The Vocabulary of Critical Thinking


Book Description

The Vocabulary of Critical Thinking takes an innovative, practical, and accessible approach to teaching critical thinking and reasoning skills. With the underlying notion that a good way to practice fundamental reasoning skills is to learn to name them, the text explores one hundred and eightwords that are important to know and employ within any discipline. These words are about comparing, generalizing, explaining, inferring, judging sources, evaluating, referring, assuming, and creating - actions used to assess relationships and arguments - and the words are grouped according to theseand other concepts essential to critical thinking. Featuring five or more words and an introduction on how they are related, each chapter is organized into three parts. Part I includes definitions of the words, brief examples of their use, and a matching exercise. To further contextualize the words,Part II, Understanding the Meaning, provides numerous real-world examples, with commentary, of the words in use. Finally, Part III, Applying the Words, offers opportunities to employ the words in exercises and writing tasks, further enhancing understanding and providing practice of the associatedcritical thinking skills. Questions also appear throughout the chapters to encourage reflection and to highlight important points. Thirty-five photographs and illustrations additionally enrich the text.The book is an ideal text for critical thinking and reasoning courses as well as a variety of courses that prepare students to succeed in college: Freshman Orientation, Developing Study Skills, etc.




Uncovering the Logic of English: A Common-Sense Solution to America's Literacy Crisis


Book Description

"English is so illogical!" It is generally believed that English is a language of exceptions. For many, learning to spell and read is frustrating. For some, it is impossible... especially for the 29% of Americans who are functionally illiterate. But what if the problem is not the language itself, but the rules we were taught? What if we could see the complexity of English as a powerful tool rather than a hindrance? --Denise Eide Uncovering the Logic of English challenges the notion that English is illogical by systematically explaining English spelling and answering questions like "Why is there a silent final E in have, large, and house?" and "Why is discussion spelled with -sion rather than -tion?" With easy-to-read examples and anecdotes, this book describes: - the phonograms and spelling rules which explain 98% of English words - how English words are formed and how this knowledge can revolutionize vocabulary development - how understanding the reasons behind English spelling prevents students from needing to guess The author's inspiring commentary makes a compelling case that understanding the logic of English could transform literacy education and help solve America's literacy crisis. Thorough and filled with the latest linguistic and reading research, Uncovering the Logic of English demonstrates why this systematic approach should be as foundational to our education as 1+1=2.







Anthem Critical Thinking and Writing Skills


Book Description

'Anthem Critical Thinking and Writing Skills: An Introductory Guide' helps readers in the process of critical thinking and persuasive speaking and writing. The concepts of critical thinking and evaluation are presented in a clear, easy-to-understand format. Students learn how to form a proposition, identify issues, gather evidence, and process an argument. Logic games, puzzles, and real life examples ask students to evaluate how we evaluate, analyze, and decide. Then a more formal look at induction and deduction challenges students to practice higher-level thinking skills, such as the use of analogies for evaluation, and working through syllogisms to process ideas. Instruction is included on processing a formal persuasive paper. Readers can have some literary logic fun by analyzing old standards like 'Love is a Fallacy' and the persuasive love poem 'The Passionate Shepherd'. Short chapters and clear practice exercises make the book easy to use as a basic or supplemental text.




Analogies for Critical Thinking Grade 5


Book Description

Approach analogies as puzzles. To solve them, students need to use cognitive processes and critical-thinking skills. These exercises present word and/or picture relationships in several different ways. The goal is to develop skills in visual imagery, reading comprehension, vocabulary development, reasoning and test-taking.




Building Thinking Skills: (MP 52.01)


Book Description

Provides an ... effective tool for implementing analysis skills ... necessary for success in all academic disciplines.




Critical Thinking in ELT


Book Description

COMING SOON! Through accessible examples from their own experiences in the classroom, Paul Dummett and John Hughes provide English language teachers with practical ways to incorporate critical thinking into every class. Dummett and Hughes define critical thinking for English language teaching and demonstrate how challenging young adult and adult learners at all levels to think both critically and creatively develops learner autonomy, increases learner motivation, and promotes authentic communication.




The Thinker's Guide to Engineering Reasoning


Book Description

The Thinker’s Guide to Engineering Reasoningapplies critical thinking concepts to the field of engineering. Students and professionals across engineering will find their analytical abilities enhanced by the engaging authoritative framework set forth by Richard Paul and Linda Elder. For engineers to properly reason through engineering projects requires strong analytic skills. The best engineers are clear about their purposes, gather sufficient information, and develop innovations. This requires critical reasoning and this guide offers tools essential to this process. As part of the Thinker’s Guide Library, this book advances the mission of the Foundation for Critical Thinking to promote fairminded critical societies through cultivating essential intellectual abilities and virtues within every field of study across the world.




Critical Thinking


Book Description

Through the use of humour, fun exercises, and a plethora of innovative and interesting selections from writers such as Dave Barry, Al Franken, J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as from the film 'The Matrix', this text hones students' critical thinking skills.




Models for Critical Thinking


Book Description

Stay alert and avoid being tricked. Apply logic and analysis to your everyday life. Detect hidden assumptions, spot inconsistencies, and recognize dishonesty. The quality of our lives is determined by the quality of our thinking. And the quality of our thinking is often determined by the quality questions we ask from ourselves.Critical thinking is the art of asking relevant, necessary, and meaningful questions to discover the objective truth behind words, events, and opinions in general. Today we have more access to information than ever before. Information influences our world view and decisions often without us noticing it. Following wrong idols can lead us to bad decisions which lead to unhappiness and a dissatisfying life. When what's "right, beautiful, successful, and cool" gets dictated around us we often forget to think for ourselves and make our own choices. Thus we make bad decisions based on the opinion of others - not even our own. Who should make your life choices for you? You've put your own thoughts, wishes, and opinions off for too long. It's time for that to change. Models for Critical Thinking provides you with unique insights into the nature of thinking and reasoning - why are we often so wrong, why we are so inclined to avoid the responsibility of thinking for ourselves, and how can we develop solid, objective patterns of thought. This book is a guide for the notoriously "trusting," "overwhelmed," and "gullible". It is a deep psychological dive into what makes us stop thinking for ourselves, and how to systematically combat those compulsions. It's a book that stands apart from others because of the plethora of real-life examples, studies, and solutions. If you wish to add to your critical thinking toolkit, you'll find the step-by-step answer in here. Models for Critical Thinking lays out: - The function of critical thinking and its main obstacles. - The varied elements of critical reasoning. - Important abilities and traits of critical thinkers. - The vocabulary of critical analysis, - The models essential to critical thinking. The most secure way of making good decisions is to have well-practiced and predictable strategies that you can use when you are faced with a problem that requires deeper analysis. This book will provide you with helpful exercises and tips to help you can find better solutions to your problems. - Learn the essential critical thinking skills when reading, writing, and speaking; - Be on your guard for hidden cognitive traps when shopping and interacting with advertisers. - Discover the tools and strategies can help you become a more disciplined thinker, developing your analytical, reasoning, and reflective thinking skills. Be ready to learn. Be ready to argue intellectually. - Learn to read between the lines and assess the validity of statements. - Identify and separate logical and illogical reasoning. - Learn how to construct a fair, well-reasoned argument with the help of formal and informal logic. As a physicist and computer scientist, I was always looking for logical, well-founded answers to questions. Yet, I needed to stay open to question my knowledge fairly often, revise my beliefs held, and unlearn some.