Critical Thinking: About critical thinking and how I applied in solving some questions

This article might be a bit long but really informative.

Picture from iStock Photo.

Our second class at GemMine was on Critical thinking. We had a guest speaker come speak to us about everything we needed to know about critical thinking. Mr. Japheth Dewe was our guest speaker and the session was an amazing one because he made sure he touched like everything on it.

Today, I will be writing on Critical Thinking. What it is all about, traits of a critical thinker and how to be a critical thinker. So let’s get right into it.

What is Critical Thinking?

During the session, Mr. Japheth Dewe started with a quote… “The greatness of a man is not in the sophistication of his packaging but in the quality of his thinking”. That’s actually deep, yeah?

Let’s start with what thinking is all about. Thinking is a process where you engage your mind in something, to solve things.

Now, what is Critical Thinking?

After the session with Mr. Japheth Dewe, we were left with links to two YouTube videos on critical thinking to go and watch more on it. And from those videos, we’re to solve an assignment given to us… After watching those videos, I got to know what critical thinking means.

Critical thinking roughly describes good thinking, clear thinking, a goal directed thinking, it’s a thinking that we would use when we’re solving a problem, making a decision. — Diane Halpern (Psychologist)

Critical thinking is all about asking the right questions. Questions that helps you assess both the meaning and the significance of claims and arguments.

Critical thinking involves stepping back from situations to analyze and have a clear understanding before jumping into conclusions or making decisions.

What are the traits of a Critical Thinker?

What are the things you would see or notice in a critical thinker. I would just mention few points that are easy to notice.

• They are very curious — Always asking questions about the littlest things and wanting to know more.
• They are great planners — Because they would have thought critically about things they want to do, they know how they’ll plan themselves to be productive and achieve their goals.
• They are problem solvers — Anywhere you notice a critical thinker, you’ll see that they will take their time to solve problems. They will think critically about it so that they make right decisions.
• They are not gullible.
• They reflect on things they do.

How to be a Critical Thinker.

You might say “oh, it wouldn’t be bad to be a critical thinker. I would be able to plan my day well and not be easily deceived by little things”. That’s very good… Here are some points to being a true critical thinker:

• Be balanced in your thinking.
• Be unbiased in your thinking.
• Ask a lot of questions — This will help you understand things better and make right decisions.
• Ask the “why” after knowing the “how” and “what” — Let’s say for example, a friend of yours walks up to you and says “I want to give you so so amount of money, send me your account details”. You did not ask that friend for the money, right? You have already known what your friend wants to give you and you also know how he wants to give it to you, but because you don’t know the reason behind that friend wanting to send you money, you ask th“why”… “Wait, why do you want to send me money ?” That way you know the why… So to be a good critical thinker you have to ask the “why”.
• Gather relevant information, not the wrong information — Using the friend sending you money as an example again. After you ask why he wants to send you money and then he answers “Nothing, I just feel like”. That’s an information but an irrelevant information. So you have not gathered any information with that response… But if he gives an answer like “Oh, John said he owes you so so amount and he told me to help him transfer it to you because he has some money with me”. Now that’s a relevant information and you have gathered the right information to why he wants to send you money.

What are the benefits of Critical Thinking? — Why you should be a critical thinker.

• Intellectual discipline.
• You won’t be easily deceived.
• You will be able to produce solutions to complex problems.
• You question the motive of every human and that will help you understand the psychology of human.
• You will make the right decisions to things.

5 Tips to improve your critical thinking.

If you are already a critical thinker or about to be, here are some tips that will help you improve your critical thinking:

• Formulate your questions — In other words, know what you’re looking for… Find what you’re looking for and decide whether the new fad really suits your needs.
• Gather your information — Having a clear idea of your question will help you determine what’s relevant… Information gathering helps you weigh your options, moving you closer to a decision that meets your goals.
• Apply the information — Something like, when you finish a lecture in school, you read it and then you apply what you’ve read in tests/examination… When facing a decision, ask yourself, “What concepts are at work?”, “What assumptions exists?”, “Is my interpretation of the information logically sound?”
• Consider the Implications.
• Explore other points of view — Asking for other people’s opinion on things or looking at a situation from another angle will help you explore alternatives, evaluate your own choices, and help you make more informed decisions.

These tips helps increase the number of positive decisions we make. Most things we use are invented from using critical thinking.

Rather than choosing an answer because it feels right, a person who thinks critically subjects all available decisions to scrutiny and skepticism eliminating everything but the most useful and reliable information.

If you are a critical thinker, it will affect the people around you because they will analyze the way you think and act.

Try and be a critical thinker. Make use of critical thinking in things you do and interact with on a daily basis. By using critical thinking, you’ll find yourself becoming a clearer and better person which will make the world a better place as random (just anyhow) decisions wouldn’t be made.

Remember I said we were given an assignment on critical thinking? Okay, let’s get into it 😬

First Question:

Going back to all that has been learnt about critical thinking, I can say I was able to come at a decision I felt will be best for me

We all know that as a critical thinker you ask a lot of questions, right? Looking at this question given, I can formulate a question.

“What am I looking for?” — I am looking to improve my writing in English Language.

Gathering Information now, relevant information;

Looking at the first course, we would see that the information there is “to turn Business Writing into Masterpieces” and that is not what I am looking for. So this information is Irrelevant. I think you can agree with me on that.

The second course tells us that “we move from a Writing Beginner to a Writing Pro” but it also says that “a pre copywriter/writing teacher reveals the secrets of writing blogs”. Hmmn… What could this secrets of writing be?, Will this secrets of writing help improve my writing in English Language?

