Successful Thinking Heather Collins Analysis

“The activity of thinking prefigures, prepares for, and lets us practice the freedom of mind we require to exercise discerning judgment while living among people who differ from us.” Elizabeth Kamarck Minnich stated in the passage Teaching Thinking Moral and Political Considerations. As part of the top ten in my graduating class, the process of structured thinking has worked in my favor, as it has set me to take classes others wouldn’t usually take; but in no circumstances have I thought that I was smarter than my other classmates. The structured thinking set upon us shows the capability of how well one listens and follows. Listening to what and how the work should be done is a major key in this cycle, and anyone is capable to do it. The second step in the other hand differs, as many tend to

Metacognition is a complex notion that encompasses numerous mental processes in all areas of life. It is often simplistically described as “thinking about thinking.” However, there is no commonly recognized definition of metacognition. In his article “The Power of Reflection”, Stephen Fleming, a well-respected cognitive neuroscientist, agrees with the definition of metacognition given by John Flavell in 1970 as “our ability to evaluate our own thinking” (2). Fleming also accepts Flavell’s proposition that metacognition is “key to educational success”; indeed, the development of metacognitive thinking is vital in learning processes (1). Metacognition is a teachable concept, and has been proven to be crucial in education.

Did you know that too much encouragement will make a child over confident and less likely to work hard. When kids get to feeling like they are really good at something they feel like all of the hard work is done and that they are at the top. They slow down their effort allowing others to catch up. They are less likely to work hard because they think they are good enough already. Once a child gets good and works at what they do they need to keep going and pushing because they will get passed by others. Mindset, by Carol Dweck explains, that kids need praise but not too much because there overconfidence will pull them down and others will pass them in life. Sometimes kids that got praise that tore them down took that praise and

Over the course of the last six weeks, I have come to realize that critical thinking is an important asset as I continue my journey in life. I have found this course to be both challenging and rewarding. Most importantly, I find myself viewing problems and conversations in a completely different light. While I would not consider myself an expert at critical thinking, I would assess myself in as a Beginner Thinker. Paul and Elder point out in the beginning thinker stage an individual actively begins to take command of their thinking process across multiple facets of their life (Paul and Elder, 2012). Furthermore, we recognize that there are problems in the way we think and begin to consciously attempt to better understand we can improve our thinking.

Thinking must be practiced in each content field at each educational level. For the teacher, this means hard work. To teach students to memorize facts and then assess them with multiple-choice tests is a much easier choice to make. In a course that emphasizes thinking,

Rehearsing good thinking enables those that have PUT to focus on the skills and also successes, which often boosts contentment and also inspiration. That, consequently, allows us to spend more

Critical thinking is a vital task that must be done in our everyday lives. In “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking” found at criticalthinking.org, Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Paul explain critical thinking as “the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances”. Even tough there are many different types of methods to achieve a better quality of critical thinking, Dr. Elder and Dr. Paul discuss four specific ones in the article. All strategies, however, force you to put yourself in an uncomfortable and difficult position to develop a better quality of thinking.

In Lecture I of Part II, Heidegger points out that asking the question of “What is called thinking” can be incredibly diverse and complicated because there is not just one explanation for the question, although at a glance it seems pretty simple to explain. He stresses four ways in which the question can be posed. The first way asks what is designated by the word “thinking,” the second asks what logic has to do with thought, the third asks what the prerequisites are for thinking, and the final question is what actually commands and provokes us to think? It seems that thinking is like baking a cake for Heidegger, no ingredient is more important than the other, just like no question

Thinking which the highest mental activity in a human is an action using one's mind to create thoughts and ideas. It is a discipline in which we carry out our daily activities and make decision that requires a consciousness of thought. It is also considered as a spiritual activity whereby when we are rational, we are able to able to think anything we want. Then we can decide what to do and not to do by exercising our freewill. It can also be “mindless” like when we are daydreaming or doing routine tasks like combing hair or taking a shower. The quality of our life of what we built will depend on the quality of our thoughts whereby sometimes when we are not critical thinkers it can lead to being prejudiced, inaccurate; misleading and biased.

Next, critical thinking is when someone analyzes an issue so that they can form a judgment. Critical thinking is always good for the mind, allowing the person to go out of the normal thinking and go into deeper thinking. Conceptual thinking is when someone understands a problem through things that are related. It is good to allow your mind to connect different things so that you can learn better. Constructive thinking is the basic way of thinking about the world. The way you think can affect your emotions, motive and your stress levels.

Many studies prove that teaching creative thinking skills helps students gain better achievements. The result of research at Dong Hu Junior High School, for instance, presents that "The overall performance of the students was significantly better on both the academic and technical subjects compared to that in the traditional teaching" (Jeng, YC, Hsu, SL, Xie, J, Lin, R & Huang, CC 2010, P.37). In addition, applying the CASE (Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education) at King's College London, a program of teaching thinking skills, 19% of participating students achieve A-C grades in GCSE (the General Certificate of Secondary Education) science more than those using traditional methods ('Thinking skills' 2003). In English and Maths, the result amazingly varies from 15 to 16% of better achievement. Scientific guidance and lectures from facilitators will effectively motivate pupils’ process of brainstorming, mind-mapping ideas and organizing them in a logical structure, which significantly contributes to the success of their assignments. Moreover, this may even be applied much further into their life because of improving not only knowledge, but also thought processes. Furthermore, being familiar with wise thoughts, students will be confident in learning and considering things thoroughly before going to analysis and then evaluating their tasks or duties. As a result, creative thinking will really help to improve performance of people from

In How Successful People Think, John C. Maxwell discusses the thought processes used by successful individuals and describes how these techniques can be learned. He outlines the 11 types of thinking and the important skills attributed to each. People succeed by: 1. Seeing the wisdom of big-picture thinking 2. Unleashing the potential of focused thinking 3. Discovering the joy of creative thinking 4. Recognizing the importance of realistic thinking 5. Releasing the power of strategic thinking 6. Feeling the energy of possibility thinking 7. Embracing the lessons of reflective thinking 8. Questioning the acceptance of popular thinking 9. Encouraging the participation of shared thinking 10. Experiencing the satisfaction of unselfish thinking 11. Enjoying the returns associated with bottom-line thinking

In the article “Critical Thinking: What Is It and Why It Counts” written by Peter A. Facione goes in depth on the topic of critical thinking, and reasons why it can be a beneficial in our everyday lives. Although one may think, “What does critical thinking have to do with my life?” the answer is simple. Critical thinking is thinking that has a purpose, liking proving a point, or an interpretation of an idea or thought, and solving problems. Now, all successful critical thinkers have these six abilities at the core for thinking skills: interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and self-regulation. The first three skills usually try to identify, and comprehend the issue or idea at hand. The next three make a conclusion,

This kind of questioning was typical of Socrates. His search for knowledge by asking questions is known as the Socratic Method. (Soccio)

These methods of thinking include Critical, Rational, Systematic, Reflective, and normative thinking. Each of which helps find a conclusion or truth.