What’s the Best Way to Think About Problems?

Chapter Takeaways

• The ability to think critically and creatively is a key to success in college and in life, so it’s important to develop and practice these skills.
• Bloom’s taxonomy provides a framework to describe the many kinds of thinking we need to do.
• Critical thinking involves evaluating the strength of ideas or concepts by asking questions about them.
• Creative thinking is the process of generating new ideas, concepts, or solutions, often by adapting existing ideas or combining them in new ways to create a new solution.
• Problem solving is effectively achieved by applying both critical and creative thinking to generate viable solutions and decisions.
• While advice from experts is important to consider, it’s vital to evaluate that input and make our own decisions.

Questions

1. List the six levels of thinking described in Bloom’s taxonomy.

2. Which thinking skill is most important for short answer quizzes? Why?

3. List five verbs and describe which level of thought each one indicates.

4. What is critical thinking?

5. Why is it important to pose some questions about the source of the material you read? What kinds of questions should you ask?

6. List the four steps of problem solving.

7. How do you use critical thinking and creative thinking in solving problems?

Make an Action List

Two or more things I will do to practice my critical thinking include:

I will take those actions on or before this date:

Two or more things I will do to practice my creative thinking include:

I will take those actions on or before this date:

Two or more things I will do to practice my problem solving skills include:

I will take those actions on or before this date: