Sunday, October 4, 2009
Critcal Thinking.
We've been focusing a lot on the integration of our areas and minor. To do that, there was a large element of critical thinking taking place. It takes a lot of critical thinking to figure out how and why we chose our areas of study and how we are going to utilize them in the future. As college students, there are times we take our assignments for granted and just try to finish them on time and not really focus on what the purpose in the assignment was intended to teach. I know cornerstone was a difficult experience for me because so many elements of the class were what I thought were vague and I really had to think about why I was doing the assignment just to complete it! Healthcare, in general, is all about critical thinking. There aren't many clear-cut answers. Although there are guidelines on how to handle, say, diagnoses, you still have to first figure out the diagnoses. How do you all think you are going to utilize your critical thinking skills to finish your degrees and then apply them to future careers? I am looking forward to the problem solving. I like knowing there are different ways to get to the same results. We all think differently, right? Let us know what you think!
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I completely agree with you about utilizing critical thinking in the actual health care field. Currently, I am having a hard time using critical thinking in cornerstone. I foresee using maximum critical thinking skills with the interdisciplinary studies research project. Thus far, my group is full of students eager to actually make good use of our research topic. Thinking critically specifically for the use of this project will give us an advantage in the overall presentation of the research topic.
ReplyDeleteAfter doing the Virtual Philosopher assignment, it rated my responses as being consistent for all 3 of the situations. The assignment had us answer some questions for our ethics and then had us respond for certain situations. I thought the liver problem was interesting. I had answered the ethics question a certain way, but it's always harder when you're faced with an actual, concrete example. It's hard not to let emotions or other factors influence decisions, but it's important to stick to the decisions you have made in terms of your own personal ethics.
ReplyDeleteMy results from Virtual Philosopher are consistent with the results I thought I would get since I always like to stick to the ideals I have and priorities I have set. This makes it somewhat easier to make decisions and not feel guilty about making different choices based on different situations.
Critical thinking must be utilized in all aspects of all careers, in my opinion. For example, my mother is a teacher. She has to complete her lesson plans every day and teach it to her class. She constantly has to think of ways to incorporate interesting activities so that the students will take interest. There are only so many ideas one person can have, so she frequently has to get creative. Critical thinking in the health care field is essential. Like Rhonda said, there are no clear-cut answers, only guidelines. In the emergency room, for instance, there isn't always time to sit down and creat a plan of action. Those professionals have to make split decisions. It is here the importance of critcal thinking comes into play. I just did the "Virtual Philospopher" quiz in class. It showed that I was consistent in the first two exercises and inconsistent in the last one. The exercises had to do with honesty and ethical choices. I thought it was an interesting approach to critcal thinking. One dilemma was determining who out of five different candidates would receive a liver transplant. Although I believe all human lives where equal, I felt that one candidate was more deserving of the liver than the others. This was where my inconsistency came about. I'm not sure if this means I have poor critical thinking skills. I remained consitent for two out of the three dilemmas, so maybe I'm not as horrible as I thought.
ReplyDeleteReshma, I agree with you that critical thinking is a huge part of the health care field. After doing the virtual philosopher this is even more clear. For example, the liver transplant question is something that comes up all the time in the medical community, and how we respond to situations like that requires critical thinking and consistency. If we do a random lottery one time, we shouldn't select a specific person the next time, as this shows that critical thinking isn't being used.
ReplyDeleteAlso, a lot of this was addressed in the course I took called Health Law and Ethics, which brought up a lot of laws, situations, and ethical dilemmas that I had never thought about it. There are so many situations in health care, whether it's a patient's right to refuse treatment, euthanasia, and doctor's violating their rights, that all require critical thinking. Without critical thinking, a patient's life could be endangered or a hospital could be sued for not respecting a patient's rights. Each step in the health care system requires critical thinking.
Indeed, critical thinking in the cornerstone class is slightly difficult. There is so much work on top of my other classes that it is difficult to fully apply myself in this class. I understand the critical thinking aspect of school, and feel that if I am not crammed with work, my critical thinking flows undisturbed. I also let emotions get into my critical thinking sometimes, which I don't see as a bad thing, being a human and all. I just took the "Virtual Philosopher" quiz and I was inconsistent in all areas. I feel there are many answers to different questions, and the ethics of the question are deeply entwined with peoples rationale and emotions, much like health care.
ReplyDeleteIn class today, we worked on a Virtual Philosopher assignment on the following website: http://web.uncg.edu/dcl/courses/vicecrime/vp/vp.html.
ReplyDeleteFrom the assignment, I have realized that I utilize a more emotional response rather than a critical standpoint. One situation in particular, regarding The Liver Problem, made me have to think out of my element. I somehow felt obligated to allow a person to prove their worthiness for a liver, although originally I felt that all human lives are equally worthy. Originally for that response, I elected to have a random lottery to select the recipient—however; the “philosopher” prompted me with the suggestion that I was dehumanizing the act of liver donations by removing the emotional element. I did not realize that critical thinking versus emotional responses was such a black and white area.
The feedback from the Virtual Philosopher while responding to the situations made me question myself. Initially, I felt inclined to think critically to solve the issues. However, as in real life, personal situations arose that triggered emotional responses. For example, I have a hard time in determining the harmful effects of all lies. White lies are supposed to be okay, but does it really ever help a situation with a white lie?
