denver,
Colorado, March 27-30.

19. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 19
Resources
Paul, Richard (1990). What Every Person Needs to
Survive in a Rapidly Changing World. Rohnert
Park, CA: Center for Critical Thinking and Moral
Critique.
Scriven, Michael, and Paul, Richard. (1996).
Defining Critical Thinking: A Draft Statement for
the National Council for Excellence in Critical
Thinking. [Online]. Available at
http://www.criticalthinking.org/University/univlibra
ry/library.nclk.

20. 7/27/2024 Craig Gibson 20
Resources
Tishman, Shari; Jay, Eileen; and Perkins, David
(1992). Teaching Thinking Dispositions: From
Transmission to Enculturation. [Online]. Available
at
http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/thinking/docs/artic
le2.html
Tishman, Shari, and Andrade, Albert (n.d.) Thinking
Dispositions: a Review of Current Theories,
Practices, and Issues. Available at
http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/thinking/docs/Disp
ositions.htm