memorizing facts is an example of critical thinking

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Memorization is a component of critical thinking, not its opposite

by Erica L. Meltzer | Nov 8, 2013 | Blog , Issues in Education | 0 comments

Education is in the news a lot these days. With the increasing reliance on standardized testing at all grade levels and the implementation of Common Core standards, there’s suddenly a lot of concern about where American schools are headed; and as someone with a significant interest in educational issues, I pay a lot of attention to what people are saying. Reading through education articles and the accompanying comments, many of which bemoan the lack of I’m struck by the extent to which ideas about education have become polarized: on one side, joyless, dry, rote learning, devoid of imagination or interest, with no other end than the thoughtless regurgitation of facts; on the other side, a sort of kumbaya, free-to-be-you-and-me utopia, where learning is always an imaginative and exciting process with no wrong answers or unpleasantness.

To be fair, a lot of the idealizing that goes on is understandable backlash against the rise of standardized tests to judge, well, just about everything. If education has been reduced to learning how to fill in little bubbles on a scantron sheet, it’s natural to want to run screaming as far as possible in the other direction from that sort of drudgery and to make learning fun. To be clear: although I obviously have a stake in the world of standardized tests and believe that well-constructed exams (like the SAT) are useful when used thoughtfully and sparingly, I’m as disturbed as most other people about their sudden ubiquity.

Real education is most certainly not about learning to fill in little bubbles, and at its best, it can be wonderful and stimulating and engaging. But can be wonderful and stimulating is not the same thing as must never be boring or involve any sort of protracted struggle, and there seems to be a camp that conflates the two. Some things are hard; that’s called life. As someone who spends a lot of time teaching students fundamentals that they haven’t acquired in school, I find just as disturbing — and, frankly, bizarre — the idea that those “boring” fundamentals can simply be bypassed in favor of “higher level critical thinking skills.” Yet that idea seems to be have taken root rather tenaciously.

I’d like to suggest that the problem of rote learning vs. critical thinking is actually a false dichotomy. Or rather, there are two types of rote learning, and it’s necessary to distinguish between them: on one hand, there’s the type of rote learning that exists as an end in itself. The point of this type of education is simply to be able to spit back names and dates and facts without any understanding of how they connect or what their larger significance in the world might be. When Americans rail against rote learning, this is what they tend to be thinking of.

On the other hand, there is also a type of education that views rote learning as a means to an end — one that recognizes that factual knowledge is actually the basis for higher level thinking. This type of rote knowledge is also known as “inflexible knowledge.” Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham has written extensively about the problem with treating critical thinking as something that can be taught in the abstract.

As Willingham says :

People who have sought to teach critical thinking have assumed that it is a skill, like riding a bicycle, and that, like other skills, once you learn it, you can apply it in any situation. Research from cognitive science shows that thinking is not that sort of skill. The processes of thinking are intertwined with the content of thought (that is, domain knowledge). Thus, if you remind a student to “look at an issue from multiple perspectives” often enough, he will learn that he ought to do so, but if he doesn’t know much about an issue, he can’t think about it from multiple perspectives. You can teach students maxims about how they ought to think, but without background knowledge and practice, they probably will not be able to implement the advice they memorize. Just as it makes no sense to try to teach factual content without giving students opportunities to practice using it, it also makes no sense to try to teach critical thinking devoid of factual content.

Willingham’s research flies in the face of much of the educational status quo. One belief currently rampant is that students no longer need to memorize factual information because technology has made that information available to them at the click of a button. Because they no longer have to “waste” brainpower memorizing, or so the line of thinking goes, their minds will be freed up for “higher level critical thinking.” The problem with this view is that it overlooks the fact that critical thinking emerges from the scaffolding provided by rote knowledge; it can’t be divorced from it. When you know facts and dates and concepts by heart, it becomes much easier to see the relationships between them. It doesn’t mean that you’ll automatically see the relationships between them (that’s the point of education), but you will have a stronger basis for doing so.

Put otherwise, if you’re writing a history paper about and have to stop every five seconds and look something up on Wikipedia , your mind will be so consumed with simply trying to process the literal information that you’ll have nothing left over to actually analyze it in any meaningful way. If, on the other hand, you already know the key facts and chronologies and players, you’ll find it much easier to actually say something about why they developed the way they did.

It’s easy to spout off about the beauty of knowledge and potential of technology, but anyone who has ever watched a sixteen year-old stare glassy-eyed at a computer screen with ten different tabs up, then pull up yet another page and google a term repeatedly, pausing only to glance at the first couple of hits before typing in a slightly different version and beginning the whole process again, might start to wonder if educators don’t maybe have things a little bit backwards.

Looking up a couple of pieces of minutiae is one thing, and the Internet is an invaluable tool for someone who needs to do only that, but having to google virtually every basic fact leaves no mental room to do anything with those facts.

Perhaps I’m overlooking something, but it always struck me a somewhat obvious that you don’t acquire higher-level skills without mastering lower-level skills first. If you skip over the fundamentals, you might stagger along looking like you know what you’re doing for a while, but sooner or later, you’re going to crash.

I don’t think most Americans would argue with that idea when it comes to, say, sports or music. They would consider it basic common sense that top athletes don’t simply jump into a high level of competition after a little bit of haphazard training. If they’re not ready, they’ll get injured badly. Likewise, a musician who hasn’t mastered basic scales isn’t usually encourage to schedule her solo debut. It’s understood that years of practice and repetition are required, some of which is “fun” and much of which is not, and that fundamental skills must be mastered before more advanced ones are introduced.

Yet that is more or less the equivalent of what an awful lot of people seem to expect high school student to be able to accomplish academically. Not only is it unrealistic to ask high school students to write papers showing evidence of complex, critical, “high-level” thinking without giving them the grammatical, rhetorical, analytical, literary, historical, and cultural knowledge (among other things) to actually perform that kind of analysis, but it’s downright delusional.

As someone who’s watched lots and lots of sixteen year-olds torture themselves trying to complete college-level assignments when they haven’t yet fully mastered things like transitions or topic sentences or how to analyze quotations, I think I’ve earned the right to say that there’s something very wrong with a system that refuses to explicitly teach skills for fear of destroying students’ creativity, then pushes them to the brink of a nervous breakdown by demanding that they complete work far beyond what their skills allow.

Listening to ed-school grads rhapsodize about the joys of learning, you have to wonder whether they’ve actually ever seen students at home, sobbing hysterically and making their parents nuts as they try to eek out a couple of semi-coherent paragraphs. My guess would be that they haven’t. (For the record, I drove myself crazy over pretty much every English paper I wrote in high school. When someone finally sat me down and taught me the conventions of the genre — in college — I was astonished that it had been so easy all along, then furious that no one had bothered to explain things that simply before.)

So if teachers aren’t teaching the basics well or in a manner that engages students’ interest, it simply means that those basics need to be taught better — not that they can or should be discarded as irrelevant. A terrible teacher can massacre even the most fascinating subject, and an exceptional teacher can teach the basics clearly and directly in a highly engaging manner. From what I’ve seen, students are incredibly grateful when the latter occurs. They end up with a real sense of accomplishment rather than the feeling that they’re grasping a straws.

I do, by the way, acknowledge that plenty of high schools offer little in the way of a challenge to very bright and motivated students — but that by itself doesn’t mean that the students are actually ready for college level work, simply that the level of the high school curriculum needs to be raised. If students who are high-achieving by the standards of their local environments but who actually still lack basic knowledge are placed in so-called “early college” classes , those classes will never get beyond a certain level, regardless of how catchy their titles are or how esoteric their subject matter is.

Students who are missing basic cultural reference points such as Auschwitz (never mind Hannah Arendt) are not, to put it bluntly, going to be able to discuss totalitarianism at anything approaching a college level. That’s not to say they won’t learn something from such a discussion, but their ability to engage in advanced “critical thinking” is going to be seriously compromised.

Given expert teachers and a well-constructed curriculum, there is a way to make high school-level work both challenging and age-appropriate; the two are not mutually exclusive. The real problem is a serious lack of teachers who are experts in their fields and a system that fails to give the teacher who are experts the necessary support.

Everyone’s looking for a quick fix, and no one wants to put their money where their mouth is — administrators occasionally pay lip service to the importance of bringing in the high-quality teachers but do nothing to make the profession more attractive; instead, they turn around and blame the teachers for everything their students fail to achieve. Then they insist that teachers facilitate high level critical thinking while simultaneously discouraging them from reinforcing the kind of fundamentals that are necessary for critical thinking to occur. It’s positively schizophrenic. And insisting that high school students be assigned work above their heads and then given wildly inflated grades so the grownups can pat themselves on the back is not a real solution.

One math tutor I know estimates that schools should be teaching somewhere around a third of the material they currently attempt to cover, but focusing on mastery rather than superficial knowledge. That seems pretty accurate to me. I think that in all the hysteria over accelerating classes to make sure that American students are internationally competitive, schools (administrators) have lost sight of how much information students can reasonably be asked to digest and what sort of building blocks must be already in place to ensure that they’re capable of digesting it.

The current system produces classes that appear advanced but that students aren’t actually retaining anything from. They memorize for the test and then forget because it’s the only way they can get through school; but since the information never makes it into their long-term memories, they never get to the point where they can combine it with other knowledge and jump to the next level.

Let me give you an example: over the last few years, I’ve tutored a number of AP French students at a highly selective New York City public school. Pre-AP classes aren’t tracked, so there’s no accelerated option in the lower levels. By the time students show up in AP, they’ve studied four or five tenses and learned them relatively well, but they haven’t done a lot of reading, and there’s still an enormous amount of grammar that they haven’t been exposed to.

When they get to AP, a lot of them find themselves in over their heads. They have to master the rest of the major tenses (among other things) in five or six or months, read a lot of authentic French, and write full essays in French, complete with theses and counterarguments. They have to cram so much knowledge in so fast that there’s simply no way they can retain it past each test.

Then, when they’re confronted with a situation that requires them to integrate all their knowledge, they freeze. The material looks vaguely familiar, but they still sit there for five minutes, trying to remember the endings for the conditional. Their class sometimes needs two full periods to complete tests because they simply can’t pull information together quickly enough. Five years ago, that was unheard of, but it’s happening all the time now. And there’s nothing their teacher can do about it because of the way the curriculum is structured. She knows they need more time the learn the information, but if she wants them to cover everything on the AP exam, she has to keep pushing through.

When I tell my students that I spent three years covering the subjunctive in high school, learning a different part each year, they’re floored — and jealous. No one has ever given them three years to learn anything for an AP exam.

Trying to come up with a conclusion to this post, I find myself stuck. I’m not particularly optimistic about the implementation of the Common Core, and I don’t have any pat advice to offer. (Optimism is not my forte. Sorry if you were looking for something uplifting.) My only hope is that at some point people will come to their senses and notice that an excessive emphasis on either free-form, pie-in-the-sky creativity or stultifying, sloppily written standardized testing does not an educational system make. But I’m guessing that things will have to get worse before before there’s even a chance that they’ll get better. As for me, I’ll just keep calling it like I see it.

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7 Critical Thinking and Evaluating Information

In this chapter, you will read a chapter on Critical Thinking and Evaluating Information from a module on Effective Learning Strategies, Student Success by Jazzabel Maya at Austin Community College, Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike

Use warming up, working out, and cooling down strategies to read the chapter. You will participate in a discussion and write a journal after you finish reading.

Remember to write down the strategies you’re using to warm up, work out, and cool down.

Chapter 7: Critical Thinking and Evaluating Information

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Define critical thinking
Describe the role that logic plays in critical thinking
Describe how both critical and creative thinking skills can be used to problem-solve
Describe how critical thinking skills can be used to evaluate information
Apply the CRAAP test to evaluate sources of information
Identify strategies for developing yourself as a critical thinker

Critical Thinking and Evaluating Information

Critical Thinking

As a college student, you are tasked with engaging and expanding your thinking skills. One of the most important of these skills is critical thinking because it relates to nearly all tasks, situations, topics, careers, environments, challenges, and opportunities. It is a “domain-general” thinking skill, not one that is specific to a particular subject area.

What Is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is clear, reasonable, reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do. It means asking probing questions like “How do we know?” or “Is this true in every case or just in this instance?” It involves being skeptical and challenging assumptions rather than simply memorizing facts or blindly accepting what you hear or read.

Imagine, for example, that you’re reading a history textbook. You wonder who wrote it and why, because you detect certain biases in the writing. You find that the author has a limited scope of research focused only on a particular group within a population. In this case, your critical thinking reveals that there are “other sides to the story.”

