Critical

Thinking and Reading

Critical Thinking

• Complete Thinking, or Whole Thinking

• A process of problem solving

Terms

Culture

• A process of beliefs and values

• A process is a network of connected

actions that lead to a result. Can be taken

apart so we can examine the parts

• Beliefs– those things held to be true

• Values– those things held to be important

Terms

Enculturation

• A process of internalizing cultural values

and norms

• Occurs all the time by just being a member

of society

• Usually happens unconsciously unless we

experience major cultural change

Terms

Assimilation

• The process of individuals creating cultural

change

• Opposite of enculturation

• Usually happens very slowly. When

happens quickly it is cataclysmic

Terms

Stereotype

• A thought process of equating new

information with old, similar information

• Derived from Latin: stereo=two, type=picture

• The ability to categorize new information with

old and draw a similar equation is essential to

what it means to be human, but when it

prevents critical thinking, can become

problematic

TermsCultural Myth

• An accepted answer for the unknown

• Every culture has answers for the

unknown, as no matter how much we may

try to scientifically isolate them, our

perceptions are colored by culture

• In other words, every belief is based-on or

a reaction to a previous belief

Terms

Assumption

• An unquestioned cultural myth

• Some answers may not need questioned,

like “Is the floor under my feet really

there?” Others can be dangerous when

unquestioned, like “All teenagers drink; it’s

part of growing-up.”

Critical Thinking

• Q: If our brains are prewired for

assumption and stereotyping, then what

can we do in order to insure the best

results in problem solving and see past

our cultural roots so learning can happen?

• A: Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking

Ask Questions

• The first step of any critical thinking

process is to ask a question

• Think of the scientific method you learned

in junior high. Without a question there can

be no hypothesis, and, therefore, nothing

to test

Critical Thinking

Dig for deeper meaning

• We often take answers at face value

(assumption). Those accepted answers may

falter or be held true under further inspection,

but we don’t know until we try

• Many accepted scientific answers later falter

under further scrutiny. We often just don’t have

the methodology for further observation at one

point but can later with advanced technology or

learning

Critical Thinking

Make stereotyping work for you

• Learn to recognize stereotyping in not only

others arguments but your own as well.

• Use categorization and classification to help you

learn. For example, when you see the word

“culture” in the notes, don’t just passively accept

that it is in the notes. Think about how you have

seen the word used before. Is our definition

similar? Different? Why? This process is vital to

learning. Without it you are just consuming

Critical Thinking

Look for contradictions

• Both between one source and another and in what

a source claims versus how the source actually

acts.

• For example, after the 2010 elections one particular

politician who ran on a platform of repealing the

national healthcare law in turn became irritated

when going-through the process of becoming a

new representative because he had to wait a month

for his congressional healthcare benefits to kick-in

Critical Thinking

Draw informed conclusions

• Critical thinking is not sitting on the fence

or just questioning everything just to be

irritating. The point is to arrive at a

conclusion, but that conclusion must be

informed and open to further inspection

Critical Reading

Critical reading is an active process, as

opposed that most adults read, which is

passive.

• Like all good academic processes, can be

broken into 3 main parts, one in which one

previews the information, the second in

which one actually works with the info, and

the third in which the learning situation is

reviewed

Critical Reading

The Three Main Steps

• Preread

• Read

• Review (or reread)

Critical Reading

Preading

• The main point of prereading is to get a

good idea what the “big picture” is before

actually reading

• Can help that lost feeling of rereading the

same info over and over and not

understanding it, as often when this

happens the reader is getting lost in the

details

Critical Reading

Prereading: the main steps

• Find publication information

– Doing so can help give a good idea of what

the reading is about before you start

– Look for title, author, publication date,

publication name (if an article), and summary

or abstract

Critical Reading

Prereading: the main steps

• Skim

– Skim the text with a pencil in hand

– Underline the main point (thesis), key words,

and anything that confuses you even at first

glance

Critical Reading

Prereading: the main steps

• Ask Questions

– Write down any questions you have while

skimming. This may be things like how is a

concept going to be used or what the authors

stance is on an issue

– In textbooks, look for questions in a review

section or assignments. These can give you a

great idea of what to look for when reading and

will help you prepare for later assignments

Critical Reading

Read

• Once again, with a pencil in hand

– Make annotations (short notes or summaries)

as you read.

– Underline key info. If you find that you are

underlining more than about 10% you are

probably underlining too much

Critical Reading

Read

• Look for connections as you read (see

critical thinking)

• Find the answers to your written questions

– The point is to make reading active, not just

passively running your eyes over a text and

thinking you have, in some abstract fashion,

read the text. We read to find info, so find that

info!

Critical Reading

Review

• The main point of reviewing is to move

information from short-term to long-term

memory

• Best if done within 24 hours of reading.

Studies show that most students retain

about 50% of what they just read, but after

24 hours we lose 80% of what we

remembered– that only leaves 10%!

Critical Reading

Review– some methods

• Summarize– write in paragraph form, then

compare your summary to the reading and fill-in

any holes

Critical Reading

Review– some methods

• Brainstorm– make a quick list of everything you

remember

– Set your limit longer than you think you can actually

do. If you think you may know 10 terms, make your

goal 15 or even 20

– Must learn to tolerate discomfort. The first few things

you write-down you already knew. When you force

yourself to gut-it-out and keep going, that is when real

learning happens

– Try brainstorming in teams

Critical Reading

Review– some methods

• Mind maps

– Essentially the same as brainstorming, but

place items on page in relevance to each

other, not a list, then draw lines connecting

related ideas

– Use these connections to help spark info you

may be overlooking

Critical Reading

Review– some methods

• Journaling– Reader’s journal– a place to keep all your review

material

– Different than a diary, which is a place to put your

personal observations about your life

– Freewrite– set a time or page limit and just write on

the topic. If you get stuck, write “I don’t know what to

write.” until you get unstuck. Later, review. The point

is to make connections– see where your brain took

you when you let the creative side take-over

Critical ReadingIs this too much?• Often students will respond that the critical reading process is

just too much. We have limited schedules, how can we do all

of this?

• Conceder the amount of time wasted rereading texts or the

money wasted by not getting the full investment out of your

education

• Don’t do all the steps at once– manage your time. Learning

actually happens better in little chunks

• Make the process work for you– in certain texts you may be

able to just skim and review. In some classes you may find

that the other coursework serves as most of your review

Bibliography• Want to know more about critical thinking and reading?

Barnet, Sylvan and Hugo Bedau. “Critical Thinking” From Critical Thinking to Argument: A Portable Guide 3rd ed.

Boston: Bedford, 2011.

“Critical Analysis” Students’ Gateway to Campus 11 March 2011, Deakin University,13 March 2012. Web

“Developing Critical Thinking” Emerald: Research You Can Use. 13 March 2012. Web.

Gokhale, Anuradha, A. “Collabrative Learning Enhances Critical Thinking” Journal of Technology Education 7.1

(Fall 1995), Virginia Tech Digital Library and Archives, 13 March 2012. Web.

Troyka, Lynn Quitman and Douglas Hesse. “Thinking Like a Writer” Quick Access: Reference for Writers 6th ed.

Upper Saddle River NJ: Prentice Hall, 2009.