Critical Thinking

 is the general term given to a wide range of cognitive and intellectual skills
needed to:
a) effectively identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments
b) discover and overcome, personal prejudices and biases
c) formulate and present convincing reasons in support of conclusions
d) make reasonable, intelligent decisions about what to believe and
what to do

“Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully

conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information
gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or
communication, as a guide to belief and action.”

- Michael Scriven and Richard Paul

DOMAINS
- Cognitive
- Psychomotor
- Affective

TYPES OF THINKING

Decision Making
Problem Solving

Critical Thinking Creative Thinking

STANDARDS
Accuracy - a statement can be clear but not accurate
: Is that really true?
: How could we check that?
: How could we find out if that is true?
Precision - a statement can be both clear and accurate, but not precise
: Could you give me more details?
: Could you be more specific?
Relevance - a statement can be clear, accurate, and precise, but not relevant to
the question at issue
: How is that connected to the question?
: How does that bear on the issue?
Depth/Breadth - a statement can be clear, accurate, precise, and relevant, but
superficial; dealing with the most significant factors; necessary,
beneficial, practicable
: How does your answer address the complexities in the question?
: How are you taking into account the problems in the question?
: Is that dealing with the most significant factors?
Logic - when the combination o thoughts are mutually supporting and make
sense in combination, the thinking is “logical”
: Does this really make sense?
: Does that follow from what you said?
: But before you implied this and now you are saying that […], how can both
be true?
 Fairness - open-minded; free of distorting biases and preconceptions
: Is it impartial?
Clarity
: Could you express that in another way?

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY OF LEARNING DOMAINS (1956) VIS-A-VIS REVISED

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY BY ANDERSON (2001)

 Students are expected to be producers of knowledge.

 Outcome-based education (OBE)
 Passive → Active

Academic Reading

FUNDAMENTAL READING SKILLS

- Pre-reading Stage
previewing identifying the purpose
questioning making assumptions about the author
surveying selecting a reading system
freewriting
- While-reading Stage
predicting monitoring the comprehension
inferencing getting the meaning of words through context clues
reflecting annotating the text
- Post-reading Stage
reflecting journal writing
summarizing drawing conclusions
paraphrasing making graphic organizers

BASIC READING SKILLS

 Previewing - a skill wherein a reader looks over a material and focuses on
the information he/she finds relevant; allows readers to set the
purpose and link the content of the material to their background
knowledge
Example: inspecting hurriedly the table of contents, introduction, or
summary
  Literal Reading - involves the understanding of ideas and facts that are
directly stated in the printed material
a) Summarizing - involves condensing a lengthy text into a shorter
passage which is usually 15 to 30 percent of the source material
b) Paraphrasing - involves restating ideas from the original text
Effective Paraphrasing:
i. Do not change the original thought of the text.
Change the way it is conveyed.
ii. Ensure accuracy by comparing the original and the
paraphrased texts.
iii. Do not confuse it with a summary.
 Rapid Reading - aims to locate specific information or main ideas in a very
short span of time
a) Skimming - get an overview of the paragraph and state its main
idea
b) Locating the Main Idea - involves the identification of the central
message of a reading selection
c) Scanning - a quick reading strategy which aims to get specific
information of a reading selection
 Critical Reading - refers to the close and thorough evaluation of the claims
in the text in terms of relevance, validity, and logic; includes
distinguishing facts from opinions and detecting logical fallacies
 Inferential Reading - refers to the process of deducing facts and ideas not
directly expressed in the text; also known as reading between the lines;
this skill includes making generalizations, inferences, and conclusions

TYPES OF READING
 Developmental Reading - aims to develop the student’s reading skills (e.g.
SRA - Science Reading Associate)
 Pleasure Reading - passive type; providing enjoyment and entertainment
 Functional Reading - learn basic functioning; academic reading
 Remedial Reading - correct the effects of poor teaching and learning

Francis Bacon - “Reading maketh a full man.”

Graphic Organizers

1. Venn Diagram - uses overlapping circles to illustrate the similarities, differences,

and relationships between concepts, ideas, categories, or groups

2. Network Tree - used to represent hierarchy, classification, and branching; useful in

showing relationships of scientific categories, family trees, and even lineages
3. Spider Map - also known as semantic map; used to investigate and enumerate
various aspects of a central idea

4. Problem-Solution Map - displays the nature of the problem and how it can be
solved; usually contains the problem’s description, its causes and effects,
and logical solutions

5. Timeline - used to show how events occurred chronologically through a long base
labeled with dates and specific events; can be linear (shows how events
happened within one period) or comparative (shows two sets of events that
happened within the same period)

Linear Timeline
6. Plot Diagram - tool used to map events in a story; used to analyze the major parts
of a plot; the major events to be placed in the plot diagram are:
a) Exposition - the initial part where the characters, settings, and
relationships are established
b) Inciting moment - the part which brings about the change or the
conflict
c) Rising action - the section where the conflict and the characters are
developed
d) Climax - the highest point of the story where the major events are
confronted
e) Falling action - the events immediately following the climax which
lead to the closure of the conflict
f) Resolution - the conclusion or closure of the story
7. Series of Events Chain - used to show the logical sequence of events

