Task 1 A short report on the topic critical thinking 1. Introduction Thanks to being homo sapiens we think involuntarily.

. Even now writing a report and reading it we are thinking. The point is to learn how to use critical thinking while studying because its importance cannot be neglected. To understand the real significance of critical thinking we should clarify what critical thinking means. 2. Discussion 2.1. Historical background It is interesting to know that this word combination appeared 2500 years ago. Socrates was the first to study it. His method of questioning is now known as "Socratic Questioning" and is the best known critical thinking teaching strategy. In his mode of questioning, Socrates highlighted the need in thinking for clarity and logical consistency (A Brief History of the Idea of Critical Thinking cited in Paul et al. (1997)). So we can see that the idea of critical thinking use has a long history of existence. 2.2. Definitions Nowadays society is still developing their knowledge about critical thinking. A lot of articles and books are written on this topic. That is why the definitions vary a lot. According to Paul and Elder (2007, p.4) critical thinking is an art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a view to improving it. Taking into account Hamilton-Reeves works (2009) the true definition of critical thinking is filtering information. It becomes very important with the development of the influence of data on our lives. We have to become more and more critical as we receive more and more knowledge. Another view is provided by Lau (2009, p.1) where he states that critical thinking is the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking, and being able to think clearly and rationally. While comparing different definitions we should agree that they are very close in meaning and do not contradict each other. Moreover, their combination

describes critical thinking at different angle and gives us more clear understanding of the discussed term. 2.3. The importance of critical thinking Of course, living in the 21st century, the century of information, we have an opportunity to make the best decisions while having all needed data. At the same time it is affirmed that we all have multiple choices to make. We need the best information to make the best choices (Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking cited in Paul et al. (2001)). And to get this best information we should use critical thinking. Furthermore, nowadays modern students are in very complicated situation. They are usually given a lot of needed and not very needed information. Very often different kinds of information contradict each other. That makes students misunderstand topics and confuse. In order to avoid this young bright minds should be especially critical. It is also important that we should not do it in a negative sense. The word critical means not absolute incredulity but an idea to check data. 3. Conclusion To sum up, taking into account all merits and drawbacks, we can safely arrive at the conclusion that the use of critical thinking is of essential importance. We know that staying at one place is regression and only constant move forward makes us more competitive in modern rapid developing world.

References: A Brief History of the Idea of Critical Thinking [online]. Dillon Beach: Foundation for Critical Thinking. Available from: http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/a-brief-historyof-the-idea-of-critical-thinking/408 [accessed 27 September 2011]. Cited in: Paul, R., Elder, L. & Bartell, E. (1997) California Teacher Preparation for Instruction in Critical Thinking: Research Findings and Policy Recommendations California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Sacramento California: Foundation for Critical Thinking. Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking [online]. Dillon Beach: Foundation for Critical Thinking. Available from: http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/becoming-a-critic-ofyour-thinking/605 [accessed 27 September 2011]. Cited in: Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2001) Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life. 2nd ed. Prentice Hall. Hamilton-Reeves, X. (2009) Critical Thinking Defined [online]. Available from: http://www.articleflame.com/Art/1537/140/Critical-Thinking-Defined.html [accessed 27 September 2011]. Lau, J. (2009) A Mini Guide to Critical Thinking. [online] The University of Hong Kong: Department of philosophy. Available from: http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/misc/miniguide.pdf [accessed 2 October 2011], p. 1. Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2007) The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools. 4th ed. [online] Dillon Beach: Foundation for Critical Thinking. Available from: http://www.criticalthinking.org/files/Concepts_Tools.pdf [accessed 2 October 2011], p. 4.