QEP - Thinking and Beyond

Halpern extensively describes the model in Thought and Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking, a text popular for use in stand-alone critical thinking courses at colleges and currently in its fifth edition.  Halpern embeds the four parts of the model within the definition she provides for critical thinking. Halpern defines critical thinking as “the use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome” and further labels critical thinking as “purposeful, reasoned…goal-directed” and “involved in solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions” (8). The definition also stipulates that the thinker must be using appropriate skills for a particular “context” and “type of thinking task” (8). The four-part model then aligns with these definition components and elaborates upon them.

The model’s first part is the overt teaching and learning of specific critical thinking skills and is also delineated in the book’s appendix (Halpern 563-92).

The model’s part two, that “develop[ing] the disposition” of a critical thinker relates to essential “attitudes” such as the “willingness to plan…flexibility…persistence… [and] admit[ting] errors,” as well as “chang[ing] your mind when the evidence changes.” Halpern indicates these attitudes undergird all thinking that raises the chances of attaining goals and solving problems (18-25).

Halpern’s part three centers on student transfer of the critical skills. Along with teaching students specific critical thinking skills, instructors also need to teach students to identify circumstances that require those skills and which skills are necessary in a particular circumstance (Halpern 25-6). To transfer skills, Halpern argues that students must move past “the domain-specific surface characteristics” to identify the “structural aspects of the problem or argument” that “trigger the recall of the thinking skill” (25).

Finally, the fourth part requires students to use metacognition to track the effectiveness of their thinking (Halpern 27). Decisions, goals, and problem solving feature significantly in Halpern’s definition and model. Both the definition and model account for uncertainty in the decision-making process because the result of critical thinking skills need not be “a desirable outcome” but instead a higher chance of such an outcome (8).

Works Cited

Halpern, Diane F. Thought and Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking. 5th edition, Psychology Press, 2014.