Study Skills for Master's Level Students, revised edition. Sally Hayes Tyler

to consider the differences between pure problem-solving and critical thinking. Critical thinking may be part of the process of problem-solving but may not lead to a solution. To the critical thinker, assumptions about the outcome do not exist; therefore problem-solving follows a different process. Facione et al. (1994) summarise this by suggesting that critical thinking is ultimately a cognitive engine that drives problem-solving and decision-making.

      Therefore, if we accept Dewey’s definition, critical thinking is essentially about evaluating the worth, accuracy or authenticity of something through a critical review of the evidence. This is likely to lead to a supportable decision or direction for action.

      More recent definitions of what critical thinking is echo Dewey’s definition and include:

      Critical thinking is not one single way of thinking, but rather it is multi-dimensional cognitive process. It demands a skilful application of knowledge and experience in making discriminating judgements and evaluations.

      (Jones and Brown, 1991, p. 530)

      And:

      the rational examination of ideas, inferences, principles, arguments, conclusions, issues, structures, beliefs and actions.

      (Bandman and Bandman, 1995, p. 7)

      Bandman and Bandman (1995) add a qualifying statement to their definition in which they say that critical thinkers are also self-aware and sympathetic to others. They need to be open-minded in that there needs to be a willingness to respect the rights of others to hold different opinions. This is interesting because it adds a human dimension to the definition. This makes sense if we consider that to think critically means the individual must be aware of the problems of bias or incomplete reasoning. If we are to be logical, we must therefore recognise our own biases and engage in some critique of our own reasoning processes. In this way there is an element of being self-regulatory by monitoring one’s own thinking.

ACTIVITY

      Have a look at some of the wider literature on critical thinking and review some of the definitions. Are there any emerging themes or commonalities?

      The diverse and differing number of definitions may seem daunting initially. However, it is worth considering what the different definitions have in common. Daly (2001) has suggested that there are four fundamental constituents of critical thinking and these provide a useful starting point for understanding what it means. They are:

•		a pre-requisite knowledge base;
•		a series of intellectual skills;
•		a disposition to use both knowledge and skills in scrutinising and evaluating information;
•		a series of intellectual standards to which such thinking should conform.

      (Daly, 2001, p. 121)

ACTIVITY

      Refer back to the broad learning outcomes of postgraduate study specified by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) reported at the beginning of this chapter. How do they match up with Daly’s ‘fundamental constituents’ of critical thinking?

      The first constituent of critical thinking suggested by Daly, a pre-requisite knowledge base, needs little comment as it is clearly essential to have a fundamental understanding of a subject in order that meaningful connections can be made between new and existing knowledge cumulatively.The third constituent, the disposition to use knowledge and skills, bringing a critical dimension to all aspects of life – in other words, becoming aware of fallacious arguments, ambiguity, and manipulative reasoning – has already been discussed. However, both the second and final constituents – what intellectual skills are required of the critical thinker and the intellectual standards that critical thinkers must adhere to – require some further exploration.

      Intellectual skills exhibited by the critical thinker

ACTIVITY

      List five intellectual skills that you think the critical thinker should exhibit.

      Facione et al. (1994) postulated that if a specific attitude or disposition towards critical thinking is not evident, then the critical thinking skills will not be used. To this end, Facione developed a tool for measuring an individual’s disposition to critical thinking. This is known as the Californian Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory and has been used quite widely in research to assess critical thinking disposition (Shin et al., 2006). The inventory focuses on the key attributes:

•		open-mindedness;
•		inquisitiveness;
•		truth-seeking;
•		analyticity;
•		systematicity;
•		self-confidence;
•		maturity of judgement.

      These are interesting personal characteristics that you might want to consider in terms of self-evaluation and your own disposition towards using critical thinking skills. However, for a more specific skills-based list of the skills themselves, it might be useful to look to educational theory and, in particular, to the work of Bloom.