Critical Thinking Video to the "Successfully Completing College" Series

Hello, today we finish up our series of successfully completing college and I’d like to talk to you about the second academic skill – the skill of critical thinking. One of our goals here in Student Support Services is to help you grow in your ability to think, to interact and to apply all of the various things that you are learning in your classes. And not only to understand how they relate to your classes but especially how they relate to the rest of life. Critical Thinking. What is it? Well, it doesn’t mean negative thinking. Rather, critical thinking means learning how to think at a level that goes beyond a mere superficial type of thinking; to move deeper than surface level thinking. Critical thinking moves beyond merely understanding. It knows how to evaluate, critique, and apply the various things that one has learned. Never be satisfied with your current level of thinking. Always be looking to find new ways that you can improve. If you want to grow in your ability to think, it’s really no different than writing. You need to learn to set aside time to do so. Well, how do you. How do plan or practice the skill of critical thinking. Well, in regards to scheduling, take time to be quiet. Take time to get away from the hustle and bustle of things that cause you to simply maintain a frantic schedule where you don’t have time to think. Learn how to take time to reflect, to journal and even to discuss the various things that you’re learning in your classes with family members, friends and peers and discover ways in which your class information is relevant to the other areas of your life. Most people never become effective thinkers because most people never take time to practice the skill of thinking. Don’t be like most people. Well, in conclusion to our series, once again, we here at TRiO, we want to welcome you to this academic school year. Remember that we are here to help you. If you have any questions, concerns or needs about anything relating to your courses or school life, don’t be afraid to stop in, to call us or to email us. We are here to help you and we are here to help you in whatever way we possibly can.