Critical thinking: Dave Ellis’ Becoming a Master Student
- 1. Becoming a Master Student
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Uses of Critical Thinking
• Basic elements of communication
• Social Change
• Uncover bias and prejudice
- 2. Becoming a Master Student
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Thorough Thinking
• Sorting out conflicting claims
• Weighing the evidence for them
• Letting go of personal biases
• Arriving at reasonable views
• Being willing to change views
- 3. Becoming a Master Student
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Creativity Fuels Critical Thinking
• Convergent thinking
• Divergent or Creative thinking
• Cultivate “aha” experiences
– Burst of creative energy
– Fuels critical thinking
– Paul McCartney’s “Yesterday”
– Sheldon – “It’s a wave!”
• Follow through
- 4. Becoming a Master Student
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Techniques for Creative
Thinking
• Conduct a brainstorm
• Focus and let go
• Cultivate creative serendipity
• Keep idea files
• Collect and play with data
- 5. Becoming a Master Student
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Techniques for Creative
Thinking
• Create while you sleep
• Refine ideas and follow through
• Create success strategies
• Trust the process
- 6. Becoming a Master Student
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Look for the assumptions
(the assertions implied by
that view)
Write them out
See if you can find
exceptions to them
Viewpoint
Uncovering Assumptions
• Testing the validity of a viewpoint
- 7. Becoming a Master Student
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Ways to Fool Yourself:
Six Common Mistakes in Logic
• Jump to conclusions
• Attack the person
• Appeal to an “authority”
• Point to a false cause
• Think in “all-or-nothing” terms
• Base arguments on emotion
