CRITICAL AND NON CRITICAL THINKING
SKILLS
Malibago, Clint
Pagayanan, Aiecha Mae
11- Einstein
CRITICAL VS. NON-CRITICAL
THINKING
NON-CRITICAL
THINKING
Non-critical thinking happens when you simply accept the things you
are told without examining them. It also happens when you construct
thoughts based on emotions. Moreover, non-critical thinking leads people
to jump to conclusions without proof or evidence.
The reader engages with the material ‘on its own terms’ not commenting,
challenging or drawing comparison with other sources. The emphasis is
simply on being able to describe and explain what the material says. The
knowledge is not treated as contestable.
CRITICAL THINKING
On the other hand, critical thinking involves a series of
complex thought processes which allows you to make
reasoned judgments, assess the way you think, and
solve problems effectively.
NON CRITICAL CRITICAL THINKER
THINKER
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY
LEVELS OF THINKING
In 1956, Benjamin Bloom, an educational psychologist,
together with a team of educational psychologist,
published Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Domain
which is a system that classifies the levels of thinking
substantial to learning. This system is classified into six
levels which follow a successive pattern. This simply
means that to proceed to the next level, the current one
must be mastered first. The levels are as follows :
KNOWLEDGE, COMPREHENSION, APPLICATION,
ANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS and EVALUATION.
However, later on in 2001, Bloom’s former student, Lorin
Anderson, and a group of psychologists published a new version
to the original taxonomy to make is more relevant to the 21st-
century learning. They changed the names of the levels to denote
an active process of thinking which are as follows :
REMEMBERING, UNDERSTANDING, APPLYING, ANALYZING,
EVALUATING and CREATING.
THE OLD VERSION
Knowledge
involves recognizing or remembering facts, terms, basic concepts, or answers without
necessarily understanding what they mean. Its characteristics may include:
Knowledge of specifics—terminology, specific facts.
Knowledge of ways and means of dealing with specifics—conventions, trends and
sequences, classifications and categories, criteria, methodology.
Knowledge of the universals and abstractions in a field—principles and
generalizations, theories and structures
Example: Name three common varieties of apple.
Comprehension
involves demonstrating an understanding of facts and ideas by organizing, comparing,
translating, interpreting, giving descriptions, and stating the main ideas.
Example: Compare the identifying characteristics of a Golden Delicious apple with a
Granny Smith apple.
Application
involves using acquired knowledge—solving problems in new situations by applying
acquired knowledge, facts, techniques and rules. Learners should be able to use prior
knowledge to solve problems, identify connections and relationships and how they apply in
new situations.
Example: Would apples prevent scurvy, a disease caused by a deficiency in vitamin C?
Analysis
Analysis involves examining and breaking information into component parts, determining
how the parts relate to one another, identifying motives or causes, making inferences, and
finding evidence to support generalizations. Its characteristics include:
Analysis of elements
Analysis of relationships
Analysis of organization
Example: List four ways of serving foods made with apples and explain which ones have
the highest health benefits. Provide references to support your statements.
Synthesis
involves building a structure or pattern from diverse elements; it also refers to the act
of putting parts together to form a whole. Its characteristics include:
Production of a unique communication
Production of a plan, or proposed set of operations
Derivation of a set of abstract relations
Example: Convert an "unhealthy" recipe for apple pie to a "healthy" recipe by replacing
your choice of ingredients. Explain the health benefits of using the ingredients you
chose vs. the original ones.
Evaluation
involves presenting and defending opinions by making judgments about information,
the validity of ideas, or quality of work based on a set of criteria. Its characteristics include:
Judgments in terms of internal evidence
Judgments in terms of external criteria
Example: Which kinds of apples are best for baking a pie, and why?
NEW VERSION
Remembering
Exhibit memory of previously learned material by recalling facts, terms, basic
concepts, and answers.
Understanding
Demonstrate understanding of facts and ideas by organizing, comparing,
translating, interpreting, giving descriptions, and stating main ideas
Applying
Solve problems to new situations by applying acquired knowledge, facts,
techniques and rules in a different way.
Analyzing
Examine and break information into parts by identifying motives or causes. Make
inferences and find evidence to support generalizations.
Evaluating
Present and defend opinions by making judgments about information, validity
of ideas, or quality of work based on a set of criteria.
Creating
Compile information together in a different way by combining elements in a new
pattern or proposing alternative solutions.
