Critical Thinking – Strategies for Decision Making

Part 1: Understanding Critical vs. Non-Critical Thinking

·        The case for critical thinking

·        Recognizing deceptive reasoning

·        Detecting emotional manipulation

·        Styles of non-critical thinking

·        Critical thinking styles

·        Becoming a critical thinker

Part 2: Recognizing and Evaluating Arguments

·        Defining arguments

·        Step 1: Pinpointing issues

·        Step 2: Identifying arguments

·        Step 3: Seeking clarity

·        Step 4: Understanding Context

·        Step 5: Finding credibility

·        Step 6: Looking for consistency

·        Step 7: Judging arguments

·        Presenting ideas powerfully

Part 3: Developing and Evaluating Explanations

·        Explanations vs. arguments

·        Formulating explanations

·        Element 1: Gathering information

·        Element 2: Processing information

·        Element 3: Developing hypotheses

·        Element 4: Testing hypotheses

·        Asking discovery questions

·        Challenging assumptions

Appendix

·        Reviewing what you’ve learned

·        Author’s suggested responses to the exercises

·        Author’s suggested responses to the case studies

·        Additional reading