8. Fishbone Map - used to better understand the causal relationship of a complex

phenomenon; shows the factors that cause a specific event or problem, as
well as details of each cause

9. Cycle - describes how a series of events interact to produce a set of results

repeatedly

10. Persuasion Map - used to map out arguments and evidence that prove a
viewpoint; essentially useful when processing persuasive or
argumentative texts

Patterns of Development in Writing

When beginning to write, it is helpful to determine the patterns of development
that are most effective for your purpose and audience. Some general patterns of
development are:
 Cause and Effect details why something happens, what causes it, what are the
effects and how it is related to something else.
 Classification and Division groups items into their parts or types.
a) division - differences
b) classification - similarities
 Compare and Contrast tells how something is like other things or how
something is different from other things.
 Definition explains what something is in comparison to other members of its
class, along with any limitations.
a) informal
b) formal - follows the SVGD format
 species - term being defined
 verb - function
 genus - general category
 differentia - what makes it unique
c) Extensive - abstract
 Description details what something looks like and its characteristics.
a) visual - sight
b) auditory - hearing
c) olfactory - smell
d) gustatory - taste
e) tactile - touch
 Exemplification provides typical cases or examples of something.
 Narration describes what, when, and where something happened.
 Persuasion describes an issue and your position or opinion on the subject.
 Process explains how something happened, how it works or how it is made.
 Enumeration - listing

Types of Claims

 Claims of Fact - existence of something/definition or classification/facts;

inferences about past present or future

Types of Factual Claims (generally "objective")

1. Factual / historical
2. Relational - causal connections
3. Predictive

Proof requires:
a) sufficient and appropriate grounds
b) reliable authority
c) recent data
d) accurate, typical data
e) clearly defined terms- no loaded language
f) a clear distinction between fact and inference

 Claims of Value - (taste and morals / good-bad) make value judgments/ resolve
conflict between values/ quasi policy (rightness of it; relative merit)

Proof requires:
a) establishing standards of evaluation (i.e. a warrant that defines what
constitutes instances of the relevant value)
b) note the priority of the value in this instance
c) establish the advantage (practical or moral) of your standards
d) use examples to clarify abstract values
e) use credible authorities for support
 Claims of Policy (action / should or ought) - usually involves sub-claims of fact
and value

Proof requires:
a) making proposed action clear
b) need (justification)
c) plan, (must be workable)
d) benefit (advantages)
e) consider opposition / counter arguments

Logical Fallacies

 False Dilemma
: black and white, either; two options only stated instead of many
 Appeal to Ignorance (Argumentum ad Ignorantiam)
: something is instantly concluded to be true just because it is not proven to
be false, and vice versa
 Slippery Slope
: a series of increasingly superficial and unacceptable consequence is drawn
 Complex Question
: two or more points are rolled into one and the reader is expected to either
accept or reject both at the same time, when one point may be
satisfactory while the other is not
 Appeal to Force (Argumentum ad Baculum)
: when a threat, instead of reasoning, is used to argue
 Appeal to Pity (Argumentum ad Misericordiam)
: when the element of pity is used instead of logical reasoning
 Appeal to Consequences (Argumentum ad Consequentiam)
: when unpleasant consequences of believing something are pointed out to
show that the belief is false
 Bandwagon (Argumentum ad Populum)
: when an argument is considered to be valid because it is what the majority
thinks
 Red Herring Policy
: not answering the question
 Attacking the Person (Argumentum ad Hominem)
: refute an argument by attacking the character of a person
 Appeal to Authority
: argument quotes an expert who is not qualified in the particular subject
matter
 Anonymous Authority
: authority in question is not mentioned or named
 Hasty Generalization
: a sample is not significant/enough to support a generalization about a
population
 False Analogy
: a writer assumes that two concepts are similar in some ways are also
similar in other ways
 Accident
: a general rule is applied to a situation even when it should be an exception
 Post Hoc
: the arguer claims that since event A happened before event B, A is the
cause of B
 Wrong Direction
: when the direction between cause and effect is reversed
 Complex Cause
: the explanation for an event is reduced to one thing when there are other
factors which also contributed to the event
 Irrelevant Conclusion
: an argument which is supposed to prove something concludes something
else instead
 Straw Man
: the position of the opposition is twisted so that it is easier to refute
 Affirming the Consequent
: occurs when any argument of the form if A is the true then B is true; if B is
true, therefore A is true

Hypothetical
Proposition

Antecedent Consequent
if then (,)

Example: If you send memes, then I love you. Therefore, if I love you, then
you send memes. (tagging @/K, ay ang kalat)
 Denying the Antecedent
: if A is true then B is true; if A is not true then B is not true
Example: If you send memes, then I love you. Therefore, if you don’t send
memes, then I don’t love you.