Who are critical thinkers, and what characteristics do they have in common? Critical thinkers are usually curious and reflective people. They like to explore and probe new areas and seek knowledge, clarification, and new solutions. They ask pertinent questions, evaluate statements and arguments, and they distinguish between facts and opinion. They are also willing to examine their own beliefs, possessing a manner of humility that allows them to admit lack of knowledge or understanding when needed. They are open to changing their mind. Perhaps most of all, they actively enjoy learning, and seeking new knowledge is a lifelong pursuit. This may well be you!

No matter where you are on the road to being a critical thinker, you can always more fully develop and finely tune your skills. Doing so will help you develop more balanced arguments, express yourself clearly, read critically, and glean important information efficiently. Critical thinking skills will help you in any profession or any circumstance of life, from science to art to business to teaching. With critical thinking, you become a clearer thinker and problem solver.

Critical Thinking and Logic

Critical thinking is fundamentally a process of questioning information and data. You may question the information you read in a textbook, or you may question what a politician or a professor or a classmate says. You can also question a commonly-held belief or a new idea. With critical thinking, anything and everything is subject to question and examination for the purpose of logically constructing reasoned perspectives.

What Is Logic?

The word logic comes from the Ancient Greek logike , referring to the science or art of reasoning. Using logic, a person evaluates arguments and reasoning and strives to distinguish between good and bad reasoning, or between truth and falsehood. Using logic, you can evaluate the ideas and claims of others, make good decisions, and form sound beliefs about the world. [1]

Questions of Logic in Critical Thinking

Let’s use a simple example of applying logic to a critical-thinking situation. In this hypothetical scenario, a man has a Ph.D. in political science, and he works as a professor at a local college. His wife works at the college, too. They have three young children in the local school system, and their family is well known in the community. The man is now running for political office. Are his credentials and experience sufficient for entering public office? Will he be effective in the political office? Some voters might believe that his personal life and current job, on the surface, suggest he will do well in the position, and they will vote for him. In truth, the characteristics described don’t guarantee that the man will do a good job. The information is somewhat irrelevant. What else might you want to know? How about whether the man had already held a political office and done a good job? In this case, we want to think critically about how much information is adequate in order to make a decision based on logic instead of assumptions.

The following questions, presented in Figure 1, below, are ones you may apply to formulating a logical, reasoned perspective in the above scenario or any other situation:

What’s happening? Gather the basic information and begin to think of questions.
Why is it important? Ask yourself why it’s significant and whether or not you agree.
What don’t I see? Is there anything important missing?
How do I know? Ask yourself where the information came from and how it was constructed.
Who is saying it? What’s the position of the speaker and what is influencing them?
What else? What if? What other ideas exist and are there other possibilities?

Infographic titled "Questions a Critical Thinker Asks." From the top, text reads: What's Happening? Gather the basic information and begin to think of questions (image of two stick figures talking to each other). Why is it Important? Ask yourself why it's significant and whether or not you agree. (Image of bearded stick figure sitting on a rock.) What Don't I See? Is there anything important missing? (Image of stick figure wearing a blindfold, whistling, walking away from a sign labeled Answers.) How Do I Know? Ask yourself where the information came from and how it was constructed. (Image of stick figure in a lab coat, glasses, holding a beaker.) Who is Saying It? What's the position of the speaker and what is influencing them? (Image of stick figure reading a newspaper.) What Else? What If? What other ideas exist and are there other possibilities? (Stick figure version of Albert Einstein with a thought bubble saying "If only time were relative...".

Problem-Solving with Critical Thinking

For most people, a typical day is filled with critical thinking and problem-solving challenges. In fact, critical thinking and problem-solving go hand-in-hand. They both refer to using knowledge, facts, and data to solve problems effectively. But with problem-solving, you are specifically identifying, selecting, and defending your solution. Below are some examples of using critical thinking to problem-solve:

Your roommate was upset and said some unkind words to you, which put a crimp in the relationship. You try to see through the angry behaviors to determine how you might best support the roommate and help bring the relationship back to a comfortable spot.
Your campus club has been languishing due to lack of participation and funds. The new club president, though, is a marketing major and has identified some strategies to interest students in joining and supporting the club. Implementation is forthcoming.
Your final art class project challenges you to conceptualize form in new ways. On the last day of class when students present their projects, you describe the techniques you used to fulfill the assignment. You explain why and how you selected that approach.
Your math teacher sees that the class is not quite grasping a concept. She uses clever questioning to dispel anxiety and guide you to a new understanding of the concept.
You have a job interview for a position that you feel you are only partially qualified for, although you really want the job and you are excited about the prospects. You analyze how you will explain your skills and experiences in a way to show that you are a good match for the prospective employer.
You are doing well in college, and most of your college and living expenses are covered. But there are some gaps between what you want and what you feel you can afford. You analyze your income, savings, and budget to better calculate what you will need to stay in college and maintain your desired level of spending.

Problem-Solving Action Checklist

Problem-solving can be an efficient and rewarding process, especially if you are organized and mindful of critical steps and strategies. Remember to assume the attributes of a good critical thinker: if you are curious, reflective, knowledge-seeking, open to change, probing, organized, and ethical, your challenge or problem will be less of a hurdle, and you’ll be in a good position to find intelligent solutions. The steps outlined in this checklist will help you adhere to these qualities in your approach to any problem:

Critical and Creative Thinking

Critical and creative thinking (described in more detail in Chapter 6: Theories of Learning) complement each other when it comes to problem-solving. The following words, by Dr. Andrew Robert Baker, are excerpted from his “Thinking Critically and Creatively” essay. Dr. Baker illuminates some of the many ways that college students will be exposed to critical and creative thinking and how it can enrich their learning experiences.

THINKING CRITICALLY AND CREATIVELY Critical thinking skills are perhaps the most fundamental skills involved in making judgments and solving problems. You use them every day, and you can continue improving them. The ability to think critically about a matter—to analyze a question, situation, or problem down to its most basic parts—is what helps us evaluate the accuracy and truthfulness of statements, claims, and information we read and hear. It is the sharp knife that, when honed, separates fact from fiction, honesty from lies, and the accurate from the misleading. We all use this skill to one degree or another almost every day. For example, we use critical thinking every day as we consider the latest consumer products and why one particular product is the best among its peers. Is it a quality product because a celebrity endorses it? Because a lot of other people may have used it? Because it is made by one company versus another? Or perhaps because it is made in one country or another? These are questions representative of critical thinking. The academic setting demands more of us in terms of critical thinking than everyday life. It demands that we evaluate information and analyze myriad issues. It is the environment where our critical thinking skills can be the difference between success and failure. In this environment we must consider information in an analytical, critical manner. We must ask questions—What is the source of this information? Is this source an expert one and what makes it so? Are there multiple perspectives to consider on an issue? Do multiple sources agree or disagree on an issue? Does quality research substantiate information or opinion? Do I have any personal biases that may affect my consideration of this information? It is only through purposeful, frequent, intentional questioning such as this that we can sharpen our critical thinking skills and improve as students, learners and researchers. While critical thinking analyzes information and roots out the true nature and facets of problems, it is creative thinking that drives progress forward when it comes to solving these problems. Exceptional creative thinkers are people that invent new solutions to existing problems that do not rely on past or current solutions. They are the ones who invent solution C when everyone else is still arguing between A and B. Creative thinking skills involve using strategies to clear the mind so that our thoughts and ideas can transcend the current limitations of a problem and allow us to see beyond barriers that prevent new solutions from being found. Brainstorming is the simplest example of intentional creative thinking that most people have tried at least once. With the quick generation of many ideas at once, we can block-out our brain’s natural tendency to limit our solution-generating abilities so we can access and combine many possible solutions/thoughts and invent new ones. It is sort of like sprinting through a race’s finish line only to find there is new track on the other side and we can keep going, if we choose. As with critical thinking, higher education both demands creative thinking from us and is the perfect place to practice and develop the skill. Everything from word problems in a math class, to opinion or persuasive speeches and papers, call upon our creative thinking skills to generate new solutions and perspectives in response to our professor’s demands. Creative thinking skills ask questions such as—What if? Why not? What else is out there? Can I combine perspectives/solutions? What is something no one else has brought-up? What is being forgotten/ignored? What about ______? It is the opening of doors and options that follows problem-identification. Consider an assignment that required you to compare two different authors on the topic of education and select and defend one as better. Now add to this scenario that your professor clearly prefers one author over the other. While critical thinking can get you as far as identifying the similarities and differences between these authors and evaluating their merits, it is creative thinking that you must use if you wish to challenge your professor’s opinion and invent new perspectives on the authors that have not previously been considered. So, what can we do to develop our critical and creative thinking skills? Although many students may dislike it, group work is an excellent way to develop our thinking skills. Many times I have heard from students their disdain for working in groups based on scheduling, varied levels of commitment to the group or project, and personality conflicts too, of course. True—it’s not always easy, but that is why it is so effective. When we work collaboratively on a project or problem we bring many brains to bear on a subject. These different brains will naturally develop varied ways of solving or explaining problems and examining information. To the observant individual we see that this places us in a constant state of back and forth critical/creative thinking modes. For example, in group work we are simultaneously analyzing information and generating solutions on our own, while challenging other’s analyses/ideas and responding to challenges to our own analyses/ideas. This is part of why students tend to avoid group work—it challenges us as thinkers and forces us to analyze others while defending ourselves, which is not something we are used to or comfortable with as most of our educational experiences involve solo work. Your professors know this—that’s why we assign it—to help you grow as students, learners, and thinkers! —Dr. Andrew Robert Baker, Foundations of Academic Success: Words of Wisdom

Evaluating Information with Critical Thinking

Evaluating information can be one of the most complex tasks you will be faced with in college. But if you utilize the following four strategies, you will be well on your way to success:

Read for understanding
Examine arguments
Clarify thinking
Cultivate “habits of mind”

Read for Understanding

When you read, take notes or mark the text to track your thinking about what you are reading. As you make connections and ask questions in response to what you read, you monitor your comprehension and enhance your long-term understanding of the material. You will want to mark important arguments and key facts. Indicate where you agree and disagree or have further questions. You don’t necessarily need to read every word, but make sure you understand the concepts or the intentions behind what is written. See the chapter on Active Reading Strategies for additional tips.

Examine Arguments

When you examine arguments or claims that an author, speaker, or other source is making, your goal is to identify and examine the hard facts. You can use the spectrum of authority strategy for this purpose. The spectrum of authority strategy assists you in identifying the “hot” end of an argument—feelings, beliefs, cultural influences, and societal influences—and the “cold” end of an argument—scientific influences. The most compelling arguments balance elements from both ends of the spectrum. The following video explains this strategy in further detail:

Clarify Thinking

When you use critical thinking to evaluate information, you need to clarify your thinking to yourself and likely to others. Doing this well is mainly a process of asking and answering probing questions, such as the logic questions discussed earlier. Design your questions to fit your needs, but be sure to cover adequate ground. What is the purpose? What question are we trying to answer? What point of view is being expressed? What assumptions are we or others making? What are the facts and data we know, and how do we know them? What are the concepts we’re working with? What are the conclusions, and do they make sense? What are the implications?

Cultivate “Habits of Mind”

“Habits of mind” are the personal commitments, values, and standards you have about the principle of good thinking. Consider your intellectual commitments, values, and standards. Do you approach problems with an open mind, a respect for truth, and an inquiring attitude? Some good habits to have when thinking critically are being receptive to having your opinions changed, having respect for others, being independent and not accepting something is true until you’ve had the time to examine the available evidence, being fair-minded, having respect for a reason, having an inquiring mind, not making assumptions, and always, especially, questioning your own conclusions—in other words, developing an intellectual work ethic. Try to work these qualities into your daily life.

In 2010, a textbook being used in fourth-grade classrooms in Virginia became big news for all the wrong reasons. The book, Our Virginia by Joy Masoff, had caught the attention of a parent who was helping her child do her homework, according to an article in The Washington Post . Carol Sheriff was a historian for the College of William and Mary and as she worked with her daughter, she began to notice some glaring historical errors, not the least of which was a passage which described how thousands of African Americans fought for the South during the Civil War.

Further investigation into the book revealed that, although the author had written textbooks on a variety of subjects, she was not a trained historian. The research she had done to write Our Virginia, and in particular the information she included about Black Confederate soldiers, was done through the Internet and included sources created by groups like the Sons of Confederate Veterans, an organization which promotes views of history that de-emphasize the role of slavery in the Civil War.

How did a book with errors like these come to be used as part of the curriculum and who was at fault? Was it Masoff for using untrustworthy sources for her research? Was it the editors who allowed the book to be published with these errors intact? Was it the school board for approving the book without more closely reviewing its accuracy?

