The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking-Concepts and Tools [Paperback]

Richard Paul (Author), Linda Elder (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0944583105 | ISBN-13: 978-0944583104 | Publication Date: October 2001 | Edition: 3

The essence of critical thinking concepts and tools distilled into a 20-page pocket-size guide. It is a critical thinking supplement to any textbook or course. It is best used in conjunction with the Analytic Thinking Guide. Everyone thinks; it is our nature to do so. But much of our thinking, left to itself, is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed or down-right prejudiced. Yet the quality of our life and that of what we produce, make, or build depends precisely on the quality of our thought. Shoddy thinking is costly, both in money and in quality of life. Excellence in thought, however, must be systematically cultivated. Critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a view to improving it. Critical thinking is, self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. It requires rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use. It entails effective communication and problem solving abilities and a commitment to overcoming our native egocentrism and sociocentrism. This miniature guide focuses on of the essence of critical thinking concepts and tools distilled into pocket size. For faculty it provides a shared concept of critical thinking. For students it is a critical thinking supplement to any textbook for any course. Faculty can use it to design instruction, assignments, and tests in any subject. Students can use it to improve their learning in any content area. Its generic skills apply to all subjects. For example, critical thinkers are clear as to the purpose at hand and the question at issue. They question information, conclusions, and points of view. They strive to be clear, accurate, precise, and relevant. They seek to think beneath the surface, to be logical, and fair. They apply these skills to their reading and writing as well as to their speaking and listening. They apply them in history, science, math, philosophy, and the arts; in professional and personal life.

Product Details

• Paperback: 19 pages
• Publisher: Foundation for Critical Thinking; 3 edition (October 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0944583105
• ISBN-13: 978-0944583104
• Product Dimensions: 4 x 3.7 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,122 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Roadmap for Critical Thinking, But Lacks Examples, February 26, 2010

By 

Sophia Stevenson "S." (TN, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking-Concepts and Tools (Paperback)

This brief 23 page guide offers some wonderful concepts that can help improve critical thinking skills. It also describes how these concepts can be applied in areas such as problem-solving and analyzing/assessing research. The work would have been better had the authors used some examples of actually applying the ideas in the guide. However, overall the coverage of the book's subject matter is sufficiently deep, and the guide itself is small enough to be kept on hand anywhere for quick reference.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Critical Thinking Booklet, July 6, 2011

By 

Mark K. Wickersham "Wick" (Tianjin, China) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking-Concepts and Tools (Paperback)

This 20 page mini-book was assigned reading for a grad class I took at Columbia International University. The booklet serves as an introductory guide to the concepts and tools of critical thinking and is by no means an in depth study of critical thinking. The mini-guide should be used to supplement other books related to the topic. Written by two critical thinking experts, this book can be used by professors and teachers to develop instructional activities, enhance teaching techniques, design creative classwork, and simply improve overall learning. The contents of the book briefly include the importance of critical thinking, the elements of thought, a checklist and criteria for evaluating reasoning, the problem with egocentric thinking, universal intellectual standards, a template for analyzing the logic of articles and textbooks and for problem-solving, essential intellectual traits, analyzing and assessing research, and the stages of critical thinking development. Several charts and diagrams are provided to help us better understand abstract ideas. Although the font is tiny, the content is well organized and easy to read. Bold numbers and letters are regularly used to highlight key information. This review pertains to the fourth edition which came out in 2006.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for teachers, consultants, and parents, June 21, 2011

By 

Allan Elder (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking-Concepts and Tools (Paperback)

I really enjoy all the books by Paul and Elder. They offer a very simple guide to making sure you are evaluating discussions critically. This book is so inexpensive, it's foolish not to have it (and all the others in the series). However, if you are looking for logic oriented critical thinking, this is not the book you want. The author offers their principles of critical thinking as a guideline. I use it when writing academic papers all the time. It was a life saver as a graduate student. All you have to do is write something for each area and you have a full paper. So, if you're a student at any level, get this series and you will find writing papers very easy.