Critical Thinking: Questions and Exercises

Critical thinking is a rich concept that has many definitions that overlap.  Critical thinking encompasses being open- minded and acceptance of all different ideas and different people, cultures, and point of views.  Critical thinking also involves analyzing, applying, adding up, synthesizing and building on knowledge guided by observation, experience and reflection. 

To me, critical thinking is active thinking, and understanding all aspects of a certain idea in addition to judging and evaluating this idea. To me, a good critical thinker is a person who not only evaluates but is also able to communicate and starts opening a discussion with others to help improve his environment and eventually his community and then humanity at large.

Critical thinking is minimally practiced in Egypt in the ESL classroom as teachers were not trained on integrating this skill. Many ESL teachers believe that integrating critical thinking is time consuming and it is not that valuable in comparison to the time spent.  In addition, students fear to practice this skill as they believe it is wrong to judge ideas stated by superiors, ideas written by authors who know more and are more talented, and of fear of being misjudged by others as they may have different opinions or they are against the status quo.

It is important to teach ESL students critical thinking as it is a tool that will help them in their education, profession and life at large. Critical thinking will help students understand how things go, connect matter, predict how things can work and think how they will use the knowledge they are learning (Brookfield 1997).. Critical thinking will help students have a point of view, try to communicate it, and be open to other people's point of view. On the long run, critical thinking will enhance their reflection, prediction, and problem solving skills. Learning critical thinking will increase students' awareness, literacy, and understanding as students will read more as they will not take things for granted (Macpherson (1999); Paul, R. and Elder, L. (2005)).

Critical thinking will also lead to creativity as students will begin to see things differently. They will not only understand the scientific process but they will evaluate, add up, and create new items. Being critical thinkers students will have the skill to find information, evaluate it, add up to it and solve problems. Trying to express their views on things they learn students will by time improve their communication skills as they will learn by doing how to arrange their thoughts, how to think in a logical way, how to sequence their ideas and how to use register correctly. They will always put their audience in mind, be concerned about being rational, organized and prepared. Being open to other people point of view will make them create a big network that will help them learn better, communicate better, understand better and interact effectively. Being critical thinkers students will not only improve educationally and professionally but will also help improve their environment as they will always be engaged in discussion, reflection and be open to new idea, seek improvement and be open to change. In addition, critical thinking will help improve society as students who are our future workers, officials, scientists and leaders will all be open to new ideas, change, and improvement.

 The most significant critical/intellectual thinking standards include: clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, logic, and fairness (Paul and Elder (2006)). Students can be trained on these standards in speaking activities, forum discussions and comprehension exercises. Here are some questions related to the  critical thinking practices. These questions can be adapted to any discussion. Clarity is the gateway standard. Questions that can lead to clarity are:

·         Could you elaborate further on that point?

·         Could you express that point in another way?

·         Could you give me an illustration?

·         Could you give an example?

A statement can be clear but not accurate. Questions that can lead to accuracy are:

·         Is that really true?

·         How can we check that?

·         How can we find out if that is true?

A statement can both be clear and accurate but not precise. Questions that can lead to precision are:

·         Could you give more details?

·         Could you be more specific?

Students sometimes concentrate on irrelevant ideas. Questions that can lead to relevance are:

·         How is that connected to the question?

·         How does that bear on the issues?

Questions that can lead to depth:

·         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?

Questions that can lead to breadth:

·         Do we need to consider another point of view?

·         Is there another way to look at this question?

·         What would this look like from a conservative standpoint?

·         What would this look like from the point of view of….?

(All the previous questions were posed and created in the the Understanding by Design session in the two week training I took on Integrating Critical Thinking in the University of UMass Lowell  and could be adopted according to the teachers design.)

    

 English language teachers should train students on supporting their ideas  and opinions and accepting other people opinions.  Students should understand that anyone has her/his own biases and that s/he should be aware of such biases. Teachers should also train students on supporting and developing their ideas. Students through discussing and giving opinion on different issues will understand that fair-mindedness is an essential attribute of a critical thinker. They will also understand that critical thinking entails a mind which is open, impartial, free of distorting biases and preconceptions. Here is a critical thinking check which I designed in one of the training sessions in the two week training in University of UMass Lowell.