There are a number of issues at play in the case of Our Virginia , but there’s no question that evaluating sources is an important part of the research process and doesn’t just apply to Internet sources. Using inaccurate, irrelevant, or poorly researched sources can affect the quality of your own work. Being able to understand and apply the concepts that follow is crucial to becoming a more savvy user and creator of information.

When you begin evaluating sources, what should you consider? The CRAAP test is a series of common evaluative elements you can use to evaluate the C urrency, R elevance, A uthority, A ccuracy, and P urpose of your sources. The CRAAP test was developed by librarians at California State University at Chico and it gives you a good, overall set of elements to look for when evaluating a resource. Let’s consider what each of these evaluative elements means. You can visit the ACC Library’s Web page for a tutorial on Evaluating Information using the CRAAP test.

One of the most important and interesting steps to take as you begin researching a subject is selecting the resources that will help you build your thesis and support your assertions. Certain topics require you to pay special attention to how current your resource is—because they are time sensitive, because they have evolved so much over the years, or because new research comes out on the topic so frequently. When evaluating the currency of an article, consider the following:

When was the item written, and how frequently does the publication come out?
Is there evidence of newly added or updated information in the item?
If the information is dated, is it still suitable for your topic?
How frequently does information change about your topic?

Understanding what resources are most applicable to your subject and why they are applicable can help you focus and refine your thesis. Many topics are broad and searching for information on them produces a wide range of resources. Narrowing your topic and focusing on resources specific to your needs can help reduce the piles of information and help you focus in on what is truly important to read and reference. When determining relevance consider the following:

Does the item contain information relevant to your argument or thesis?
Read the article’s introduction, thesis, and conclusion.
Scan main headings and identify article keywords.
For book resources, start with the index or table of contents—how wide a scope does the item have? Will you use part or all of this resource?
Does the information presented support or refute your ideas?
If the information refutes your ideas, how will this change your argument?
Does the material provide you with current information?
What is the material’s intended audience?

Understanding more about your information’s source helps you determine when, how, and where to use that information. Is your author an expert on the subject? Do they have some personal stake in the argument they are making? What is the author or information producer’s background? When determining the authority of your source, consider the following:

What are the author’s credentials?
What is the author’s level of education, experience, and/or occupation?
What qualifies the author to write about this topic?
What affiliations does the author have? Could these affiliations affect their position?
What organization or body published the information? Is it authoritative? Does it have an explicit position or bias?

Determining where information comes from, if the evidence supports the information, and if the information has been reviewed or refereed can help you decide how and whether to use a source. When determining the accuracy of a source, consider the following:

Is the source well-documented? Does it include footnotes, citations, or a bibliography?
Is information in the source presented as fact, opinion, or propaganda? Are biases clear?
Can you verify information from the references cited in the source?
Is the information written clearly and free of typographical and grammatical mistakes? Does the source look to be edited before publication? A clean, well-presented paper does not always indicate accuracy, but usually at least means more eyes have been on the information.

Knowing why the information was created is a key to evaluation. Understanding the reason or purpose of the information, if the information has clear intentions, or if the information is fact, opinion, or propaganda will help you decide how and why to use information:

Is the author’s purpose to inform, sell, persuade, or entertain?
Does the source have an obvious bias or prejudice?
Is the article presented from multiple points of view?
Does the author omit important facts or data that might disprove their argument?
Is the author’s language informal, joking, emotional, or impassioned?
Is the information clearly supported by evidence?

When you feel overwhelmed by the information you are finding, the CRAAP test can help you determine which information is the most useful to your research topic. How you respond to what you find out using the CRAAP test will depend on your topic. Maybe you want to use two overtly biased resources to inform an overview of typical arguments in a particular field. Perhaps your topic is historical and currency means the past hundred years rather than the past one or two years. Use the CRAAP test, be knowledgeable about your topic, and you will be on your way to evaluating information efficiently and well!

Developing Yourself As a Critical Thinker

Critical thinking is a fundamental skill for college students, but it should also be a lifelong pursuit. Below are additional strategies to develop yourself as a critical thinker in college and in everyday life:

Reflect and practice : Always reflect on what you’ve learned. Is it true all the time? How did you arrive at your conclusions?
Use wasted time : It’s certainly important to make time for relaxing, but if you find you are indulging in too much of a good thing, think about using your time more constructively. Determine when you do your best thinking and try to learn something new during that part of the day.
Redefine the way you see things : It can be very uninteresting to always think the same way. Challenge yourself to see familiar things in new ways. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes and consider things from a different angle or perspective. If you’re trying to solve a problem, list all your concerns: what you need in order to solve it, who can help, what some possible barriers might be, etc. It’s often possible to reframe a problem as an opportunity. Try to find a solution where there seems to be none.
Analyze the influences on your thinking and in your life : Why do you think or feel the way you do? Analyze your influences. Think about who in your life influences you. Do you feel or react a certain way because of social convention, or because you believe it is what is expected of you? Try to break out of any molds that may be constricting you.
Express yourself : Critical thinking also involves being able to express yourself clearly. Most important in expressing yourself clearly is stating one point at a time. You might be inclined to argue every thought, but you might have greater impact if you focus just on your main arguments. This will help others to follow your thinking clearly. For more abstract ideas, assume that your audience may not understand. Provide examples, analogies, or metaphors where you can.
Enhance your wellness : It’s easier to think critically when you take care of your mental and physical health. Try taking activity breaks throughout the day to reach 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity each day. Scheduling physical activity into your day can help lower stress and increase mental alertness. Also, do your most difficult work when you have the most energy . Think about the time of day you are most effective and have the most energy. Plan to do your most difficult work during these times. And be sure to reach out for help i f you feel you need assistance with your mental or physical health (see Maintaining Your Mental and Physical Health for more information).

Complete Section #2 Below: ACTIVITY: REFLECT ON CRITICAL THINKING

Key takeaways.

Critical thinking is logical and reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do.
Critical thinking involves questioning and evaluating information.
Critical and creative thinking both contribute to our ability to solve problems in a variety of contexts.
Evaluating information is a complex, but essential, process. You can use the CRAAP test to help determine if sources and information are reliable.
You can take specific actions to develop and strengthen your critical thinking skills.

Use the warm up, work out, and cool down strategies for a discussion.

Prepare for a discussion by writing down the main ideas and most important supporting points in this chapter. Prepare several of your own responses to the supporting points. These might be examples of how you use critical thinking in your life. What questions might you be prepared to ask your fellow students during this discussion.

After the discussion, reflect on what you’ve learned from the other students.

Use warm up, work out, and cool down strategies for this journal writing activity.

Think about someone you consider to be a critical thinker (friend, professor, historical figure, etc). What qualities does he/she have?

Review some of the critical thinking strategies discussed on this page. Pick one strategy that makes sense to you. How can you apply this critical thinking technique to your academic work?
Habits of mind are attitudes and beliefs that influence how you approach the world (i.e., inquiring attitude, open mind, respect for truth, etc). What is one habit of mind you would like to actively develop over the next year? How will you develop a daily practice to cultivate this habit?
Write your responses in journal form, and submit according to your instructor’s guidelines.

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Why memorising facts can be a keystone to learning

There has been a great deal of discussion recently concerning the benefits, or otherwise, of memorisation in learning. Memorisation, it must be stressed, does not necessarily mean learning by 'rote' and in fact rote learning is just one way in which we are able to commit things to memory. Information can be memorised in many different ways and using specific techniques (mnemonics, rote learning, visualisation and so on) in order to learn long lists of numbers, playing cards in a deck, dates, names and any amount of other things.

The human brain is pretty good at learning. Each time it learns something new (anything from the capital of France to riding a bike) a connection is formed between neurons in the brain, the more the thing to be learned is repeated, the stronger the connections become. So far so good.

Mnemonics, such as the method of loci (or the memory palace technique) fuse imagination, imagery and previously stored information in such a way that retention and recall is improved. In fact, back in September, I gave my year 12 psychology students a list of 20 words to memorise using this very method and many of them can still recall the list (in order) today. One student can even recite the list backwards and forwards.

But what has this got to do with learning? What's the point of learning a list of random words? Perhaps memorising and reciting facts is only useful for showing off at dinner parties or impressing the boss?

Our working memory has a limited capacity and although it's very good at receiving data from our long-term memory and manipulating it (as it does so well when carrying out mental arithmetic) it is still limited to between around five to seven items. There are many ways we can increase this by, for example, 'chunking' items together to make them more manageable.

Creating context is another way that we can improve on the way we use working memory and context is often about facts.

During the A-level psychology memory topic, I often present students with the following text (taken from a 1972 study by psychologists John Bransford and Marcia Johnson):

"The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange things into different groups. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities that is the next step, otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run this may not seem important but complications can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. At first the whole procedure will seem complicated."

Once students have read through the text I take the text away and ask them to recall as much of it as they can. The twist is that some students have received the text with the title Instructions for doing the washing, while others are given no title. Those students who are able to read the text within the context (the facts associated with doing the laundry) can recall more than those who have no context to rely on.

Context is obviously important, but what has this got to do with memorisation? Knowing facts helps us to place other problems into context and access higher order thinking skills. If the facts we have memorised are accurate and accessible they can be used in order to give context to other situations, if we cannot recall these facts we are unable to place new problems into context.

Another example from my own teaching comes from the social psychology of conformity. In 1956 the psychologist Solomon Asch discovered that people would give an obvious wrong answer to a question if all other members of the group (who were actually in cahoots with Asch) gave that wrong answer first. One explanation for this was that, at the time of the experiment, the United States was in the grip of the McCarthyism and people might have preferred not to stand out from the crowd. History students in my class tend to get this because they have the relevant information to draw on while other students are often totally bemused. We often assume our students know these things because we knew them when we were their age. In reality, this is rarely the case.

Of course some students have a greater general knowledge than others and so-called cultural capital plays a major part in academic performance. Those children who are able to relate to certain literary texts, for example, are immediately at an advantage over those children who may not have access to things such as newspapers and books.

Memorising facts can build the foundations for higher thinking and problem solving. Constant recitation of times tables might not help children understand mathematical concepts but it may allow them to draw on what they have memorised in order succeed in more complex mental arithmetic. Memorisation, therefore, produces a more efficient memory, taking it beyond its limitations of capacity and duration.

This is not to say that all learning should be based on memorisation and this has never been suggested. Any good teacher understands that a variety of teaching methods will get the best from our students and that specific students might require specialist interventions. Nevertheless, there exists a considerable body of evidence to suggest that a memory rife with facts learns better than one without.

Marc Smith teaches A-level psychology at a secondary school in north Yorkshire and is a member of the GTN teacher panel. Marc is a chartered psychologist and an associate fellow of the British Psychological Society. Follow him on twitter @psychologymarc .

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educational research techniques

Research techniques and education.

memorizing facts is an example of critical thinking

Memorization and Critical Thinking

This post will look at the symbiotic relationship between memorization and critical thinking. Both forms of thinking need each other as they serve different purposes in learning. Memorization is a passive skill while critical thinking is an active skill

Memorization

Working memory is also used to complete tasks. For example, you are using working memory to read this post. You know how to read as this is in your long-term memory but working memory is used to do the actual reading. However, because reading is something so familiar for most of us it does not take up as much concentration as it used to. This allows us to focus on other things such as comprehension or reading faster.

Within education, memorizing is a part of the learning process. It is a passive skill in that you do not produce anything new when memorizing but just repeat what was seen, said/written. Students have to memorize steps, dates, numbers, directions, etc. This memorization is used to complete assignments, pass quizzes, prepare for a test, etc. In other words, memorizing is an important and crucial aspect of the learning process. As such, students go to elaborate lengths to try to retain information such as staying up late rote memorizing, using various memorization techniques, and or working with friends to retain knowledge. There are even times when students resort to cheating to achieve their goals.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the process of judging/manipulating information in various ways. For example, information can be compared and contrasted, synthesize, analyzed, evaluated, etc. All the verbs mentions involve either judging the information or in some way creating new knowledge such as by comparison. Critical thinking is an active skill in that something new is created through this thought process.

One of the primary goals of critical thinking is to be able to develop a position and support that position with evidence. For example, if someone loves to travel, critical thinking would involve providing evidence for why they love to travel. This is harder for students then it seems as they often supply emotional arguments rather than rational ones.

Therefore, it could be said that critical thinking is an extension of memorizing. You cannot think critically unless you have something to think about. Also, you will have nothing in your head unless it has been memorized in one way or another. However, critical thinking is not about the discussion of petty facts like dates. Rather, critical thinking often involves looking at the big picture and trying to explain major events. It’s the forest rather than the trees often.

