MPU1033U2

THINKING SKILLS
 TOPIC 1
THINKING SKILLS
 What
are
thinki
ng
skills
 THINKING SKILLS…
• Mental processes that we apply when we seek to make
sense of experience.
• Thinking skills enable us to integrate each new
experience into the schema that we are constructing
of "how things are".
• It is apparent that better thinking will help us to learn
more from our experience and to make better use of
our intelligence.
THINKING SKILLS…

•The mind we have is a wonderful thing. You may have

heard it is like a computer. You may have also heard
that we use only a portion of its capability.

•We can improve our thinking skills by understanding

specific types of thinking, how they work, and
practicing to improve our thinking abilities.

•If we become more conscious about those skills, we

become better as a person, family member, and
worker.
 Words to Describe Thinking
• Summarising
• Finding
• Hypothesising
• Deciding
• Evaluating
• Solving
• Sequencing
• Justifying
• Ordering
• Remembering
• Sorting
• Planning
• Classifying
• Arguing
• Grouping
• Identifying
• Predicting
• Speculating
• Concluding
• Calculating
• Distinguishing
• Comparing
• Creating
• Deducing
• Planning
• Presuming
• Testing
• Analysing
• Assessing
(Adapted from McGuinness, 1999)
 PRODUCTIVE vs RE PRODUCTIVE
• Generally our thinking tends to be Re-productive, i.e. based on
similar problems encountered in the past, or taught to solve.

• However, we must learn to do Productive thinking, i.e. generate

as many alternative approaches as possible
 LEVELS OF THINKING

Low

High
 GIFT OR SKILLS?
• “That “creativity” is beyond analysis is a romantic illusion we must now
outgrow” – Peter Medawar.
 CONTINUE…
Intelligence and creativity are not the same things. Intelligence in
a domain means the ability to function at a high level in that
domain, but creativity involves asking new questions and altering
the domain. One can be highly intelligent but rigid, noncreative, or
lacking in the kind of single-minded passion that drives creators.
CREATIVITY
 CONTINUE…
Creativity can be developed by -
• Looking at the world in terms of analogy.
• Learning about different ways to solve a problem.
STRATEGIES OF PROBLEM SOLVING
 TOOLS FOR CRITICAL AND
CREATIVE THINKING
•Mind mapping
•Six Imaginary Thinking Hats
•Six Action Shoes
•SWOT
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THINKING
Not a Par
Attention

Escape
New Idea
Movement
 ATTENTION
• Creativity requires that we first focus
our attention on something; typically
something that we have not focused
much attention on before.

• By focusing attention on things that

are normally taken for granted,
creative thinking techniques prepare
our minds for breakthroughs.
 ESCAPE
• The second principle behind all creative
thinking methods calls us to mentally escape
our current patterns of thinking.

• The principle of escape explains why a simple

walk in the woods can bring about creative
thoughts. When we walk in the woods, we
escape the confines of the current ways, both
mentally and physically. Similarly, staring at
yourself in the mirror while you shave or put on
make-up provides a momentary mental
escape that may allow a novel mental
connection about a work problem to
emerge.
 MOVEMENT
• The third underlying principle behind
the diverse tools of creative thinking --
calls us to keep exploring and
connecting our thoughts.
• Movement is a key principle behind
the classic creative thinking technique
of brainstorming. The ground rules of
brainstorming are to generate as
many ideas as you can, with no
criticism, building on the ideas of
others. In other words, keep moving.
 NEW IDEA
• New ideas are composed of old
elements
• To be creative, must be ready to
deviate from the ordinary and the
traditional
• New ideas are actually old ones
rearranged in a new way
• If you have limited domain of
knowledge, you will have fewer
resources to draw from in forming new
ideas
 NOT A PAR
• Not all ideas are on a par
• The ability to come up with new and
useful ideas which serve important
need or creates a new trend that
makes an impact
• Creativity is divided into cognitive and
artistic creativity
Cognitive creativity
• Is a matter of coming up with solutions to
practical or theoretical problems
• Requires good critical thinking which helps
to determine the relevance and
effectiveness of the idea
• Experience also may contribute to cognitive
creativity
• Has two parts :-
The generation of new ideas
The evaluation and modification of new
ideas
Artistic creativity
• Consists in the
creation of artwork
and expressing
one’s ideas and
emotions through
various forms of art
 Understanding concepts of
Problems/ Challenges

Why do you think understanding concepts is

important to solve problems and challenges?
Blooms’ Taxonomy
• Provides a way to organize thinking skills into six levels, from
basic to the highest order level of thinking

• This cognitive domain consists of knowledge, comprehension,

application, analysis, evaluation, synthesis (from lowest to
highest order of thinking)
•Knowledge : recognize and recalling facts,
knowing the patterns and trends

•Comprehension : understand the meaning of

information, make comparisons through
pinpointing similarities and differences

•Application : requires the pupil to use pre-

learned information in a different way to solve
problems
• Analysis : break information into components,
see relationships, formulate theoretical
explanations, mathematical or logical models for
observed phenomena

• Synthesis : use initiative, introducing ideas to

solve problems, put components together to
create new products or ideas

• Evaluation : making judgments, opinions based on

a given brief, theory or statement, justified
choice using specified criteria
THANK YOU