FIRST THREE LEVELS OF
THINKING
Asking intelligent questions leads to a better
understanding of events and ideas. Note that
this is a key factor in thinking critically. Acquiring
this skill already starts with the first three levels
of the revised taxonomy.
In the summer before Pia became a Grade 11 student,
she decided to volunteer in a non-government
organization which ran a shelter for street children.
During her orientation, she was told to report incidents
of street children engaging in illicit activities. One day,
she found one of the children who used to go to shelter
picking pockets in the market, so she went to talk to
him. He said that his father threatened to beat him up if
he will not hand enough money by the end of the day.
1.What did Pia do during summer?
Answering the question required to you recall the
information you just read. This is remembering it involves
the retrieval, recognition and recalling of information.
Remember by asking questions which aim to define,
memorize or state information.
2. What can you say about the
situation of the street child?
To answer this question, you have to draw your own
interpretation based on what you read. This is called
understanding. It refers to the construction of meaning
from verbal and nonverbal messages. Understanding
happens when asking questions which discuss, describe,
paraphrase or explain information.
3. If you were Pia, how would you approach the
incident of seeing one of the children?
You have to draw on the knowledge you learned to use it on
the situation; this is applying. Applying refers to the use and
implementation of knowledge in various situations. It happens
when you ask questions which demonstrate, solve or use
information.
HIGHER-ORDER THINKING
SKILLS
Critical thinking does not stop at the first three level but also
advances to the higher levels known as analyzing, evaluating
and creating respectively otherwise known as higher-order
thinking skills. Hence, once you reach the highest level of
thinking, you should be able to look at things from different
perspectives, decide without being manipulated by emotions,
and avoid biases and fallacies. Further, as a thinker, you should
also be able to let your imagination flourish and freely accept
ideas as they flow also distinguish facts from opinions and link
newly encountered information to previous knowledge.
Pia reported the incident regarding the street
child to her volunteer organization. They
contacted the proper authorities to help the
child and to apprehend his father. However, they
were told that it was already reported months
before, and that the authorities will look into the
issue once they have the time as they have
other priorities.
4. Based on the response of the
authorities, what inference can you
make regarding their treatment of the
case?
In answering, you have to examine the caused and make
inferences based on them. Analyzing focuses on breaking down
ideas into parts and relating these parts to one another. Analyze
by asking questions which compare, integrate or structure
information.
5. Is the reaction of the authorities
justified?
When thinking of your answer, weigh the pros and cons to
judge the action. This is called evaluating. It refers to
making judgments on the value and validity of ideas to
events. Evaluate by asking things which judge and test an
idea based on certain rules or standards.
6. How would you illustrate the
highlights of the events, including the
first part, through a four-panel comic
strip?
While making the comic strip, you have to synthesize the parts to
turn them into one output. This is known as creating. It involves
combining parts to form a well-designed whole.
Creating does not only mean making something concrete. You can
also ask questions which aim to produce, design or construct new
information or ideas.
Once you are able to think using these levels, you
can apply them in academic and real-life settings. For
instance, when confronted with a problem, start by
describing it, identify its causes effects, the people
involved, and how it occurred. Explore and analyze
possible solutions and evaluate and feasibility of
each. Choose the best solution and plan how to apply
it. After that, excuse your plan and evaluate its
effectiveness.
QUALITIES OF A CRITICAL THINKER
Someone who thinks critically is inquisitive; he/she asks
genuine questions that lead to a better understanding of
things and events. He/she does not pretend to know
more than what he/she actually knows. Moreover, by
analyzing and evaluating, a critical thinker does not
settle for a superficial level of interpretation. Instead,
he/she investigates and digs deeper.
IMPORTANCE OF CRITICAL
THINKING
In the area of reading, critical thinking makes you
recognize different texts and react to them
intelligently. It enables you to analyze written
works, comprehend the message they convey, and
apply the message in real life. Evaluating texts
critically also allows your to maximize the learning
experience that reading provides. This also leads
to a better understanding and enjoyment of the
texts that you read.
In terms of writing, a critical approach provides
you with the skills to create well-written texts. By
knowing how to analyze and evaluate, you can
write with a clear purpose and position. Through
critical thinking, you can distinguish good and bad
sources and know which information to use. This
leads to the production of good texts with reliable
and insightful content.
