Barriers to Critical Thinking Essay Example
Barriers to Critical Thinking Essay Example

Barriers to Critical Thinking Essay Example

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  • Pages: 4 (925 words)
  • Published: October 8, 2017
  • Type: Research Paper
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Critical thinking Is a rich concept that has been developing throughout the past 2500 years. Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing and evaluating information gathered from observation as a guide to belief and action. Critical thinking skills are important because they enable students to deal effectively with social, scientific, and practical problems" (Sharkskin, 2007, p. 2). Besides that, critical thinking is a learned skill that must be developed, practiced, and continuously integrated into the tertiary education to engage students in active learning. Since critical thinking is a complex concept, each individual brings their own perspective to it. (Connelly, n. D. , p. 2). Despite success in critical thinking concept, where new skills are being invented from time to time, there are still factors that Influence the lack of critical thinking

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skills among students and the people.

The factors are the arrogance of the students, the lack of Intelligence of a person, mental laziness of students and poor language as a learner. Critical thinking requires more than simple engagement. Since, the primary barrier to critical thinking skills is the arrogance of students. Students are not typically taught to think or learn independently, and they rarely "pick up" these skills on their own (Landsman & Gorges, 2007). Therefore, students avoid examining alternate opinions for fear of being proven wrong.

Besides that, the attitude of students can have a profound effect n critical thinking skills. Even if the students are extremely intelligent, they will not think critically if they are not willing to venture outside their own opinions. In addition, the majority of the students did not comprehend their role as

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a learner because critical thinking skills require reflects on the Justification of their own beliefs and values. Granting all this, students must learn how to think critically before they can apply the skill to content scenarios.

The second fundamental factor that influences the lack of critical thinking skills is the lack of intelligence of a person. This is understandable; people who lack intelligence will find it much easier to simply accept certain ideas at face-value than take the time and effort to research them. Without thinking critically, you're only looking at the surface of things (Faucet, 2013). Furthermore, since critical thinking requires a certain degree of intelligence; students cannot think critically if they are ignorant of its process.

Critical thinking is not about assuming that everything they hear, read or see Is potentially wrong. It Is about taking any Information provided and analyzing It using the critical thinking process. Without this understanding, critical thinking skills will be nonexistent. Moreover, mental delectability and mental Illness can cause a variety of obstacles, including disturbances of thought and perception towards the intelligence of a person. As a result, individuals suffering from such issues may be at an intellectual disadvantage.

The third prevailing factor that influences the lack of critical thinking skills is mental laziness among students. Mental laziness among students can lead to decline in students' academic rigor. Part of the reason for a decline in critical thinking skills could be a decrease in academic rigor (Arum, 2009). The possible reason for a decline in academic rigor is that the principal evaluation of faculty performance comes from student evaluations at the end of the semester. Besides that, students

prefer spending lesser time on education but prefer more on entertainment.

For instance, only "44 percent of students had aligned ambitions" (Arum, 2011), meaning that they expected to attain as much education as was typically required of their intended occupation. By the same token, mental laziness has a huge blow on students' losing the ability to think critically. If students lose the ability to think critically, it meaner there is no hope for survival for the students and the students would not be able to face their future undertakings. Last but not least, the other cardinal factor that influences the lack of critical thinking skills is poor language. Critical thinking is also claimed to be important in the acquisition of language skills particularly writing and reading" (Abdul Rasher & Awing Hashish, 2008). Students with poor language communications do not own the capabilities to convey messages clearly to the receiver. Besides that, people ho speak different languages actually think differently, based on the language in which they construct their thoughts. For instance, students from Asian countries are not proficient in English, since English is not their mother tongue.

As the use English as their secondary language, they might not think the same as the Europeans. In addition, language being the commonly accepted meaner of communication has a diversity of roles in thinking processes, language misunderstanding and misinterpretation. Also it has an impact on overcoming barriers to good communication such as faulty encoding and decoding in the transmission of information. Hence, critical thinking requires a precise grasp of concepts and the ability to communicate them accurately, and that is impossible without a good language.

All in all,

critical thinking requires a strange blend of humility and confidence. On one hand, student must overcome the natural human instinct to defend anything they believe. Critical thinking skills are an important tool, especially when it comes to personal beliefs and academics. When applied, critical thinking is a powerful defense against ideas and opinions that are potentially harmful or blatantly wrong. Unfortunately, not everyone possesses this ability, although it can be taught.

Understanding what suppresses critical thinking is an important step in obtaining a more open mind. In a nutshell, critical thinking is beneficial because it allows students to think analytically and critically to apply what they know in their own lives.

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