Introduction to Chapter 3

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Instructor's Notes

To download handouts of the Learning by Doing activities and checklists that appear in this unit, and to access lecture slides, teaching tips, and Instructor’s Manual materials, go to the “Instructor Resources” folder at the end of this unit.

3

Critical Thinking Processes

Critic, from the Greek word kritikos, means “one who can judge and discern”—in short, someone who thinks critically. College will have been worth your time and effort if it leaves you better able to judge and discern—to determine what is more and less important, to make distinctions and recognize differences, to generalize from specifics, to draw conclusions from evidence, to grasp complex concepts, to choose wisely. The effective thinking that you’ll need in college, on the job, and in daily life is active and purposeful, not passive and ambling. It is critical thinking.