- Published: September 10, 2022
- Updated: September 10, 2022
- University / College: University of California, Irvine
- Language: English
- Downloads: 5
Critical thinking has often been misinterpreted as a matter of accumulation of information. However, this is not the case because critical thinking entails an individual’s ability to engage in independent, and reflective thinking. There exist a wider array of critical thinking skills, which include interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and self-regulation. As I reflect on my academic life, there are various situations when I have utilized these skills. The comprehensive platform whereby I have utilised these skills is during class discussions. During the class discussion, I have utilized interpretation, analysis, and evaluations skills in synthesizing information brought forward by my fellow students. This has allowed me to develop substantive comments pertaining the class discussions. With regards with the other critical skills; explanation, inference, and self-regulation, I have often utilized this skills in putting across my insights regarding the said class discussions.
A specific assignment whereby I utilised critical thinking skills was when I was given a class assignment to review a certain article. Precisely, the assignment required me to locate a peer-reviewed article from a reputable academic database discussing a controversial topic and review or critique it. Evaluation, interpretation, analysis, critical thinking skills were of the essence as I did this assignment. This is because I was expected to evaluate and interpret the article I chose in order to ascertain its credibility. With regards to analysis, the assignment required me to analyse the information in the article. After this, inference, explanation, and self-regulation allowed to offer my view and comment regarding the article I was reviewing. I had to continually infer to the article in making and explaining the content of the article, as well as when I was developing my opinion regarding the article. In terms of self-regulation skill, I had to regulate my thoughts to the topic addressed by the assigned article in order to come up with a substantive opinion of the article.