An example of this would be a discussion on WWII. You can ask students to try to explain what do they think was motivating Hitler to start WWII. A question such as this assumes knowledge of Hitler, Germany, WWII and more. However, such a question as this is not asking you to ponder the day the war started or ended or the hair color of Hitler. In other words, there are things that a student needs to know to think critically about their response but it needs to be substantial information.

Now we may be moving in a circle. If critical thinking involves using substantial information that is memorized who determines what is substantial? Unfortunately, critical thinking determines what is important and not important. This means that we need to be critical about what we memorize and critical about how we use what we have memorized. The only way to learn how to do this is with practice. By exposing yourself to the information you learn how to retain what is important and what is not. Sometimes you remember what the book is about while other times you remember the name of the book so you can find it later. It all depends on the context.

Memorizing and critical thinking are a team when it comes to learning. Learning often begins with memorizing something. However, what we memorize can depend on what we think is important and this involves critical thinking at least hopefully. Critical thinking is the process of using what we already know to evaluate it or create a different perspective on something.

7.2: Critical Thinking Skills

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Three students leaning over a sheet of butcher block paper, with markers in their hands

The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks. —Christopher Hitchens, author and journalist

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Define critical thinking
Describe the role that logic plays in critical thinking
Describe how critical thinking skills can be used to problem-solve
Describe how critical thinking skills can be used to evaluate information
Identify strategies for developing yourself as a critical thinker

Critical Thinking

Thinking comes naturally. You don’t have to make it happen—it just does. But you can make it happen in different ways. For example, you can think positively or negatively. You can think with “heart” and you can think with rational judgment. You can also think strategically and analytically, and mathematically and scientifically. These are a few of multiple ways in which the mind can process thought.

What are some forms of thinking you use? When do you use them, and why?

As a college student, you are tasked with engaging and expanding your thinking skills. One of the most important of these skills is critical thinking. Critical thinking is important because it relates to nearly all tasks, situations, topics, careers, environments, challenges, and opportunities. It’s a “domain-general” thinking skill—not a thinking skill that’s reserved for a one subject alone or restricted to a particular subject area.

Great leaders have highly attuned critical thinking skills, and you can, too. In fact, you probably have a lot of these skills already. Of all your thinking skills, critical thinking may have the greatest value.

What Is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is clear, reasonable, reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do. It means asking probing questions like, “How do we know?” or “Is this true in every case or just in this instance?” It involves being skeptical and challenging assumptions, rather than simply memorizing facts or blindly accepting what you hear or read.

This may well be you!

The following video, from Lawrence Bland, presents the major concepts and benefits of critical thinking.

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A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: http://pb.libretexts.org/cs/?p=74

Activity: Self-Assess Your Critical Thinking Strategies

Assess your basic understanding of the skills involved in critical thinking.
Visit the Quia Critical Thinking Quiz page and click on Start Now (you don’t need to enter your name). Select the best answer for each question, and then click on Submit Answers. A score of 70 percent or better on this quiz is considering passing.
Based on the content of the questions, do you feel you use good critical thinking strategies in college? In what ways might you improve as a critical thinker?

Critical Thinking and Logic

What Is Logic, and Why Is It Important in Critical Thinking?

The word logic comes from the Ancient Greek logike , referring to the science or art of reasoning. Using logic, a person evaluates arguments and reasoning and strives to distinguish between good and bad reasoning, or between truth and falsehood. Using logic, you can evaluate ideas or claims people make, make good decisions, and form sound beliefs about the world. [1]

Questions of Logic in Critical Thinking

Let’s use a simple example of applying logic to a critical-thinking situation. In this hypothetical scenario, a man has a PhD in political science, and he works as a professor at a local college. His wife works at the college, too. They have three young children in the local school system, and their family is well known in the community. The man is now running for political office. Are his credentials and experience sufficient for entering public office? Will he be effective in the political office? Some voters might believe that his personal life and current job, on the surface, suggest he will do well in the position, and they will vote for him. In truth, the characteristics described don’t guarantee that the man will do a good job. The information is somewhat irrelevant. What else might you want to know? How about whether the man had already held a political office and done a good job? In this case, we want to ask, How much information is adequate in order to make a decision based on logic instead of assumptions?

The following questions, presented in Figure 1, below, are ones you may apply to formulating a logical, reasoned perspective in the above scenario or any other situation:

What’s happening? Gather the basic information and begin to think of questions.
Why is it important? Ask yourself why it’s significant and whether or not you agree.
What don’t I see? Is there anything important missing?
How do I know? Ask yourself where the information came from and how it was constructed.
Who is saying it? What’s the position of the speaker and what is influencing them?
What else? What if? What other ideas exist and are there other possibilities?

Problem-Solving with Critical Thinking

Your roommate was upset and said some unkind words to you, which put a crimp in the relationship. You try to see through the angry behaviors to determine how you might best support the roommate and help bring the relationship back to a comfortable spot.
Your campus club has been languishing on account of lack of participation and funds. The new club president, though, is a marketing major and has identified some strategies to interest students in joining and supporting the club. Implementation is forthcoming.
Your final art class project challenges you to conceptualize form in new ways. On the last day of class when students present their projects, you describe the techniques you used to fulfill the assignment. You explain why and how you selected that approach.
Your math teacher sees that the class is not quite grasping a concept. She uses clever questioning to dispel anxiety and guide you to new understanding of the concept.
You have a job interview for a position that you feel you are only partially qualified for, although you really want the job and you are excited about the prospects. You analyze how you will explain your skills and experiences in a way to show that you are a good match for the prospective employer.
You are doing well in college, and most of your college and living expenses are covered. But there are some gaps between what you want and what you feel you can afford. You analyze your income, savings, and budget to better calculate what you will need to stay in college and maintain your desired level of spending.

Problem-Solving Action Checklist

Problem-solving can be an efficient and rewarding process, especially if you are organized and mindful of critical steps and strategies. Remember, too, to assume the attributes of a good critical thinker. If you are curious, reflective, knowledge-seeking, open to change, probing, organized, and ethical, your challenge or problem will be less of a hurdle, and you’ll be in a good position to find intelligent solutions.

Evaluating Information with Critical Thinking

Evaluating information can be one of the most complex tasks you will be faced with in college. But if you utilize the following four strategies, you will be well on your way to success:

Read for understanding by using text coding
Examine arguments
Clarify thinking
Cultivate “habits of mind”

Read for Understanding Using Text Coding

When you read and take notes, use the text coding strategy . Text coding is a way of tracking your thinking while reading. It entails marking the text and recording what you are thinking either in the margins or perhaps on Post-it notes. As you make connections and ask questions in response to what you read, you monitor your comprehension and enhance your long-term understanding of the material.

With text coding, mark important arguments and key facts. Indicate where you agree and disagree or have further questions. You don’t necessarily need to read every word, but make sure you understand the concepts or the intentions behind what is written. Feel free to develop your own shorthand style when reading or taking notes. The following are a few options to consider using while coding text.

See more text coding from PBWorks and Collaborative for Teaching and Learning .

Examine Arguments

Thumbnail for the embedded element "Critical Thinking 101: Spectrum of Authority"

Clarify Thinking

Cultivate “Habits of Mind”

Developing Yourself As a Critical Thinker

Photo of a group of students standing around a poster on the wall, where they're adding post-it notes with handwriting on them

Critical thinking is a desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to consider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and hatred for every kind of imposture. —Francis Bacon, philosopher

Reflect and practice : Always reflect on what you’ve learned. Is it true all the time? How did you arrive at your conclusions?
Use wasted time : It’s certainly important to make time for relaxing, but if you find you are indulging in too much of a good thing, think about using your time more constructively. Determine when you do your best thinking and try to learn something new during that part of the day.
Redefine the way you see things : It can be very uninteresting to always think the same way. Challenge yourself to see familiar things in new ways. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes and consider things from a different angle or perspective. If you’re trying to solve a problem, list all your concerns: what you need in order to solve it, who can help, what some possible barriers might be, etc. It’s often possible to reframe a problem as an opportunity. Try to find a solution where there seems to be none.
Analyze the influences on your thinking and in your life : Why do you think or feel the way you do? Analyze your influences. Think about who in your life influences you. Do you feel or react a certain way because of social convention, or because you believe it is what is expected of you? Try to break out of any molds that may be constricting you.
Express yourself : Critical thinking also involves being able to express yourself clearly. Most important in expressing yourself clearly is stating one point at a time. You might be inclined to argue every thought, but you might have greater impact if you focus just on your main arguments. This will help others to follow your thinking clearly. For more abstract ideas, assume that your audience may not understand. Provide examples, analogies, or metaphors where you can.
Enhance your wellness : It’s easier to think critically when you take care of your mental and physical health. Try taking 10-minute activity breaks to reach 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity each day . Try taking a break between classes and walk to the coffee shop that’s farthest away. Scheduling physical activity into your day can help lower stress and increase mental alertness. Also, do your most difficult work when you have the most energy . Think about the time of day you are most effective and have the most energy. Plan to do your most difficult work during these times. And be sure to reach out for help . If you feel you need assistance with your mental or physical health, talk to a counselor or visit a doctor.

Activity: Reflect on Critical Thinking

Apply critical thinking strategies to your life

Directions:

Think about someone you consider to be a critical thinker (friend, professor, historical figure, etc). What qualities does he/she have?
Review some of the critical thinking strategies discussed on this page. Pick one strategy that makes sense to you. How can you apply this critical thinking technique to your academic work?
Habits of mind are attitudes and beliefs that influence how you approach the world (i.e., inquiring attitude, open mind, respect for truth, etc). What is one habit of mind you would like to actively develop over the next year? How will you develop a daily practice to cultivate this habit?
Write your responses in journal form, and submit according to your instructor’s guidelines.

The following text is an excerpt from an essay by Dr. Andrew Robert Baker, “Thinking Critically and Creatively.” In these paragraphs, Dr. Baker underscores the importance of critical thinking—the imperative of critical thinking, really—to improving as students, teachers, and researchers. The follow-up portion of this essay appears in the Creative Thinking section of this course.

Thinking Critically and Creatively

Critical thinking skills are perhaps the most fundamental skills involved in making judgments and solving problems. You use them every day, and you can continue improving them.

The ability to think critically about a matter—to analyze a question, situation, or problem down to its most basic parts—is what helps us evaluate the accuracy and truthfulness of statements, claims, and information we read and hear. It is the sharp knife that, when honed, separates fact from fiction, honesty from lies, and the accurate from the misleading. We all use this skill to one degree or another almost every day. For example, we use critical thinking every day as we consider the latest consumer products and why one particular product is the best among its peers. Is it a quality product because a celebrity endorses it? Because a lot of other people may have used it? Because it is made by one company versus another? Or perhaps because it is made in one country or another? These are questions representative of critical thinking.

The academic setting demands more of us in terms of critical thinking than everyday life. It demands that we evaluate information and analyze myriad issues. It is the environment where our critical thinking skills can be the difference between success and failure. In this environment we must consider information in an analytical, critical manner. We must ask questions—What is the source of this information? Is this source an expert one and what makes it so? Are there multiple perspectives to consider on an issue? Do multiple sources agree or disagree on an issue? Does quality research substantiate information or opinion? Do I have any personal biases that may affect my consideration of this information?

It is only through purposeful, frequent, intentional questioning such as this that we can sharpen our critical thinking skills and improve as students, learners and researchers.

—Dr. Andrew Robert Baker, Foundations of Academic Success: Words of Wisdom

Resources for Critical Thinking

Glossary of Critical Thinking Terms
Critical Thinking Self-Assessment
Logical Fallacies Jeopardy Template
Fallacies Files—Home
Thinking Critically | Learning Commons
Foundation for Critical Thinking
To Analyze Thinking We Must Identify and Question Its Elemental Structures
Critical Thinking in Everyday Life

https://assessments.lumenlearning.com/assessments/866

"logike." Wordnik. n.d. Web. 16 Feb 2016. ↵
"Student Success-Thinking Critically In Class and Online." Critical Thinking Gateway . St Petersburg College, n.d. Web. 16 Feb 2016. ↵
Critical Thinking Skills. Authored by : Linda Bruce. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
Image of three students. Authored by : PopTech. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/8tXtQp . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Critical Thinking. Provided by : Critical and Creative Thinking Program. Located at : http://cct.wikispaces.umb.edu/Critical+Thinking . License : CC BY: Attribution
Thinking Critically. Authored by : UBC Learning Commons. Provided by : The University of British Columbia, Vancouver Campus. Located at : http://www.oercommons.org/courses/learning-toolkit-critical-thinking/view . License : CC BY: Attribution
Critical Thinking 101: Spectrum of Authority. Authored by : UBC Leap. Located at : https://youtu.be/9G5xooMN2_c . License : CC BY: Attribution
Image of students putting post-its on wall. Authored by : Hector Alejandro. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/7b2Ax2 . License : CC BY: Attribution
Foundations of Academic Success. Authored by : Thomas C. Priester, editor. Provided by : Open SUNY Textbooks. Located at : http://textbooks.opensuny.org/foundations-of-academic-success/ . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Critical Thinking.wmv. Authored by : Lawrence Bland. Located at : https://youtu.be/WiSklIGUblo . License : All Rights Reserved . License Terms : Standard YouTube License

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Rote Learning Vs Critical Thinking

Learning is defined as the acquisition of knowledge or skills. Knowledge and skills are acquired in various ways:

Through practice and experience such as riding a bike
Through study, reading what others have written about the subject
Through instruction, being taught by someone with the desired knowledge

Teaching techniques have come a long way, and though memorization still has its place in learning, current teaching standards recognize the value of meaningful learning and critical thinking. On the other hand, the concept of standards-based education, while not without some merit, encourages rote learning without much emphasis on critical thinking.

