Critical Thinking

• Non-Critical Thinking


  • Happens when one accepts the things they are told without examining anything
  • Also happens when one is driven by emotions, often resulting in the construction of thoughts based on irrelevant feelings
  • Leads people to jump to conclusions without proof or evidence
• Critical Thinking


  Involves a series of complex thought processes that allow one to make reasoned judgments, assess the way one thinks, and solve problems effectively
• Proponent of the Bloom's Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain

  Benjamin Bloom, 1956
• Bloom's Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain


  • A system that classifies the levels of thinking created to promote higher levels of thinking
  • Composed of six levels which follow a successive pattern
  • To proceed to the next level, the current level must be followed first
  • Divided into two parts: lower and higher-order thinking
  • Revised by Bloom's student
• 1st Model of Bloom's Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain

  • Evaluation
  • Synthesis
  • Analysis
  • Application
  • Comprehension
  • Knowledge
• 2nd Model of Bloom's Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain

  • Creating
  • Evaluating
  • Analyzing
  • Applying
  • Understanding
  • Remembering
• Lower Order Thinking Skills

  • Applying
  • Understanding
  • Remembering
• Remembering


  • Retrieval, recognition, and information recollection
  • Asking questions that aim to define, memorize, or state information
• Understanding


  • Draw interpretation based on what's read
  • Construction of meaning from non-verbal and verbal messages
  • Asking questions that discuss, describe, paraphrase, and explain
• Applying


  Draw on the knowledge learned and use it in the situation
• Higher Order Thinking Skills


  Once this level is reached, you should be able to see things from a different perspective, decide without being overpowered by emotions, avoid biases and fallacies, and distinguish fact from opinion
• Higher Order Thinking Skills

  • Creating
  • Evaluating
  • Analyzing
• Analyzing


  • Examining the cause and making inferences
  • Breaking down ideas and relating them from one part to another
  • Asking to compare and contrast questions, integrating or structuring information
• Evaluating


  • Weighing the pros and cons
  • Making a judgment on the value and validity of ideas and events
  • Evaluating by asking things and testing the ideas
• Creating


  • Combining parts to form
  • Questions abruptly about the whole situation