Critical Thinking

Everyone has opinions and beliefs.  What distinguishes sophisticated thinkers is their conclusions are informed, supported by cogent reasons and persuasive evidence.  The fact is that the reasoning process that one uses to reach conclusions is often more interesting than the conclusions themselves.  It is the effectiveness of this reasoning process which often helps determine our career and success in life itself.  Asking students to articulate their thinking and reasoning encourages awareness of their reasoning skills in themselves and allows them to consider ways by which to improve their process of reaching conclusions.