Each style of education impacts students differently and adds to the overall education experience. It’s common to find a variety of teaching techniques and learning skills in each classroom.

What is Rote Learning?

Ah, multiplication tables, state capitols, lists of presidents. Do you recall memorizing these in school? These lists of memorized facts are an example of rote learning.

The basis of rote learning is memorization. Usually, this memorization is acquired through repetition, think chanting your times tables. Memorization is often achieved without any understanding of the reasoning or relationships involved in the learned material.

Rote learning can be useful when quick learning is required, such as memorizing a telephone number or address or learning lines for a play. Some students appreciate rote learning techniques when cramming for an exam.

Someone who engages in rote learning may be able to give the impression of understanding without actually having true comprehension of the subject matter. For example, one may be able to pass an exam or quote impressive lists of facts, but may not retain the knowledge or know how to use it to solve a problem.

What is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is a process of reasoning in which the person doing the thinking uses factual information gathered from various sources and analyzes that information to come to a logical conclusion, rather than relying on their own reasoning to justify their conclusion.

Critical thinking is often described as being self-directed and self-corrective, meaning under your control and initiative and compensating for your weaknesses and biases. Critical thinking includes problem-solving skills and effective communication skills as well.

Why Use Rote Learning vs Critical Thinking?

There is no faster way to learn a formula or other simple fact than by rote learning. Rote learning frees up your working memory. Working memory is what is in your mind right now, a tiny amount of storage space compared to memory overall.

This freeing up of short-term memory space can make mastering reading and math concepts a little easier.

Research has also shown that rote memory exercises, followed by a rest and absorption period, improved memory and recall by causing metabolic changes in the hippocampus.

Some scholars and educators argue that rote learning is necessary for establishing a foundation of knowledge and that this foundation of knowledge is necessary to understanding complex or abstract concepts. Others argue that rote memorization is unnecessary to a deep understanding of a subject.

Benefits of Critical Thinking

While it’s true that rote learning can be helpful for certain things, students who learn in a way that promotes understanding of the material rather than mere memorization can take their knowledge and use it to solve problems and accomplish tasks with much greater success.

Critical thinking skills are vital in allowing you to find answers to questions or problems that you have not previously encountered. Memorization may not provide the necessary ability to solve any issue that deviates from the memorized material.

Another term often used in education, meaningful learning is a way of describing the learning that occurs when students can use both their knowledge base and cognitive skills, such as critical thinking, that they have been practicing for successful problem-solving.

Meaningful or “Deep” Learning

When considering rote learning vs critical thinking it’s important to remember that when we lean too heavily on memorization it can obstruct deeper learning. Often most of the information learned through memorization alone is later lost.

The reason for this is that our brains can only hold so much information. Each time a new piece of information is introduced our brains have to make a decision about how relevant that piece of information is. If we don’t use the newly acquired information in a meaningful way our brains have no reason to keep it around and it is not transferred to long-term memory.

Back to Critical Thinking

The problem-solving skills created through the practice of critical thinking are vital to the exercise of meaningful learning. To come up with both creative problems to apply your knowledge to, and the solutions to those problems requires critical thinking to evaluate your ideas and be able to select the best ones.

A skilled critical thinker can separate opinion from fact and knows how to examine an issue from multiple angles. They can withhold their judgment while gathering facts and can make rational inferences to come to a logical conclusion.

Rote learning by definition does not involve critical thinking at all and does not require understanding. This is why when the question of rote learning vs critical thinking comes up many modern educators and scholars condemn the practice of rote learning.

Critical thinking skills should be fostered from an early age. A child who develops the ability to distinguish opinion from fact and creatively solve problems will build confidence and self-respect that will benefit them their whole lives.

In Conclusion

Both rote learning and critical thinking have important roles to play in education.

Although rote learning is discounted by many educators today, it shouldn’t be left out entirely. Rote learning can be useful in memorizing certain facts to make space in our working memories for learning new concepts related to those facts.

Critical thinking is by far the more important skill as the problem-solving abilities it fosters will serve a person well in most aspects of their daily lives in education, career, and basic life skills.

https://yangon.dulwich.org/lp/teaching-problem-solving-skills#:~:text=Critical%20thinking%20is%20self%2Ddirected,and%20self%2Dcorrective%20thinking.%E2%80%9D&text=Whereas%20rote%20learning%20tends%20to,alternatives%20they%20can%20discover%20themselves.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061128084444.htm#:~:text=memory%20loss%3A%20memorization.-,Researchers%20found%20that%20seniors%20who%20engaged%20in%20an%20intensive%20period,improved%20memory%20and%20verbal%20recall.&text=The%20researchers%20studied%20how%20repeated,brain%20cells%20involved%20in%20memory.

Rote Learning vs. Critical Thinking: How an Online Math Tutor Can Help

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-importance-benefits-critical-thinking-skills-islam#:~:text=Critical%20Thinking%20enhances%20language%20and,thinking%20also%20improves%20comprehension%20abilities.

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3.8: Text- Defining Critical Thinking

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Various Ways to Think

What are some forms of thinking you use? When do you use them, and why?

Defining Critical Thinking

Imagine, for example, that you’re reading a history textbook. You wonder who wrote it and why, because you detect certain assumptions in the writing. You find that the author has a limited scope of research focused only on a particular group within a population. In this case, your critical thinking reveals that there are “other sides to the story.”

This may well be you!

No matter where you are on the road to being a critical thinker, you can always more fully develop your skills. Doing so will help you develop more balanced arguments, express yourself clearly, read critically, and absorb important information efficiently. Critical thinking skills will help you in any profession or any circumstance of life, from science to art to business to teaching.

Critical Thinking in Action

The following video, from Lawrence Bland, presents the major concepts and benefits of critical thinking.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: http://pb.libretexts.org/braw/?p=60

Revision, Adaptation, and Original Content. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
Critical Thinking. Provided by : Critical and Creative Thinking Program. Located at : http://cct.wikispaces.umb.edu/Critical+Thinking . License : CC BY: Attribution
Critical Thinking Skills. Authored by : Linda Bruce. Provided by : Lumen Learning. Located at : https://courses.candelalearning.com/lumencollegesuccess/chapter/critical-thinking-skills/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
Image of critical thinking poster. Authored by : Melissa Robison. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/bwAzyD . License : CC BY: Attribution
Critical Thinking.wmv. Authored by : Lawrence Bland. Located at : https://youtu.be/WiSklIGUblo . License : All Rights Reserved . License Terms : Standard YouTube License

Reading History: Moving from Memorizing Facts to Critical Thinking

First Online: 01 January 2015

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Dixie D. Massey 4

Part of the book series: Literacy Studies ((LITS,volume 10))

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The task of reading and studying history in the K-12 setting has long been a memory task—knowing dates, places, and events. In contrast, historians use disciplinary-specific heuristics of sourcing, corroboration, and contextualization to understand not just what the text says, but when the text was written, who wrote it, and what may be missing from the text. “Doing history” is largely dependent on reading and studying texts (VanSledright, Read Res Q 39:342–346, 2004b) and it is the texts themselves, as well as the thinking about those texts that distinguishes history from other disciplines. This chapter explores what makes text in history different from texts in other disciplines. Identifying what makes historical texts unique suggests specific instruction that is needed to move students from novice readers to readers with growing levels of expertise in disciplinary reading.

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Massey, D.D. (2015). Reading History: Moving from Memorizing Facts to Critical Thinking. In: Santi, K., Reed, D. (eds) Improving Reading Comprehension of Middle and High School Students. Literacy Studies, vol 10. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14735-2_2

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8.1 Information and Critical Thinking

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Distinguish between fact and opinion.
Recognize bias in reading and in yourself.
Ask critical thinking questions to explore an idea for a report.

Knowledge in the social and natural sciences and technical fields is often focused on data and ideas that can be verified by observing, measuring, and testing. Accordingly, writers in these fields place high value on neutral and objective case analysis and inferences based on the careful examination of data. Put another way, writers describe and analyze results as they understand them. Likewise, writers in these fields avoid subjectivity , including personal opinions, speculations, and bias. As the writer of an analytical report, you need to know the difference between fact and opinion, be able to identify bias, and think critically and analytically.

Distinguishing Fact from Opinion

An analytical report provides information based on facts. Put simply, facts are statements that can be proven or whose truth can be inferred.

It may be difficult to distinguish fact from opinion or allegation. As a writer, use a critical eye to examine what you read. The following are examples of factual statements:

Article I, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution specifies that the legislative branch of the government consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The school board voted to approve the administration’s proposal.

Facts that use numbers are called statistics . Some numbers are stated directly:

The earth’s average land and ocean surface temperature in March 2020 was 2.09 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the average surface temperature during the 20th century.
The total number of ballots cast in the 2020 presidential election was approximately 159 million.
The survey results showed that 45 percent of first-year students at this university attended every class, whether in person or online.

Other numbers are implied:

Mercury is the planet closest to the sun.
College tuition and fees have risen in the past decade.

Factual statements such as those above stand in contrast to opinions , which are statements of belief or value. Opinions form the basis of claims that are supported by evidence in argumentative writing, but they should be avoided in informative and analytical writing. Here are two statements of opinion about an increase in college tuition and fees:

Although tuition and fees have risen, the value of a college education is worth the cost.
The increase in college tuition and fees over the past 10 years has placed an unreasonably heavy financial burden on students.

Both statements indicate that the writer will make an argument. In the first, the writer will defend the increases in college tuition and fees. In the second, the writer will argue that the increases in tuition and fees have made college too expensive. In both arguments, the writer will support the argument with factual evidence. See Proposal: Writing about Problems and Solutions for more information about fact and opinion.

Want to know more about facts? Read the blog post Fact-Checking 101 by Laura McClure , posted to the TED-Ed website.

Recognizing Bias

In addition to distinguishing between fact and opinion, it is important to recognize bias. Bias is commonly defined as a preconceived opinion about something—a subject, an idea, a person, or a group of people. As the writer of a report, you will learn to recognize bias in yourself and in the information you gather.

Bias in What You Read

Some writing is intentionally biased and intended to persuade, such as the editorials and opinion pieces described above. However, a report and the evidence on which it is based should not be heavily biased. Bias becomes a problem when a source you believe to be neutral, objective, and trustworthy presents information that attempts to sway your opinion. Identifying Bias , posted by Tyler Rablin , is a helpful guide to recognizing bias.

As you consider sources for your report, the following tips can also help you spot bias and read critically:

Determine the writer’s purpose. Is the writer simply informing you or trying to persuade you?
Research the author. Is the writer known for taking a side on the topic of the writing? Is the writer considered an expert?
Distinguish between fact and opinion. Take note of the number of facts and opinions throughout the source.
Pay attention to the language and what the writer emphasizes. Does the author use emotionally loaded, inflammatory words or descriptions intended to sway readers? What do the title, introduction, and any headings tell you about the author’s approach to the subject?
Read multiple sources on the topic. Learn whether the source is leaving out or glossing over important information and credible views.
Look critically at the images and any media that support the writing. Do they reinforce positive or negative aspects of the subject?

Bias in Yourself

Most individuals bring what psychologists call cognitive bias to their interactions with information or with other people. Cognitive bias influences the way people gather and process new information. As you research information for a report, also be aware of confirmation bias . This is the tendency to seek out and accept information that supports (or confirms) a belief you already have and may cause you to ignore or dismiss information that challenges that belief. A related bias is the false consensus effect , which is the tendency to overestimate the extent to which other people agree with your beliefs.

For example, perhaps you believe strongly that college tuition is too high and that tuition should be free at the public colleges and universities in your state. With that belief, you are likely to be more receptive to facts and statistics showing that tuition-free college benefits students by boosting graduation rates and improving financial security after college, in part because the sources may seem more mainstream. However, if you believe strongly that tuition should not be free, you are likely to be more receptive to facts and statistics showing that students who don’t pay for college are less likely to be serious about school and take longer to graduate—again, because the sources may seem more mainstream.

