Download Critical Thinking: an introductory course for Logic and more Lecture notes Logic in PDF only on Docsity! 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