This secrets of writing could mean anything, like somethings I need to know in writing, how writing can improve your knowledge or how it can make you creative and so on. This seems a bit relevant, I guess.

Looking at the second course closely, we see that it entails 102 lectures and 6 total hours. Considering the implications, will I be able to sit down with 102 lectures? Why does it have to be that much?

The third course tells us that “we get better writing skills” and that “we would learn the skills, tip and tricks of persuasive writing”. Wow, this is already persuasive because it has answered my question of what I am looking for. A very valid information.

Also, the third course shows us a 4.5 rating and reviews from almost 7000 people. It is also the best seller 🥵… This is amazing and really persuasive but let’s look at it critically. Why is it the best seller? Must be that people really gained from the course, which led to the good ratings and must have been recommended to other people as well. Or is it because of the price that it’s the best seller? Well, I think not because before you put money into something you check what other people are saying about it and you will also view ratings. If people saw that the reviews were bad, it will definitely not be a best selling course and would not have a 4.5 rating.

Let’s get to the decision part because of time:

• The first course isn’t in line with I am looking for, so, NO.
• The second course has something quite interesting but with a 102 lectures, I can easily get bored or tired and the amount of time that I am meant to use on the course might turn to double that time which is not best fit for me. It also has a 4.4 rating from 5000+ people. Remember, those ratings matter too I tell you… if the course has good contents, it will draw more people and more people gaining positively will lead to good ratings. So I guess I would be going with NO for this course.
• The third course on the other hand has better ratings compared to the second course and it already answers my question of what I am looking for giving me relevant information. No need for too much explanation on this.

So my decision of what is best for me is the third course.

Second Question:

Using the steps given in the 4mins:

1. Formulating my question.
2. Gathering relevant information.
3. Applying the information got.
4. Considering the implications.
5. Explore other points of views.

First point, what am I looking for?

Are Nigeria’s tertiary institutions prepared for or capable of virtual learning?

Gathering Information:

If you’re a Nigerian then I’m sure you would have already answered this question but let’s gather our relevant information.

What are the information needed so we know whether Nigeria’s tertiary institutions are ready for virtual learning?

Let’s start with the people... Are students ready to learn? Of course, yes… You’d see so many students go to library and different lecture halls to read. Especially during night hours (Night class/reading). So if virtual learning will be possible and productive, students will definitely jump on it because you can be anywhere anytime, doing anything, eating, drinking whilst the lecture is ongoing.

Now let’s look at the country itself, if it is possible for virtual learning to take place in Nigeria. I am going to give my points as a list.

1. The very common one: Electricity — The issue of electricity in Nigeria is a major reason why virtual learning might not be possible. I know some might say that “If you are ready to learn, you will stay away from your phone till the lecture time”. Okay you may be right, but what happens when your phone hasn’t be charge for almost 3days and you’re having online lectures everyday. Will your phone/laptop battery power be able to last that long with continuous use?
2. Considering the financial position of some students — This is something that was always on my mind when I heard virtual learning was coming in place here in Nigeria. Apart from the fact that light can hinder some students from learning, some students just cannot afford transitioning to virtual learning. Why did I say so? Okay, a situation where some students find it hard to pay for tuition or even buy data subscription to have access to online services, is it that same student that will stay online for something that costs a very huge sum of data? To say the fact, even some students don’t have access to the internet at all. Students without an android/iOS phone talk less of a laptop can’t learn virtually.
3. To the third points which focuses on the institution itself — For this point, I want to talk about Nigeria’s institutions… I have seen some students come to school to use Wi-Fi just so they can attend virtual classes. Now this is the point where I am going to. At least if a student cannot afford data subscription, the school should be able to help with that, but when your school’s wifi is so terrible that it cannot even load Whatsapp messages how will you attend a virtual class?
4. My last point focuses on the people that will be teaching the courses virtually — The lecturers. It is a fact that some lecturers are not aware and don’t even know how to use the tools for virtual learning (e.g Google meet, Zoom, and others) but that’s fine because their children or younger ones can put them through it, right? But what happens when a lecturer that’s taking a particular course becomes too comfortable and decides that a class that is to hold by 1pm should hold by 10pm… Remember I said some students stay in school to use WiFi so they can attend virtual classes. What then happens when something like that takes place?

There are so many points but I will just leave this 4 here, you can say more on it in the comment section.

As I’ve said earlier, if virtual learning will work, it will be an advantage to students because it will be flexible, comfortable, and you can have access to your courses anytime so long as you’ve paid tuition. But are the facilities for it available?

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I’m going to take “application on information” last

Considering implications and Exploring other point of views:

Covid-19 is still in place which is the main cause of the transition to virtual learning. No one wants to contact the virus and also education cannot be abandoned. Implications are that if virtual learning isn’t opted for, the rate of contacting the virus will be high. Or if virtual learning isn’t opted for and because of the virus they say everyone should still remain at home then education will be seriously affected.

Conclusion and application of information:

Points has been stated to why virtual learning in Nigeria for now isn’t a good idea and points have also made to how the education sector in Nigeria will be affected if virtual learning is not put in place. So, virtual learning has to be considered but the right facilities are to be provided to make this a success.

Which is why I come to a conclusion that at this present state, Nigeria’s tertiary institutions are not ready for virtual learning. Without the right facilities, virtual learning cannot take place.

I know this was a long read but I hope I was able to use my critical thinking skills well and that I passed some reasonable knowledge on critical thinking.

By the way, here are the videos that were shared with us https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnJ1bqXUnIM&t=14s and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dItUGF8GdTw&t=16s

Thank you for your time… Do not forget to clap and leave your comments 😊.