Asking Critical Questions about a Topic for a Report

As you consider a topic for a report, note the ideas that occur to you, interesting information you read, and what you already know. Answer the following questions about potential topics to help you understand a topic in a suitably analytical framework for a report.

What is/was the cause of ________?
What is/was the effect of ________?
How does/did ________ compare or contrast with another similar event, idea, or item?
What makes/made ________ a problem?
What are/were some possible solutions to ________?
What beliefs do I have about ________?
What aspects of ________ do I need to learn more about to write a report about it?

In the report that appears later in this chapter, student Trevor Garcia analyzes the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Trevor began thinking about his topic with the question What was the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic? Because he had lived through 2020, he was able to draw upon personal experience: his school closed, his mother was laid off, and his family’s finances were tight. As he researched his question, he moved beyond the information he gathered from his own experiences and discovered that the United States had failed in several key areas. He then answered the questions below to arrive at an analytical framework:

What was the cause of the poor U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020?
What was the effect of the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020?
How did the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic compare/contrast with the responses of other countries?
What are some possible solutions to the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
What do I already believe about the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
What aspects of the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic do I need to learn more about?

For his report, Trevor chose to focus on the first question: What was the cause of the poor U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020?

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Classroom Q&A

With larry ferlazzo.

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to [email protected]. Read more from this blog.

‘Memorization Often Comes Without Understanding’

(This is the final post in a two-part series. You can see Part One here .)

The new question-of-the-week is:

What is the appropriate role of student memorization in teaching and learning?

In Part One , Blake Harvard, Donna L Shrum, Keisha Rembert, and Sarah Cooper contribute their responses. You can listen to a 10-minute conversation I had with Donna, Blake, and Keisha on my BAM! Radio Show . You can also find a list of, and links to, previous shows here.

Today, Jason Batterson, Eric Jensen, and Carla Marschall finish up the series.

I published a post this past weekend sharing advice for how teachers might want to begin their distance/hybrid teaching year.

That post was just a “taste” of what is to come beginning on Aug. 1. You can expect to see at least 25 posts (and probably a lot more) in this column over the next two months answering many of the critical questions educators are asking themselves and others as we enter a potentially crazy year. And the responses will be coming from educators who have reflected on their own experiences of last spring, as well as what will have happened during the first few weeks of school this year.

But, first, here’s Part Two on memorization...

Math and memorization

Jason Batterson is the creator and lead author of the Beast Academy elementary math curriculum at Art of Problem Solving (AoPS). Before joining AoPS, he taught and coached math in Raleigh, N.C., coaching multiple team and individual state champions in algebra, geometry, and MATHCOUNTS. His first book, Competition Math for Middle School , has become a primary resource for introducing students across the nation to competition-level mathematics.

I can only speak to mathematics education, but I suspect many of the principles below apply to all areas of teaching and learning.

Students have a much easier time remembering things that they understand. Unfortunately, memorization often comes without understanding. For example, there are dozens of area formulas that students try to memorize by reading them from a list over and over again. They commit these formulas to memory for just long enough to pass the test, then move on to whatever they need to memorize next. These students are doomed to repeat the process a year later when the topic comes up again. On the other hand, students who can relate all of these formulas to just a few well-understood facts and principles have very little to memorize and can apply what they know moving forward.

Most students know how to find the area of a rectangle. If they can relate it to areas of other shapes like parallelograms, triangles, and trapezoids, they can often discover these area formulas on their own. Even better, if they can’t remember a formula for a particular shape, they can usually find its area by dividing it into pieces they understand. Building upon a solid foundation, students can move on to more complex shapes, even ones that are three-dimensional.

Formulas are not the only things students memorize at their peril. For many, math is learned as a series of steps to be memorized and repeated, over and over. You may remember learning a process like the one below for converting a mixed number into a fraction.

Students can perform these steps repeatedly without ever knowing why they work, and they can only apply them to a very specific type of problem. It’s much better for students to think through the conversion using what they know about fractions.

Notice that these steps require the same computations as before, but they give meaning to the steps. We multiply 4×5 because we want to convert 4 into 20 fifths. We add the 2 fifths we already had to get 20+2=22 fifths. Students who understand fractions this way are likely to discover the traditional algorithm on their own, and it’s much easier to remember something you’ve discovered.

Memorization, particularly when it comes to formulas and algorithms, is almost always unnecessary for the student who thoroughly understands a few basic concepts. These students can then apply what they know to a broad range of problems and situations.

Understanding One Key Exception:

There is one area where memorization is absolutely critical . As an 8th grade classroom teacher, there was one very accurate predictor of success that I used in my classroom every year: a timed multiplication-facts quiz. Students who struggle with multiplication facts are at an incredible disadvantage when it comes to virtually every skill taught in an 8th grade classroom.

Consider fractions. Why are fractions so difficult for so many students? For one thing, it’s virtually impossible to do anything with fractions if you don’t know your multiplication facts. Multiplying fractions is difficult for obvious reasons. Converting a mixed number to a fraction also requires multiplication. Adding two fractions with unlike denominators requires finding a common denominator, which is really frustrating if you don’t know your multiplication facts. Simplifying a fraction like 45/63? If you don’t know your multiplication facts, you don’t even notice that 45 and 63 are both divisible by 9.

If you’re a math nerd reading this who is still unconvinced, try a simple computation with fractions in any base other than 10. (For example, try simplifying 13/22 in base-5 without converting to base-10.) It’s really, really hard to wrap your mind around and gives a glimpse into the mind of a frustrated student who doesn’t know their times tables.

So, there is at least one area of mathematics where memorization is really important. But for the most part, math students should be doing very little memorization.

“The role of memory is critical!”

Eric Jensen is a former teacher who grew up in San Diego. With a Ph.D. in human development, he synthesizes brain research and is listed among the top 30 educators in the world at Global Gurus.org . He’s written over 30 books and co-founded an academic-enrichment program, held in 14 countries with over 70,000 graduates:

I have asked large groups of teachers, nationwide, over the last 10 years: “What are the biggest things that annoy you?” In the top three (their order changes) are consistently discipline issues, re-teaching, and getting kids to grade level. Many experienced teachers and trainers would tell you that all three are actually related.

How? They all three are common issues for teachers who come from the framework of: “I taught them, they just are not getting it.” Or, “Our content is what kids need to get.” I am sorry to say, they are wrong.

The short answer to the question at the top (in bold) is, “The role of memory is critical!”

I have written about, taught, and continue to teach teachers memory tools. They belong in our schools because of three things:

1) Memory is the residue (and evidence of) learning . Learning is the residue (and evidence of) teaching. What you teach is irrelevant; what students can show evidence of (memory) is everything. My question is, “How soon can you take ownership over the problem and start helping students perform better?”

2) Memory skills are part of a cluster of “Learn to Learn Skills.” Those skills include (among others), summarizing, retrieving, and critical reading. If you do not teach students memory skills, and reinforce what has been learned, why are you teaching anything? Effect sizes of memory are over the top! My question is, “How will students learn these skills unless you teach them?”

3) Memory can help students get to grade level. Kids who grow up in poverty (51 percent of those in public schools) underperform in five critical areas. Language is first, and the next two are both memory skills (long-term and working memory). Clear evidence shows chronic stress impairs declarative-memory formation. The question is, “How badly do you want your students to reach grade level or above?”

Yes, I am an absolute believer (and I say this in my books) that memory skills (short term, working memory, and long term) are ALL critical to teach. Anyone who thinks memory is unimportant should spend some time with a patient who has Alzheimer’s disease.

Memory must be integrated

Carla Marschall is experienced in P-12 curriculum development and implementation, having worked in a variety of curriculum leadership roles in international schools in Switzerland, Germany, and Hong Kong over the past 10 years. She currently works as the head of curriculum development and research at United World College of South East Asia in Singapore. She is co-author of the book Concept-Based Inquiry in Action (Corwin, 2018):

Recall, repetition, and drill. Flash cards, cramming, and regurgitating facts. These are words and images that come to mind when we think about memorization in the classroom. However, when memorization occurs meaningfully, when memorization goes hand in hand with the development of student understanding, it is a powerful tool for empowering students. It all comes down to how the memorization of content connects to the larger aims of our teaching and learning. Do we want to create critical thinkers who can articulate their own ideas and transfer these to new contexts? Do we want our students to “connect the dots” and see patterns within and across subjects? If so, memorization must be integrated purposefully into student learning experiences.

When we think about memorization, we often view it as an isolated activity. Learning vocabulary in a foreign language by heart, recalling formulae in mathematics. These discrete activities seem disconnected from the “big ideas” we want students to understand. But we know from cognitive science that the rote learning of facts is actually a less effective way to encode and store information in our memory. It’s like trying to catch a fish with our bare hands. When we try to memorize facts with no context, the working memory goes into overdrive, and information consequently slips through its metaphorical fingers.

Information in the brain is organized conceptually: Our mental schemas categorize and structure ideas and relationships between them so we can access them easily. This means that we store individual facts under larger conceptual headers in the brain. We may, for instance, place the idea of a giraffe under “Animals” and the notion of a bridge under “Structures.” By organizing our teaching around conceptual understandings, statements of conceptual relationship that transfer, we make content “stick” and become meaningful in the process. This strengthens our students’ mental schemas, allowing them to see ways to apply their learning. What strategies can we implement to make students’ memorization meaningful in this way?

Be Strategic About Content

We need to ask ourselves: “Why do students need to memorize this particular content?” By starting from what we want students to understand, we can identify essential content. This enables us to scaffold students’ thinking from the factual to conceptual level, making it transferable to new contexts. Then, students can use memorized content in more complex ways throughout a unit of learning, for instance through projects or performance tasks.

Make Use of Retrieval Practice to Strengthen Student Ideas

Through retrieval practice, learning strategies that ask students to recall information, the memory is strengthened, and forgetting information is less likely to occur. By strategically using testing, spacing, and interleaving, we support the development of student understanding. The research on retrieval practice is clear: These learning strategies aren’t just about memorization for memorization’s sake. When students develop mastery of classroom content, they can use information flexibly, see connections, and articulate “big ideas.” Likewise, using retrieval practice as a learning strategy allows us to locate knowledge gaps that may hinder the development of conceptual understanding.

Ask Students to Use Factual Content as Evidence for Ideas

When we ask students to use factual content as evidence for their ideas, we give the task of memorizing an authentic purpose. Through class discussions, collaborative learning opportunities, and assessment tasks, we can require students to “back up” their thinking using information they have memorized. By asking students to provide factual content as proof for their ideas, we reduce the likelihood of students overgeneralizing or forming misconceptions.

Memorization that is contextualized and meaningful is therefore crucial to developing student understanding. By analyzing the purpose of the recall activities we give our students, we can make choices about what learning may be superfluous, disjointed. or irrelevant. By organizing our teaching and learning experiences around transferable understandings, we can help our students make connections and engage in deep learning.

Thanks to Eric, Jason, and Carla for their contributions!

Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post.

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at [email protected] . When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo .

Education Week has published a collection of posts from this blog, along with new material, in an e-book form. It’s titled Classroom Management Q&As: Expert Strategies for Teaching .

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Chapter 7: Critical Thinking and Evaluating Information

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Critical Thinking and Evaluating Information

Critical thinking.

What Is Critical Thinking?

Critical Thinking and Logic

What Is Logic?

Questions of Logic in Critical Thinking

The following questions, presented in Figure 1, below, are ones you may apply to formulating a logical, reasoned perspective in the above scenario or any other situation:

What’s happening? Gather the basic information and begin to think of questions.
Why is it important? Ask yourself why it’s significant and whether or not you agree.
What don’t I see? Is there anything important missing?
How do I know? Ask yourself where the information came from and how it was constructed.
Who is saying it? What’s the position of the speaker and what is influencing them?
What else? What if? What other ideas exist and are there other possibilities?

Problem-Solving with Critical Thinking

Your roommate was upset and said some unkind words to you, which put a crimp in the relationship. You try to see through the angry behaviors to determine how you might best support the roommate and help bring the relationship back to a comfortable spot.
Your campus club has been languishing due to lack of participation and funds. The new club president, though, is a marketing major and has identified some strategies to interest students in joining and supporting the club. Implementation is forthcoming.
Your final art class project challenges you to conceptualize form in new ways. On the last day of class when students present their projects, you describe the techniques you used to fulfill the assignment. You explain why and how you selected that approach.
Your math teacher sees that the class is not quite grasping a concept. She uses clever questioning to dispel anxiety and guide you to a new understanding of the concept.
You have a job interview for a position that you feel you are only partially qualified for, although you really want the job and you are excited about the prospects. You analyze how you will explain your skills and experiences in a way to show that you are a good match for the prospective employer.
You are doing well in college, and most of your college and living expenses are covered. But there are some gaps between what you want and what you feel you can afford. You analyze your income, savings, and budget to better calculate what you will need to stay in college and maintain your desired level of spending.

