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Why Should Students Learn

Critical Thinking?

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g Learning and Life

The quality of your learning is affected by the

quality of your thinking about learning.

The quality of Thinking determines your course,

college and career choices

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g

Critical Thinking in Education

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g Write better essays

Any essay you write in college (excepting fiction,

descriptive narratives and poetry) is an

argumentative Essay

Writing a good argumentative essay demands the

ability to think Critically

It calls for an understanding of the different

patterns of reasoning and application of critical

thinking frameworks (your own, or frameworks

provided by others)

The recommended essay structures are based on

an understanding of the structure of

arguments/reasoning patterns

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g Better Communication

Critical Thinking results in clearer and well thought

out positions on issues

You will find your arguments in discussions –

verbal or written presented more cogently and well

structured – resulting in better communication

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g Deeper learning

Knowledge of Critical Thinking makes it

instinctive for you to apply it while:

◦ Reading

◦ Writing

◦ Or discussing

Your learning is active – as against passive

absorption of material without thought

This results in deeper learning – as you understand

and internalize not only the ‘What’ but also the

‘How’ and ‘Why’ of any subject matter you learn

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g Make better decisions

Throughout school, and more so in college you are taking decisions:

◦ What subjects to major in

◦ Which college to opt for

◦ What career(s) you intend to pursue

Formal training in Critical Thinking helps you:

◦ Examine the options, skills and decision variables from several angles

◦ And you also learn to critically evaluate tentative decisions for logic, evidence and likelihood of it being right for you

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gPerform Better at Competitive

exams GMAT and GRE have entire sections designed to

test your Critical Thinking Skills

Many business schools across the world have

entrance exams that test your critical Thinking skills

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gPerform better at Group

Discussions Group discussions involve discussing issues,

taking positions and defending/arguing them

Selectors evaluate performance based on the

relevance and cogency of your arguments – which

is nothing but output of your Critical Thinking ability

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gWrite better SOP’s and

Resume’s Resume’s are a statement of what you are and

what you have achieved in a particular format.

Knowledge of Critical Thinking helps you develop

Resume’s that are persuasive and relevant to the

jobs you are applying to

SOP (Statement of Purpose) is essentially an

argumentative essay that argues why you should

be selected for the course you are applying for. It is

a pure application of Critical Thinking.

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gBetter your chances of

employmentWall Street Journal Survey of Important skills for

employment

“When asked which skills new college graduates

needed to improve most, more than half of the

respondents to the question on The Wall Street

Journal's survey of 479 college recruiters amed

some combination of critical thinking, problem

solving skills and the ability to think independently”

Interview questions are designed to test your Critical

Thinking Skills

Performance on the job is dependant on your Critical

Thinking skills

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g Role of Critical Thinking in

landing a job

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gEmployers want you to think

Critically Employers More Interested in Critical Thinking and

Problem Solving Than College Major

A National Survey of Business and Nonprofit

Leaders: Key Findings

Nearly all employers surveyed (93 percent) say

that “a demonstrated capacity to think critically,

communicate clearly, and solve complex problems

is more important than [a candidate’s]

undergraduate major.”

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gJob Interviews & Group

Discussions The questions asked during job interviews

primarily test student’s abilities to think critically

Performance in Group Discussions is judged

based on how pertinent and persuasive the

participants contributions are. Only a student

who thinks critically can be pertinent and

persuasive. Critical Thinking is about correct

reasoning and ability to examine a problem

from different perspectives.

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g Stays with you throughout life

Critical Thinking is a skill that once learnt, you

employ throughout your life – at work and in your

personal life

Critical Thinking helps you take more reasoned

decisions and prevents you from falling prey to

fallacies and ill-thought out decisions and beliefs.

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g Learn Critical Thinking

Learn Critical Thinking?

◦ Email:

prasad@criticalthinkingacademy.net

◦ URL: http://criticalthinkingacademy.net