Seven Definitions/Models of Critical Thinking
CASSL Colloquium:
Energizing Critical Thinking in Community College
Fall 2012
I.
Bloom, B.S. and Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational
Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals, by a committee of
college and university examiners. Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. NY, NY:
Longmans, Green.
Kinds of Critical Thinking: Bloom's Taxonomy
In addition to familiarizing students with the elements of critical thinking, we will also want them
to engage in a variety of kinds of critical thinking. Again, "kinds of critical thinking" have been
categorized differently by different learning theorists. But one of the most influential of the critical
thinking models is Bloom's Taxonomy of Higher Thinking. Bloom categorized thinking into the
following six processes:
Knowledge: To know something means to have a fact or bit of information at your
disposal. One can "know" something without understanding it or being able to put it into
a higher context. For example, we might know that the theory of relativity is E=MC2
without having any idea at all what this equation actually means.
Comprehension: To comprehend a fact or piece of information is to understand what it
means. For example, we might understand that E=MC2 actually refers to a formula
that...
Application: To apply information means to find some practical use for it. In other
words, to what use can we put Einstein's theory of relativity? What other ideas does it
help us to understand?
Analysis: To analyze means to break information down into the sum of its parts and to
see how those parts work together. Returning to Einstein’s theory, we need to
understand Energy, and Mass, and Speed of Light, and how they all work together
before we can understand precisely how and if the theory works.
Synthesis: To synthesize means to take the knowledge you have and connect it with
other knowledge. For example, how can we understand the theory of relativity in
relationship to other theories?
Evaluation: To evaluate means to be able to judge. Is information good or bad? Sound
or unsound? We might ask these questions of the theory of relativity, its applications,
and so on. And evaluation is to be able to judge it for good or for bad: is the theory of
relativity a good theory (meaning a "sound" theory)? Have its applications also been
good? And so on.
All of this is important because, according to Bloom, students must master one level of thinking
before they can move on to the next. We can't expect our students to evaluate knowledge if we
haven't first required them to understand it, apply it, analyze it, and so on. Courses that employ
critical thinking pedagogy take Bloom's theory into account, giving students practice in some of
the "lower" critical thinking skills before moving them on to the more difficult tasks of the higher
thinking processes.
Taken From:
URL: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~compose/faculty/pedagogies/thinking.html#bloom
Site URL: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~compose/faculty/pedagogies/thinking.html
II. Paul, R. and Elder, L. (2010). The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts
and Tools. Dillon Beach: Foundation for Critical Thinking Press.
According to Paul and Elder (1997), there are two essential dimensions of thinking that
students need to master in order to learn how to upgrade their thinking. They need to be
able to identify the "parts" of their thinking, and they need to be able to assess their use
of these parts of thinking.
Elements of Thought (reasoning)
The “parts” or elements of thinking are as follows:
1. All reasoning has a PURPOSE
2. All reasoning is an attempt to FIGURE SOMETHING OUT, TO SETTLE SOME
QUESTION, TO SOLVE SOME PROBLEM
3. All reasoning is based on ASSUMPTIONS
4. All reasoning is done from some POINT OF VIEW
5. All reasoning is based on DATA, INFORMATION and EVIDENCE
6. All reasoning is expressed through, and shaped by, CONCEPTS and IDEAS
7. All reasoning contains INFERENCES or INTERPRETATIONS by which we draw
CONCLUSIONS and give meaning to data
8. All reasoning leads somewhere or has IMPLICATIONS and CONSEQUENCES
III. Stoner, M. (2000). “I never thought like this before!” Apprenticing critical thinking.
Retrieved 8/11/2012 http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/stonerm/ApprenticeCTEssay.htm.
This essay explains the necessity for thinking in multiple ways about any topic in order to
facilitate well-grounded observations. The essay outlines four kinds of critical thinking:
observation, analysis, synthesis, evaluation.
IV. Ellis, J. (2012) thethinkerblog.com
I begin by recognizing that critical thinking involves certain cognitive skills, various
characteristic habits, and specific values or commitments, as well as the
relationships between these things. For the mathematically inclined, we could formally
define critical thinking using set theory notation as:
CT = { {S}, {H}, {V}, {R} }
Seven Models/Definitions of Critical Thinking
Compiled for the CASSL Colloquium Fall 2012
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where {S} is a set of cognitive skills, {H} is a set of characteristic habits, {V} is a set of
values/commitments, and {R} is a set of relationships among the various elements in
{S}, {H}, and {V}.
V. William Graham Sumner, 1906
http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/critical-societies-thoughts-from-the-past/762:
The critical habit of thought, if usual in society, will pervade all its mores, because it is a way of
taking up the problems of life. Men educated in it cannot be stampeded by stump orators...
They are slow to believe. They can hold things as possible or probable in all degrees, without
certainty and without pain. They can wait for evidence and weigh evidence, uninfluenced by the
emphasis or confidence with which assertions are made on one side or the other. They can
resist appeals to their dearest prejudices and all kinds of cajolery. Education in the critical
faculty is the only education of which it can be truly said that it makes good citizens.
VI. AAC&U Critical Thinking Value Rubric
http://www.aacu.org/value/rubrics/CriticalThinking.cfm
Critical thinking is a habit of mind characterized by the comprehensive exploration of issues,
ideas, artifacts, and events before accepting or formulating an opinion or conclusion
VII. American Philosophical Association's Delphi Research Report, 1990
http://www.insightassessment.com/CT-Resources/Expert-Consensus-on-CriticalThinking
Consensus statement regarding critical thinking and the ideal critical thinker:
"We understand critical thinking to be purposeful, self-regulatory judgment that results in
interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential,
conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which that
judgment is based. …
The critical thinking skills and dispositions outlined in the executive summary
include:
1. Interpretation - To comprehend and express the meaning or significance of …
2. Analysis - To identify the intended and actual inferential relationships among…
3. Evaluation - To assess the credibility of statements or other representations ….
4. Inference - To identify and secure elements needed to draw reasonable conclusions…
5. Explanation - To state the results of one's reasoning; to justify that reasoning in terms …
6. Self-Regulation - Self-consciously to monitor one's cognitive activities ….
Seven Models/Definitions of Critical Thinking
Compiled for the CASSL Colloquium Fall 2012
Page 3