Tag: analytical thinking in education

What is necessary for us to study at school and what is not, is an important question.

Some believe that we don’t need to know so much, others think we are being educated to become employers, and many agree school should just teach how to develop our intelligence.

However it is, there are many things we are not taught and it is so obvious if you see our society today.

  1. Conversation

Nobody really taught us in the classroom how to communicate . We might know when we should say “thank you”, “sorry” and “here you are” but it is sad that the schools are so much intellect-oriented.

We gather knowledge, we overload our memory, but we don’t know what to do if our parents are getting divorced, when a friend betrays us or when we need to communicate things we know might hurt others to those others.

The younger generation uses emoticons to express their “feelings” on a mobile screen. But can they express their emotions in real life situations?

Have you heard that in some school they actually talk and learn about dealing with emotions, especially the painful ones?

In the long run, the outcomes of technology-based generations can be even greater social isolation, than the one we experience today.

Another common thing our schooling system brings is to think individually not collectively.

Knowing how to connect with others, when to speak and when not to, is something that school should teach us before life teach us.

  1. Thinking

Certain ways of thinking are implied in our education. We are not taught to think through solutions but we are encouraged to memorize.

Our schools tend to be more goal oriented not process oriented so we end up caught in life with so many things that don’t go according to plan and we don’t know what to do.

Filling this gap from where we are to where we should be is a great opportunity for our school to teach us the possible positive ways.

Also if we don’t get there where we should is another good lesson that could be included in lesson plans.

We are unable to see the broader picture because we lack the skills to do so.

  1. How to Handle Money

We are not taught how to manage money, especially in a way we can be self employed.

We are not focused on personal saving, investment of personal finances.

It is not about how to get the money but how to make the best out of it.

4. Dating and Romantic Relationships

Some might disagree that the school should be the place to be taught about relationships but all that matter in life are relationships and we cannot live without them.

In this sense, it would be good to be encouraged to talk freely and openly about it in a school setting.

Any more ideas we missed here? Please leave your comment and we’ll get to you as soon as possible.

 

To summarize using both analytical and critical skills:

The difference between the two skills is that the critical thinking involves considering an issue, evaluating it and making a conclusion about it.

Therefore, critical thinking includes weighting up the arguments that are for and against certain point of view or information.

Analytical thinking means examining the information, collecting the facts and checking whether the statement follows logically in identifying causes and effects.

Reasoning is one of the key elements of analytical thinking. On an interview for a job, people are often asked to evaluate their analytical abilities.

Question like: Describe some of your last big problems and tell us the way you solved it. Or: How do you make decisions?

By critical thinking, we mean the ability of an individual to seek information, analyze alternatives and making conclusions or forming opinions. It includes the analytical thinking and uses it to generate a standpoint for someone’s world view.

Practice your English and at the same time analytical and critical thinking:

https://www.smore.com/0udr-fun-critical-thinking-activities

Fun activities to boost your analytical and critical thinking. You can do them with your friends, in a classroom or at home:

http://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/critical_thinking/brain/1/brainteasers1.pdf

 

 

Simple thinking skills are learning facts and recall, and more complex include analysis, synthesis, problem solving, evaluation, decision making. Let us see what skills are included in the thinking process.

Focusing. It is selected piece of information that we organize.

Remembering. Part of our memory that we can evoke and retrieve.

Organizing. Arranging information.

Analyzing. Examining the information and relationships so that the structure is understood.

Evaluating. Assessing the information to build an opinion. Placing the information into a context.

Generating. Producing new ideas, new perspectives.

Analytical thinking helps you process information, make connections, make decisions and create new ideas.

You use those thinking skills when you want to solve a problem, ask a question or organize some information. We all have thinking skills, but not all of us use them efficiently.

The good thing is that we can practice our ability to think so we can develop our thinking skills. We might say that analytical thinking mainly aims to give a review to the information.

Critical thinking aims to make an overall evaluation, judgment or conclusion about the information which is possibly free from false premises or bias.

Analytical thinking includes:

  • facts and evidence
  • Information analyzing
  • Reasoning – logical thinking
  • Finding alternatives
  • Trend analyzing trends, anticipating, change analyzing

Critical thinking involves:

  • Thorough evaluation of information
  • Checking for bias and prejudices
  • Evaluating the correctness of the point claimed.
  • Weighing up opinions, arguments or solutions
  • Reasoning and logical conclusion making
  • Checking whether arguments really support the conclusions.

As a critical thinker, you make the decision whether or not an object or situation appears to be right or wrong.

You evaluate the data and determine how it should be interpreted. You then make conclusions regarding your perception of the information.

In addition, that new information is combined with your worldview in order to make the most accurate assessment of the matter in question.

Critical thinking, just like analytical thinking, uses facts but goes one step further. The facts are used to form an opinion or a belief. So we can say that the critical thinking is more an opinion-based thinking.

How to practice analytical thinking?

Like everything else, analytical thinking can be practiced. It is like sports. If you want good results, you need to dedicate some time and make an effort. One can raise the analytical abilities by using these simple steps:

  1. Observation.

Try not to judge anything. Simple observe and don’t immediately make a conclusion.

  1. Read an article.

Pay attention to every word. See if the article has some slang or any of the loanwords from other languages. Does the article combine the usage of formal and informal terminology? Remember the words that were new to you or that are used in a different context from what you are used to. Try to find those words on internet, in a dictionary, search for the synonyms etc.

  1. Play brain games.

Games like bridge, chess or backgammon include strategic moves that will enhance your analytical thinking skills.

  1. Listen to people.

In a conversation with other people, try to listen to them and learn something from them. Do not underestimate anyone. It is important also for keeping the brain engaged and you also improve your communication skills.

By improving the analytical thinking skills, you will be able to understand more and be more successful in solution finding processes.

Here is a link where you can find a useful hint on how to increase your analytical thinking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPHie18p13k 

And now the real exercise:

http://dailybrainteaser.blogspot.com/2013/12/analytical-reasoning-puzzles-with.html

How was it?

What is analytical thinking?

Analytical thinking helps a person to identify information needed to solve a problem or a task. When undertaking complex tasks, using the analytical skills, we can find alternatives for the situation.

With analyses we can gather information, articulate, visualize, solve complex tasks and anticipate. This way of thinking brings more focus and stream-lined approach to solution.

Let us say you have a technical issue. First you would determine what caused the problem before you start solving it. Then you will try to fix it. After that, you will make sure to prevent those problems in the future.

This is an example of analytical thinking.

Why are analytical thinking skills important?

Analytical thinking skills are important for:

  •          gathering information
  •          reporting
  •          solving complex problems
  •          decision making
  •          summarizing
  •          anticipating
  •          executing projects effectively