Problem-Solving Action Checklist

Critical and Creative Thinking

THINKING CRITICALLY AND CREATIVELY Critical thinking skills are perhaps the most fundamental skills involved in making judgments and solving problems. You use them every day, and you can continue improving them. The ability to think critically about a matter—to analyze a question, situation, or problem down to its most basic parts—is what helps us evaluate the accuracy and truthfulness of statements, claims, and information we read and hear. It is the sharp knife that, when honed, separates fact from fiction, honesty from lies, and the accurate from the misleading. We all use this skill to one degree or another almost every day. For example, we use critical thinking every day as we consider the latest consumer products and why one particular product is the best among its peers. Is it a quality product because a celebrity endorses it? Because a lot of other people may have used it? Because it is made by one company versus another? Or perhaps because it is made in one country or another? These are questions representative of critical thinking. The academic setting demands more of us in terms of critical thinking than everyday life. It demands that we evaluate information and analyze myriad issues. It is the environment where our critical thinking skills can be the difference between success and failure. In this environment we must consider information in an analytical, critical manner. We must ask questions—What is the source of this information? Is this source an expert one and what makes it so? Are there multiple perspectives to consider on an issue? Do multiple sources agree or disagree on an issue? Does quality research substantiate information or opinion? Do I have any personal biases that may affect my consideration of this information? It is only through purposeful, frequent, intentional questioning such as this that we can sharpen our critical thinking skills and improve as students, learners and researchers. While critical thinking analyzes information and roots out the true nature and facets of problems, it is creative thinking that drives progress forward when it comes to solving these problems. Exceptional creative thinkers are people that invent new solutions to existing problems that do not rely on past or current solutions. They are the ones who invent solution C when everyone else is still arguing between A and B. Creative thinking skills involve using strategies to clear the mind so that our thoughts and ideas can transcend the current limitations of a problem and allow us to see beyond barriers that prevent new solutions from being found. Brainstorming is the simplest example of intentional creative thinking that most people have tried at least once. With the quick generation of many ideas at once, we can block-out our brain’s natural tendency to limit our solution-generating abilities so we can access and combine many possible solutions/thoughts and invent new ones. It is sort of like sprinting through a race’s finish line only to find there is new track on the other side and we can keep going, if we choose. As with critical thinking, higher education both demands creative thinking from us and is the perfect place to practice and develop the skill. Everything from word problems in a math class, to opinion or persuasive speeches and papers, call upon our creative thinking skills to generate new solutions and perspectives in response to our professor’s demands. Creative thinking skills ask questions such as—What if? Why not? What else is out there? Can I combine perspectives/solutions? What is something no one else has brought-up? What is being forgotten/ignored? What about ______? It is the opening of doors and options that follows problem-identification. Consider an assignment that required you to compare two different authors on the topic of education and select and defend one as better. Now add to this scenario that your professor clearly prefers one author over the other. While critical thinking can get you as far as identifying the similarities and differences between these authors and evaluating their merits, it is creative thinking that you must use if you wish to challenge your professor’s opinion and invent new perspectives on the authors that have not previously been considered. So, what can we do to develop our critical and creative thinking skills? Although many students may dislike it, group work is an excellent way to develop our thinking skills. Many times I have heard from students their disdain for working in groups based on scheduling, varied levels of commitment to the group or project, and personality conflicts too, of course. True—it’s not always easy, but that is why it is so effective. When we work collaboratively on a project or problem we bring many brains to bear on a subject. These different brains will naturally develop varied ways of solving or explaining problems and examining information. To the observant individual we see that this places us in a constant state of back and forth critical/creative thinking modes. For example, in group work we are simultaneously analyzing information and generating solutions on our own, while challenging other’s analyses/ideas and responding to challenges to our own analyses/ideas. This is part of why students tend to avoid group work—it challenges us as thinkers and forces us to analyze others while defending ourselves, which is not something we are used to or comfortable with as most of our educational experiences involve solo work. Your professors know this—that’s why we assign it—to help you grow as students, learners, and thinkers! —Dr. Andrew Robert Baker, Foundations of Academic Success: Words of Wisdom

Evaluating Information with Critical Thinking

Evaluating information can be one of the most complex tasks you will be faced with in college. But if you utilize the following four strategies, you will be well on your way to success:

Read for understanding
Examine arguments
Clarify thinking
Cultivate “habits of mind”

Read for Understanding

Examine Arguments

Clarify Thinking

Cultivate “Habits of Mind”

When was the item written, and how frequently does the publication come out?
Is there evidence of newly added or updated information in the item?
If the information is dated, is it still suitable for your topic?
How frequently does information change about your topic?

Does the item contain information relevant to your argument or thesis?
Read the article’s introduction, thesis, and conclusion.
Scan main headings and identify article keywords.
For book resources, start with the index or table of contents—how wide a scope does the item have? Will you use part or all of this resource?
Does the information presented support or refute your ideas?
If the information refutes your ideas, how will this change your argument?
Does the material provide you with current information?
What is the material’s intended audience?

What are the author’s credentials?
What is the author’s level of education, experience, and/or occupation?
What qualifies the author to write about this topic?
What affiliations does the author have? Could these affiliations affect their position?
What organization or body published the information? Is it authoritative? Does it have an explicit position or bias?

Is the source well-documented? Does it include footnotes, citations, or a bibliography?
Is information in the source presented as fact, opinion, or propaganda? Are biases clear?
Can you verify information from the references cited in the source?
Is the information written clearly and free of typographical and grammatical mistakes? Does the source look to be edited before publication? A clean, well-presented paper does not always indicate accuracy, but usually at least means more eyes have been on the information.

Is the author’s purpose to inform, sell, persuade, or entertain?
Does the source have an obvious bias or prejudice?
Is the article presented from multiple points of view?
Does the author omit important facts or data that might disprove their argument?
Is the author’s language informal, joking, emotional, or impassioned?
Is the information clearly supported by evidence?

Developing Yourself As a Critical Thinker

Reflect and practice : Always reflect on what you’ve learned. Is it true all the time? How did you arrive at your conclusions?
Use wasted time : It’s certainly important to make time for relaxing, but if you find you are indulging in too much of a good thing, think about using your time more constructively. Determine when you do your best thinking and try to learn something new during that part of the day.
Redefine the way you see things : It can be very uninteresting to always think the same way. Challenge yourself to see familiar things in new ways. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes and consider things from a different angle or perspective. If you’re trying to solve a problem, list all your concerns: what you need in order to solve it, who can help, what some possible barriers might be, etc. It’s often possible to reframe a problem as an opportunity. Try to find a solution where there seems to be none.
Analyze the influences on your thinking and in your life : Why do you think or feel the way you do? Analyze your influences. Think about who in your life influences you. Do you feel or react a certain way because of social convention, or because you believe it is what is expected of you? Try to break out of any molds that may be constricting you.
Express yourself : Critical thinking also involves being able to express yourself clearly. Most important in expressing yourself clearly is stating one point at a time. You might be inclined to argue every thought, but you might have greater impact if you focus just on your main arguments. This will help others to follow your thinking clearly. For more abstract ideas, assume that your audience may not understand. Provide examples, analogies, or metaphors where you can.
Enhance your wellness : It’s easier to think critically when you take care of your mental and physical health. Try taking activity breaks throughout the day to reach 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity each day. Scheduling physical activity into your day can help lower stress and increase mental alertness. Also, do your most difficult work when you have the most energy . Think about the time of day you are most effective and have the most energy. Plan to do your most difficult work during these times. And be sure to reach out for help i f you feel you need assistance with your mental or physical health (see Maintaining Your Mental and Physical Health for more information).

Complete Section #2 Below: ACTIVITY: REFLECT ON CRITICAL THINKING

Key takeaways.

Critical thinking is logical and reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do.
Critical thinking involves questioning and evaluating information.
Critical and creative thinking both contribute to our ability to solve problems in a variety of contexts.
Evaluating information is a complex, but essential, process. You can use the CRAAP test to help determine if sources and information are reliable.
You can take specific actions to develop and strengthen your critical thinking skills.

ACTIVITY: REFLECT ON CRITICAL THINKING

Directions:.

Think about someone you consider to be a critical thinker (friend, professor, historical figure, etc). What qualities does he/she have?
Review some of the critical thinking strategies discussed on this page. Pick one strategy that makes sense to you. How can you apply this critical thinking technique to your academic work?
Habits of mind are attitudes and beliefs that influence how you approach the world (i.e., inquiring attitude, open mind, respect for truth, etc). What is one habit of mind you would like to actively develop over the next year? How will you develop a daily practice to cultivate this habit?
Write your responses in journal form, and submit according to your instructor’s guidelines.

44 Critical Thinking Skills

Learning objectives.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Describe the role that logic plays in critical thinking
Explain how critical thinking skills can be used to problem-solve
Describe how critical thinking skills can be used to evaluate information
Identify strategies for developing yourself as a critical thinker

Thinking comes naturally. You don’t have to make it happen—it just does. But you can make it happen in different ways. For example, you can think positively or negatively. You can think with “heart” and you can think with rational judgment. You can also think strategically and analytically, and mathematically and scientifically. These are a few of the multiple ways in which the mind can process thought.

What are some forms of thinking you use? When do you use them, and why?

What Is Critical Thinking?

Who are critical thinkers, and what characteristics do they have in common?

Critical thinkers are usually curious and reflective people. They like to explore and probe new areas and seek knowledge, clarification, and new solutions. They ask pertinent questions, evaluate statements and arguments, and distinguish between facts and opinion. They are also willing to examine their own beliefs, possessing a manner of humility that allows them to admit a lack of knowledge or understanding when needed. They are open to changing their mind. Perhaps most of all, they actively enjoy learning, and seeking new knowledge is a lifelong pursuit.

This may well be you!

Critical Thinking and Logic

What Is Logic, and Why Is It Important in Critical Thinking?

The word logic comes from the Ancient Greek logike , referring to the science or art of reasoning. Using logic, a person evaluates arguments and reasoning and strives to distinguish between good and bad reasoning, or between truth and falsehood. Using logic, you can evaluate ideas or claims people make, make good decisions, and form sound beliefs about the world. [1]

Questions of Logic in Critical Thinking

The following questions, presented in Figure 1, below, are ones you may apply to formulating a logical, reasoned perspective in the above scenario or any other situation:

What’s happening? Gather the basic information and begin to think of questions.
Why is it important? Ask yourself why it’s significant and whether or not you agree.
What don’t I see? Is there anything important missing?
How do I know? Ask yourself where the information came from and how it was constructed.
Who is saying it? What’s the position of the speaker and what is influencing them?

Problem-Solving

Your roommate was upset and said some unkind words to you, which put a crimp in the relationship. You try to see through the angry behaviors to determine how you might best support the roommate and help bring the relationship back to a comfortable spot.
Your campus club has been languishing on account of a lack of participation and funds. The new club president, though, is a marketing major and has identified some strategies to interest students in joining and supporting the club. Implementation is forthcoming.
Your final art class project challenges you to conceptualize form in new ways. On the last day of class when students present their projects, you describe the techniques you used to fulfill the assignment. You explain why and how you selected that approach.
Your math teacher sees that the class is not quite grasping a concept. She uses clever questioning to dispel anxiety and guide you to new understanding of the concept.
You have a job interview for a position that you feel you are only partially qualified for, although you really want the job and you are excited about the prospects. You analyze how you will explain your skills and experiences in a way to show that you are a good match for the prospective employer.
You are doing well in college, and most of your college and living expenses are covered. But there are some gaps between what you want and what you feel you can afford. You analyze your income, savings, and budget to better calculate what you will need to stay in college and maintain your desired level of spending.