Critical thinking was a big determinate in deciding on which choice to pick in the “Virtual Philosopher” quiz. These questions did not have simple one sided answers, there were many factors and scenarios which made up the situations. Critical thinking was specifically used by integrating many different aspects of my personality, and also the different aspects of each outcome within the situations.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was an interesting and reasonably fair quiz because the method the virtual philosopher used to evaluate you, did not lead you to choose one answer over another. I did not even catch on that the second set of questions was relating to your answers in the first set of questions.
Within my results, I was consistent with two of the sections and inconsistent with the last one. I stand by all of my answers and actually was surprised that I was more consistent than inconsistent. And as far as the last question regarding who receives the liver, I thought this was a particularly hard question to answer without being in the actual situation. I think even if I was in the situation first hand, this would be a very difficult situation. On the other hand I did not have much hesitation with the other questions and found that I had a strong opinion towards one answer.
I am glad that everyone else is more consistent in their thought process than myself. I was inconsistent in the first and last scenarios. As I noted earlier, seeing personal statements trigger my emotional logic. I hope that when thrown into the real world where these situations occur, I can focus on only critical thinking.
ReplyDeleteI try my best not to let my emotions get the best of me when it comes to making decisions. I admit that it is very difficult for me sometimes since I have a sensitive personality. My emotions ruled my life and I was only able to curb them better as I grew older. Immaturity may also have to do with it. I at least realize what the right decisions are. However, those are typically the ones that are most difficult.
ReplyDeleteJillian, I have a sister who is also a teacher. She spends so much time with critical thinking. Classes aren't made up of "ideal" students in entirety. With our Junior Acheivement assignment, we are teaching students in the classroom. I have a group of 9 students with disabilities. I have to rework the given information in a way that will make sense to these students. It's such a challenge for me, but I'm really enjoying the experience.
ReplyDeleteI agree that sometimes life presents you with options that are easy to say that the answer is "gray" and that there is not black and white answer. In my opinion, we are constantly provided with "gray" options. Think of cornerstone. We all, at least in varying degrees, have a hard time reconciling doing so much work for a class that isn't within our study areas. However, this class is in reality more important. It is a core class. It determines whether we graduate or not. These two classes are not by choice and by not having that choice increases their importance. I really think everyone put a lot of critical thinking into this discussion. This aspect of the course also began as me feeling like I wouldn't learn anything. I was wrong. I think we are all learning quite a bit. We are forced to think in ways we wouldn't have invested our time in otherwise. I think that happens a lot in life, too. Lots to think about. What do you all think you could do to find some extra meaning and value in your capstone course? What would make it work better for you? Do you think it's as simple as an attitude change on it's importance? Hmmmm? :)
ReplyDeleteYes I totally agree, this class can be a bit demanding for my taste. I do see its useful points, though, like learning to write resumes and learning about what you can do with your IDS degree and such. The critcal thinking exercise was a clever little exercise that enables us to realize our own skill in decision making.
ReplyDeleteI am aware that critical thinking is an important part of all careers. I think about this, especially since it is a major part of my career of choice. I just get worried that I wont make the right decisions if I'm put under pressure, especially if it comes to a life or death decision. Any suggestions on how to improve one's critical thinking skills?
Rhonda,
ReplyDeleteI like your reference of the "gray area." There are many factors present in situations such as the ones on the quiz that can sway ones choice. That being said, even though my quiz said I was mostly consistent in my choices,who knows what I would chose if I was literally but in those scenarios. I'd like to think that I always think before I act, but that is not the case. Some times we all make rash decisions or don't think of every aspect of potential outcomes. I've actually thought about this a lot lately, and have tried to pause and think it through before making decisions.
I would certainly agree with the gray area statement. There weren't any right or wrong answers on that quiz. I don't feel like we should allow critical thinking to completely block out our personal ethics.
ReplyDeleteI think critical thinking allows us to understand our personal ethics, not dissuade them. How many times has it happened that a situation arose and you didn't know you felt so strongly about something until you found yourself biting off their head, metaphorically, of course! :) How to develop critical thinking??? I think part of it comes with physiological brain development, the environment in which we learned from supporting adults and our friends. I think the least of what we can do to develop critical thinking would be to always think, "what are the consequences of this choice?" You can then expand to the benefits, the collateral damage, the changes it would make in our day, week, month, etc. It's a matter of being aware and using both sides of your brain and keeping an open mind to other options in the world. Wow, a bit much for Sunday?? :) Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteSo I know what my own interpretation of critical thinking is but I really wanted to know the true and exact definition and this is what I found on Wikipedia. "Critical thinking gives due consideration to the evidence, the context of judgment, the relevant criteria for making the judgment well, the applicable methods or techniques for forming the judgment, and the applicable theoretical constructs for understanding the nature of the problem and the question at hand."
ReplyDeleteSo I've determined that my personal definition was correct with out so much detail. I can also see from the first sentence in the definition, that critical thinking is much the same as our interdisciplinary majors. It incorporates many different aspects and view points in order to obtain better knowledge just as our different areas and minors intertwine together to display a broader aspect on what we are learning.
I have not looked up the direct definition of critical thinking myself, either. I know about critical thinking from the way books say it works and how other philosophical thinkers think. My personal definition of critical thinking also resembled closely the wikipedia definition. I enjoy your application of the definition to encompass the definition of interdisciplinarity. I mostly agree with Rhonda's statement that critical thinking influences personal ethics. We would have no idea what school of thought we categorically use, except we were taught what critical thinking is and how to do it. I feel like even without being taught to think in this manner, I am predisposed to this school of thought. (Also, I realize this post is late, I just got my internet working again. Please forgive my delay.)
ReplyDelete