 Answer these questions to check whether you are a critical thinker:

Are you open minded about other people's views?

Are you Honest to yourself (or others) when you are wrong?

Do you have the courage and passion to take initiative, confront problems and meet challenges?

Are you aware of your own biases and  preconceptions?

Do you welcome criticism from other people?

Do you have independent opinions and are not afraid to disagree?

Example exercises for Critical Thinking Activities. (The examples are mine. For more ideas read the article https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/10-great-critical-thinking-activities-that-engage-your-students :

Speaking Activity:

Medicine companies are only concerned about profit. Comment.

 Writing Activity:

Read the article the The Complete 12 Step Guide to Start a Business. Then comment on the article in two paragraphs.

Reading comprehension:

 (I added questions of opinion to enhance students' critical thinking skills:

READING COMPREHENSION

Directions: Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

HEADACHES

For centuries mankind has suffered from headaches. In this time doctors and scientists have tried to discover the cause of headaches and a cure for them. Yet even today medicine does not have many answers. It is true that there are more drugs and medicines that can relieve the pains, but this is not enough. We cannot solve the problem of headaches until we know the cause—or causes, for there is not just one reason for pains in the head. Aspirin is widely used but there are problems in taking this drug; it is not the harmless white tablet that some people think.

         There are many kinds of headache. The most common is migraine. This affects only one side of the head and, for some unknown reason, attacks mostly women. It appears to run in families.

         Men can be attacked by migraine, of course, but in men the most common form of headache is the cluster pain. This may attack a person for a few hours or a few days, but then it goes away and may not return for many months, or even years. The pain of cluster headaches is so severe that the sufferer may cry out in pain and walk restlessly up and down, unable to concentrate on work, study or pleasure.

         What is the cause of headaches? Most medical experts agree that it is caused by blood vessels in the brain becoming too full of blood. Then a substance called neurokinin appears; this is a chemical that produces pain. Therefore, treatment is usually to reduce the amount of blood and of neurokinin. However, many questions remain without answers and the problems of headaches remain as a challenge to medical science.

A. COMPREHENSION

1. Name two different kinds of headache.

2.What is neurokinin?

3.What is a possible cause of headaches?

4.Is there a cure for headaches?

5.Name 3 things a person suffering from a cluster headache might do.

B. VOCABULARY

Find the word that matches the meaning. The words are underlined in the story.

1. matter or material
2. reduce the pain or trouble
3. set upon to hurt
4. to have pain, grief, or injury
5. something that requires a lot of effort
6. strict, stern, or harsh
7. to a wide extent

QUESTIONS OF OPINION (are mine)

Would you try herbs to cure headaches? Why?

Finally, critical thinking is relevant for academic performance, workplace and daily life. As for the critical thinking standards which emcompass clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, logic and fairness they can be practiced through discussion forums, speaking activities and comprehension exercises. As ESL teachers we should give our students an idea about the barriers to critical thinking  namely egocentrism, sociocentrism, unwarranted assumptions, wishful thinking, and relatistic thinking. We should also teach the characteristics of a critical thinker namely open-mindedness, independent thinking, self- awareness, passionate, intellectual humility, intellectual courage, and welcoming criticism. These characteristics can also be taught through discussion forums, speaking activities and comprehension exercises.

References:

Brookfield, S.D. (1997, Fall). Assessing critical thinking. New Directions for Adult

and Continuing Education, No. 75, 17-29.

Macpherson, K. (September, 1999). The development of critical thinking skills in

undergraduate supervisory management units. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher

Education, 24(3), 273-284.

Paul, R. and Elder, L. (2005, Fall). Critical thinking…and the art of substantive

writing.(Part I). Journal of Developmental Education.  29 (1). 40-41.

---. (2006, Spring). Critical thinking…and the art of substantive writing, (Part  II).

Journal of Developmental Education,  29 (3). 38-39.

https://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/metacognition-50-questions-help-students-think-think/

Dr. Rasha Osman Abd el Haliem is an English lecturer in Higher Technological Institute, Egypt. She is an avid researcher who presented many national and international conferences.