A Compendium of
Learning and Teaching Strategies for College
Student Pathway
Criteria for Good Critical Thinking.
People who are skilled in critical thinking are able to
*separate facts from personal perspectives and assumptions.
*see patterns in information that has been collected from various sources.
*think logically and avoid fallacious reasoning.
*take the perspective of those who oppose them.
*make convincing arguments for or against a particular claim.
Bassham et al. (2019) discuss eight criteria for strong critical thinking (called 'standards' by these authors). If you are involved in writing an essay or giving a presentation in class, you can ask yourself if your arguments meet these criteria. Again, you will develop your ability to address these criteria over time, that is, throughout your college years and beyond.
*Clarity (Arguments should be presented in language that is clear.)
*Precision ( Claims and the premises that support them should be stated with exactness to the greatest extent possible )
*Accuracy ( Your reasoning should be based on information that is true, timely and accurate)
*Relevance (In the context of an argument, the statements you make should be relevant. Be on the look out for irrelevant statements that are designed to distract you from the argument at hand.)
*Consistency ( Avoid making two claims which cannot both be true at the same time.)
*Logical correctness. (See the next section on Impediments to Good Thinking.)
*Completeness ( The best thinking is thorough and not superficial.)
*Fairness ( Your thinking should be open-minded and avoid personal dispositions discussed in the section on Impediments to Good Thinking.)