Critical Thinking: Ideal Candidates for Critical and Creative Thinkers - Lecture Notes Ten | Lecture notes Logic

Oklahoma State University – Oklahoma City

Critical Thinking

Lecture Notes Ten

PHIL 1313

Fall 2022

Contents: Ideal Candidates for Critical and Creative Thinkers

Lecture Notes Ten

A key process of critical and creative thinking, is that of idea generation. Black (2005) refers to this as

productive thinking, where the thinker engages in activities encouraging the divergent process of taking

previously acquired knowledge, simple ideas, and new information, and transforming those ideas into

something that can be applied to a new situation or problem. The process of idea generation is

supported by thinkers exhibiting skills such as fluency of ideas, originality of thought, and flexibility in

thinking (see Table 1).

Fluent or prolific thinking refers to the thinkers’ ability to generate a multitude of ideas and concepts.

This skill can be encouraged and strengthened through activities involving brainstorming and

conceptualization of ideas. Brainstorming allows students time to define and record as many possible

solutions or ideas related to a topic as possible, while conceptualizing involves the use of a variety of

methods to verbalize or represent ideas. Conceptualizing could include 2D and 3D representations,

verbal or symbolic conceptualization, movement, or other forms of representation relevant to the

context.

In addition to generating a multitude of ideas, thinkers must also generate ideas that are unique and

novel. As such, key skills of the idea generation process of critical and creative thinking are producing

ideas that are original and flexible. The concept of originality is demonstrated through the generation of

ideas that are different, innovative, and unique. In order for a thinker to engage in the process of

generating original ideas, he or she must also possess the ability to remain flexible and open-minded

(Elder & Paul, 2002; Marzano et al., 1988; Meyers, 1986; Sternberg & Baron, 1985). Flexibility, in this

case, involves the thinkers’ ability to think beyond the scope of what is already known and apparent and

begin to develop their own ideas through consideration of other perspectives and methods of analysis.

In being flexible, thinkers not only consider multiple perspectives, but use those perspectives as they

develop their own arguments.

Original and flexible work can be accomplished through activities that encourage thinkers to generate

ideas both by considering existing ideas and by establishing relationships among previously and newly

acquired concepts. In order to determine these relationships, critical and creative thinkers engage in

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Oklahoma State University – Oklahoma City Critical Thinking Lecture Notes Ten PHIL 1313 Fall 2022 Contents: Ideal Candidates for Critical and Creative Thinkers Lecture Notes Ten A key process of critical and creative thinking, is that of idea generation. Black (2005) refers to this as productive thinking, where the thinker engages in activities encouraging the divergent process of taking previously acquired knowledge, simple ideas, and new information, and transforming those ideas into something that can be applied to a new situation or problem. The process of idea generation is supported by thinkers exhibiting skills such as fluency of ideas, originality of thought, and flexibility in thinking (see Table 1). Fluent or prolific thinking refers to the thinkers’ ability to generate a multitude of ideas and concepts. This skill can be encouraged and strengthened through activities involving brainstorming and conceptualization of ideas. Brainstorming allows students time to define and record as many possible solutions or ideas related to a topic as possible, while conceptualizing involves the use of a variety of methods to verbalize or represent ideas. Conceptualizing could include 2D and 3D representations, verbal or symbolic conceptualization, movement, or other forms of representation relevant to the context. In addition to generating a multitude of ideas, thinkers must also generate ideas that are unique and novel. As such, key skills of the idea generation process of critical and creative thinking are producing ideas that are original and flexible. The concept of originality is demonstrated through the generation of ideas that are different, innovative, and unique. In order for a thinker to engage in the process of generating original ideas, he or she must also possess the ability to remain flexible and open-minded (Elder & Paul, 2002; Marzano et al., 1988; Meyers, 1986; Sternberg & Baron, 1985). Flexibility, in this case, involves the thinkers’ ability to think beyond the scope of what is already known and apparent and begin to develop their own ideas through consideration of other perspectives and methods of analysis. In being flexible, thinkers not only consider multiple perspectives, but use those perspectives as they develop their own arguments. Original and flexible work can be accomplished through activities that encourage thinkers to generate ideas both by considering existing ideas and by establishing relationships among previously and newly acquired concepts. In order to determine these relationships, critical and creative thinkers engage in

Oklahoma State University – Oklahoma City Critical Thinking Lecture Notes Ten PHIL 1313 Fall 2022 Contents: Ideal Candidates for Critical and Creative Thinkers exploring, thinking through analogies and metaphors, examining ideas in new ways, observing, elaborating, inferring, extrapolating, and generating remote associations. REFLECTIVE JUDGMENT In the reflective judgment component of critical and creative thinking, thinkers move through a convergent process of evaluating ideas and selecting a structured plan or solution based on the multitude of previously generated ideas. As they engage in reflective judgment, thinkers not only evaluate and select ideas from those generated through personal knowledge and experience, but also in the consideration of ideas gained through analysis and evaluation of other thinkers’ ideas and resources. By combining such ideas, thinkers will determine the best and most feasible plan to pursue. As shown in Table 2, the primary skills involved in reflective judgment are analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. As thinkers analyze knowledge and information, they work to break down information to determine relationships among elemental parts. This analytical process helps the thinker to develop the idea or concept, and occurs through activities involving questioning to seek clarity, separating information into relevant and irrelevant components, and relating to determine how ideas are associated. Once relationships are determined, thinkers work to synthesize the information in order to draw conclusions. The synthesis process occurs through activities involving organizing information based on connections, interpreting to draw meaning from information, summarizing through combining information, and/or generating hypotheses that can be tested or used for explanatory purposes. For thinkers to express themselves at this point, they also engage in a process of composing which involves creating some form of visual or auditory representation of the information. This practice of composition helps thinkers support and justify their synthesis of information and increases the validity of their thoughts and ideas.

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