Core Critical Thinking Skills Analysis

a) Evaluate the core critical thinking skills identified by the author (5%)

According to the author, Peter A Facione (2011) the core critical thinking skills are “interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation and self-regulation”. Critical thinking ability refers to the dimension as to how one is able to look at a certain situation and finding a solution to resolve that situation. Essentially, it facilitates the process to come up with the truth. Facione opined that a critical thinker is one who is inquisitive and possess mental eagerness.

• Interpretation
Facione (2011) citing experts explained that interpretation as being able to understand information that one obtains and it also involves the onward transmission of that

Facione further clarified that having a “critical spirit” is not synonymous with the fact that a person is being negative. On the contrary, he explained that the experts have used the phrase figuratively to describe a person who is inquisitive with a passion for learning the truth, and a sense of commitment to ensuring that there is always a basis for information to be disseminated and is curious regarding the reliability of the information.

Inculcating the critical spirit
Children attending kindergarten are usually between 4 and 6 years of age. At such a tender age, inculcating the critical spirit may not be easy. However, as the kindergarten curriculum is primarily focussed on the learning of basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic; elements of critical thinking could be subtly incorporated into the curriculum. For instance, as learning at kindergarten level is purely based on the play-and-learn concept, the teacher could introduce games that require some basic critical thinking skills. By this I mean games like the recognition of shapes and patterns, jigsaw puzzles could stimulate children to think. In addition, strategy games, such as draughts and chess could be introduced as part of the curriculum to assist in developing creativity, problem-solving and reasoning skills in children. Invariably, this should

Given this understanding such activities should be made components of the school curriculum to facilitate creative thinking among students. Essay writing, quizzes, elocution competitions and debates should also be actively promoted in schools. In preparing for elocution competitions and debates, students are compelled to do their own research on the topics they have to present – invariably, this will enhance their quest for information (knowledge), and contribute to improving their reasoning and critical thinking skills.

As for tertiary education, its curriculum should incorporate more assignments and projects involving some extent of research work to inculcate the “critical spirit”. By doing assignments and research work, students will be provided the opportunity to read extensively, do literature reviews and perform internet search to gather information in order to complete their papers for submission. Working on assignments and involvement in research work will contribute towards the development of critical thinking skills, as students are required to interpret analyse evaluate, explain and formulate