Evaluating Information

Evaluating information can be one of the most complex tasks you will be faced with in college. But if you utilize the following four strategies, you will be well on your way to success:

Read for understanding by using text coding
Examine arguments
Clarify thinking
Cultivate “habits of mind”

Examine Arguments

Clarify Thinking

Cultivate “Habits of Mind”

Developing Yourself as a Critical Thinker

Critical thinking is a desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to consider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and hatred for every kind of imposture. —Francis Bacon, philosopher

Reflect and practice : Always reflect on what you’ve learned. Is it true all the time? How did you arrive at your conclusions?
Use wasted time : It’s certainly important to make time for relaxing, but if you find you are indulging in too much of a good thing, think about using your time more constructively. Determine when you do your best thinking and try to learn something new during that part of the day.
Redefine the way you see things : It can be very uninteresting to always think the same way. Challenge yourself to see familiar things in new ways. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes and consider things from a different angle or perspective. If you’re trying to solve a problem, list all your concerns: what you need in order to solve it, who can help, what some possible barriers might be, etc. It’s often possible to reframe a problem as an opportunity. Try to find a solution where there seems to be none.
Analyze the influences on your thinking and in your life : Why do you think or feel the way you do? Analyze your influences. Think about who in your life influences you. Do you feel or react a certain way because of social convention, or because you believe it is what is expected of you? Try to break out of any molds that may be constricting you.
Express yourself : Critical thinking also involves being able to express yourself clearly. Most important in expressing yourself clearly is stating one point at a time. You might be inclined to argue every thought, but you might have greater impact if you focus just on your main arguments. This will help others to follow your thinking clearly. For more abstract ideas, assume that your audience may not understand. Provide examples, analogies, or metaphors where you can.
Enhance your wellness : It’s easier to think critically when you take care of your mental and physical health. Try taking 10-minute activity breaks to reach 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity each day . Try taking a break between classes and walk to the coffee shop that’s farthest away. Scheduling physical activity into your day can help lower stress and increase mental alertness. Also, do your most difficult work when you have the most energy . Think about the time of day you are most effective and have the most energy. Plan to do your most difficult work during these times. And be sure to reach out for help . If you feel you need assistance with your mental or physical health, talk to a counselor or visit a doctor.

Key Takeaways

Critical thinking is a skill that will help speakers further develop their arguments and position their speech in a strong manner.

Critical thinking utilizes thought, plan, and action. Be sure to consider the research at-hand and develop an argument that is logical and connects to the audience.
It is important to conduct an audience analysis to understand the ways in which your research and argument will resonate with the group you are delivering your information to; you can strengthen your argument by accurately positioning your argument and yourself in within a diverse audience.
“Student Success-Thinking Critically In Class and Online.” Critical Thinking Gateway. St Petersburg College, n.d. Web. 16 Feb 2016. ↵

Public Speaking Copyright © by Dr. Layne Goodman; Amber Green, M.A.; and Various is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Course Contents

What is critical thinking, critical thinking.

What are some forms of thinking you use? When do you use them, and why?

What Is Critical Thinking?

This may well be you!

The following video, from Lawrence Bland, presents the major concepts and benefits of critical thinking.

Critical Thinking and Logic

Questions of Logic in Critical Thinking

The following questions are ones you may apply to formulating a logical, reasoned perspective in the above scenario or any other situation:

What’s happening? Gather the basic information and begin to think of questions.
Why is it important? Ask yourself why it’s significant and whether or not you agree.
What don’t I see? Is there anything important missing?
How do I know? Ask yourself where the information came from and how it was constructed.
Who is saying it? What’s the position of the speaker and what is influencing them?
What else? What if? What other ideas exist and are there other possibilities?

Problem-Solving with Critical Thinking

Problem-Solving Action Checklist

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Math

In previous math courses, you’ve no doubt run into the infamous “word problems.” Unfortunately, these problems rarely resemble the type of problems we actually encounter in everyday life. In math books, you usually are told exactly which formula or procedure to use, and are given exactly the information you need to answer the question. In real life, problem solving requires identifying an appropriate formula or procedure, and determining what information you will need (and won’t need) to answer the question.

"Student Success-Thinking Critically In Class and Online." Critical Thinking Gateway . St Petersburg College, n.d. Web. 16 Feb 2016. ↵
Critical Thinking Skills. Authored by : Linda Bruce. Provided by : Lumen Learning. Located at : https://courses.lumenlearning.com/collegesuccess-lumen/chapter/critical-thinking-skills/ . Project : College Success. License : CC BY: Attribution
Critical Thinking. Authored by : Critical and Creative Thinking Program. Located at : http://cct.wikispaces.umb.edu/Critical+Thinking . License : CC BY: Attribution
Thinking Critically. Authored by : UBC Learning Commons. Provided by : The University of British Columbia, Vancouver Campus. Located at : http://www.oercommons.org/courses/learning-toolkit-critical-thinking/view . License : CC BY: Attribution
Problem Solving. Authored by : David Lippman. Located at : http://www.opentextbookstore.com/mathinsociety/ . Project : Math in Society. License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

IMAGES

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Critical Thinking Skills
💋 What is critical thinking examples. What Is Critical Thinking?. 2022
6 Main Types of Critical Thinking Skills (With Examples)
How to Improve Critical Thinking
Tools Of Critical Thinking

VIDEO

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Common Phrases That Were Once Considered “Wrong"
Two Methods for Memorizing 1 Acre = 43,560
Improve Your Memory
Critical Thinking: Essential to Self Actualize
Immersive Critical Thinking Activities: Think Like A Scientist

COMMENTS

What Is Critical Thinking?
Critical thinking is the ability to effectively analyze information and form a judgment. To think critically, you must be aware of your own biases and assumptions when encountering information, and apply consistent standards when evaluating sources. Critical thinking skills help you to: Identify credible sources. Evaluate and respond to arguments.
Memorization is a component of critical thinking, not its opposite
As Willingham says: People who have sought to teach critical thinking have assumed that it is a skill, like riding a bicycle, and that, like other skills, once you learn it, you can apply it in any situation. Research from cognitive science shows that thinking is not that sort of skill. The processes of thinking are intertwined with the content ...
1.3: Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is important because it relates to nearly all tasks, situations, topics, careers, environments, challenges, and opportunities. It's not restricted to a particular subject area. Figure 1.3.2 1.3. 2. Critical thinking is clear, reasonable, reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do.
2.3: Critical Thinking
2.3: Critical Thinking is shared under a license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts. Critical thinking is something that helps a reader become more inquisitive by asking probing questions to gain a deeper understanding or connection to a text. This section provides sample questions ….
1.16: Critical Thinking
Critical thinkers are usually curious and reflective people. They like to explore and probe new areas and seek knowledge, clarification, and new solutions. They ask pertinent questions, evaluate statements and arguments, and they distinguish between facts and opinion. They do not rely on quick, first-order level thinking, but instead use second ...
What Are Critical Thinking Skills and Why Are They Important?
It makes you a well-rounded individual, one who has looked at all of their options and possible solutions before making a choice. According to the University of the People in California, having critical thinking skills is important because they are [ 1 ]: Universal. Crucial for the economy. Essential for improving language and presentation skills.
Critical Thinking and Evaluating Information
Critical thinking is logical and reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do. Critical thinking involves questioning and evaluating information. Critical and creative thinking both contribute to our ability to solve problems in a variety of contexts. Evaluating information is a complex, but essential, process.
Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking is the process of using and assessing reasons to evaluate statements, assumptions, and arguments in ordinary situations. The goal of this process is to help us have good beliefs, where "good" means that our beliefs meet certain goals of thought, such as truth, usefulness, or rationality. Critical thinking is widely ...
Critical Thinking Skills
It involves being skeptical and challenging assumptions, rather than simply memorizing facts or blindly accepting what you hear or read. Critical thinking skills will help you in any profession or any circumstance of life, from science to art to business to teaching. Critical thinkers are curious and reflective people.
Why memorising facts can be a keystone to learning
Memorising facts can build the foundations for higher thinking and problem solving. Constant recitation of times tables might not help children understand mathematical concepts but it may allow ...
Memorization and Critical Thinking
Memorization is a passive skill while critical thinking is an active skill. Memorization. Memorizing is the process of retaining information. In other words, a person is not only experiencing something but actively trying to remember it for future recall. This can be something as simple as a phone number or as complicated as the plot to a movie.
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is fundamentally a process of questioning information and data. You may question the information you read in a textbook, or you may question what a politician or a professor or a classmate says. You can also question a commonly-held belief or a new idea. With critical thinking, anything and everything is subject to question ...
7.2: Critical Thinking Skills
In fact, critical thinking and problem-solving go hand-in-hand. They both refer to using knowledge, facts, and data to solve problems effectively. But with problem-solving, you are specifically identifying, selecting, and defending your solution. Below are some examples of using critical thinking to problem-solve:
Rote Learning Vs Critical Thinking
These lists of memorized facts are an example of rote learning. The basis of rote learning is memorization. ... Rote learning can be useful in memorizing certain facts to make space in our working memories for learning new concepts related to those facts. Critical thinking is by far the more important skill as the problem-solving abilities it ...
3.8: Text- Defining Critical Thinking
As a college student, you are tasked with engaging and expanding your thinking skills. One of the most important of these skills is critical thinking. Critical thinking is important because it relates to nearly all tasks, situations, topics, careers, environments, challenges, and opportunities. It's not restricted to a particular subject area.
Reading History: Moving from Memorizing Facts to Critical Thinking
Abstract. The task of reading and studying history in the K-12 setting has long been a memory task—knowing dates, places, and events. In contrast, historians use disciplinary-specific heuristics of sourcing, corroboration, and contextualization to understand not just what the text says, but when the text was written, who wrote it, and what ...
Critical Thinking Skills
In fact, critical thinking and problem-solving go hand-in-hand. They both refer to using knowledge, facts, and data to solve problems effectively. But with problem-solving, you are specifically identifying, selecting, and defending your solution. Below are some examples of using critical thinking to problem-solve:
8.1 Information and Critical Thinking
An analytical report provides information based on facts. Put simply, facts are statements that can be proven or whose truth can be inferred. It may be difficult to distinguish fact from opinion or allegation. As a writer, use a critical eye to examine what you read. The following are examples of factual statements:
'Memorization Often Comes Without Understanding' (Opinion)
3) Memory can help students get to grade level. Kids who grow up in poverty (51 percent of those in public schools) underperform in five critical areas. Language is first, and the next two are ...
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is fundamentally a process of questioning. You may question the information you read in a textbook, or you may question what a politician or a professor or a classmate says. You can also question a commonly-held belief or a new idea. With critical thinking, anything and everything is subject to question and examination.
Chapter 7: Critical Thinking and Evaluating Information
In fact, critical thinking and problem-solving go hand-in-hand. They both refer to using knowledge, facts, and data to solve problems effectively. But with problem-solving, you are specifically identifying, selecting, and defending your solution. Below are some examples of using critical thinking to problem-solve:
Critical Thinking Skills
In fact, critical thinking and problem-solving go hand-in-hand. They both refer to using knowledge, facts, and data to solve problems effectively. But with problem-solving, you are specifically identifying, selecting, and defending your solution. Below are some examples of using critical thinking to problem-solve:
What is Critical Thinking?
Critical thinking is fundamentally a process of questioning information and data. You may question the information you read in a textbook, or you may question what a politician or a professor or a classmate says. You can also question a commonly-held belief or a new idea. With critical thinking, anything and everything is subject to question ...

Memorization is a component of critical thinking, not its opposite

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7 Critical Thinking and Evaluating Information

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Critical Thinking

What Is Critical Thinking?

Critical Thinking and Logic

What Is Logic?

Questions of Logic in Critical Thinking

Problem-Solving with Critical Thinking

Problem-Solving Action Checklist

Critical and Creative Thinking

Evaluating Information with Critical Thinking

Read for Understanding

Examine Arguments

Clarify Thinking

Cultivate “Habits of Mind”

Developing Yourself As a Critical Thinker

Complete Section #2 Below: ACTIVITY: REFLECT ON CRITICAL THINKING

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Why memorising facts can be a keystone to learning

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educational research techniques

Memorization and Critical Thinking

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7.2: Critical Thinking Skills

Learning Objectives

Critical Thinking

What Is Critical Thinking?

Activity: Self-Assess Your Critical Thinking Strategies

Critical Thinking and Logic

What Is Logic, and Why Is It Important in Critical Thinking?

Questions of Logic in Critical Thinking

Problem-Solving with Critical Thinking

Problem-Solving Action Checklist

Evaluating Information with Critical Thinking

Read for Understanding Using Text Coding

Examine Arguments

Clarify Thinking

Cultivate “Habits of Mind”

Developing Yourself As a Critical Thinker

Activity: Reflect on Critical Thinking

Directions:

Thinking Critically and Creatively

Resources for Critical Thinking

Rote Learning Vs Critical Thinking

What is Rote Learning?

What is Critical Thinking?

Benefits of Critical Thinking

Meaningful or “Deep” Learning

Back to Critical Thinking

In Conclusion

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Various Ways to Think

Defining Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking in Action

Reading History: Moving from Memorizing Facts to Critical Thinking

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8.1 Information and Critical Thinking

Distinguishing Fact from Opinion

Recognizing Bias