Critical thinking means making reasoned judgments that are logical and well-thought out. It is a way of thinking in which you don’t simply accept all arguments and conclusions you are exposed to but have an attitude involving questioning such arguments and conclusions.

Decision making is the process of making choices by identifying a decision, gathering information, and assessing alternative resolutions… and critical thinking (and flexible thinking) is a huge part of effective decision making.

Critical thinking is what university study is supposed to cultivate. It is highly debatable if it achieves that and it makes much more pervasive sense to start stimulating critical thinking from day one of a child’s education. 

I’ve always been somewhat critically minded, a messy parental breakup at an early age as well as various homelife upsets opened my eyes to questioning many of the basic day-to-day and cultural conventions that I probably would not even have given a second thought had I lived through a more typical upbringing.

When I went to university, I started to sharpen my logical and critical thinking skills, but I never really felt like I had received an overarching and systematic education in critical thinking during my undergraduate studies. When I graduated, I felt like my critical thinking was not nearly as rationally effective as it could be, hence this module.

One of the most useful aspects of being a highly effective critical thinker is that you can not only identify problems before they occur, but it empowers to make smart decisions.

This module and the previous Flexible Thinking and Metaliteracy module are two sides of the same coin. They overlap quite a bit, but the aim of both is to enable me to become a smart decision maker because that is precisely what enables success in a fast changing and increasingly complex environment like the 21st-century.