Students are at the beginning of their life, and their performance in academics, competitive exams and job interviews determine their future success. Domain knowledge of subjects they take up is important, but is not the largest factor determining success in later life. Students also have to take several decisions as they go along - which course to major in, which college to opt for, what initial career choices should they make (which may determine the courses they take etc). All these decisions call for thinking carefully to make choices. Critical Thinking is the skill they need to make well thought out and well reasoned choices after considering all the factors involved. This presentations sets out the reasons why students should consider going in for formal training in Critical Thinking.

1. WhyShouldstudentslearnCriticalThinking
Why Should Students Learn
Critical Thinking?

2. WhyShouldstudentslearnCriticalThinking
Learning and Life
 The quality of your learning is affected by the
quality of your thinking about learning.
 The quality of Thinking determines your course,
college and career choices

3. WhyShouldstudentslearnCriticalThinking
Critical Thinking in Education

4. WhyShouldstudentslearnCriticalThinking
Write better essays
 Any essay you write in college (excepting fiction,
descriptive narratives and poetry) is an
argumentative Essay
 Writing a good argumentative essay demands the
ability to think Critically
 It calls for an understanding of the different
patterns of reasoning and application of critical
thinking frameworks (your own, or frameworks
provided by others)
 The recommended essay structures are based on
an understanding of the structure of
arguments/reasoning patterns

5. WhyShouldstudentslearnCriticalThinking
Better Communication
 Critical Thinking results in clearer and well thought
out positions on issues
 You will find your arguments in discussions –
verbal or written presented more cogently and well
structured – resulting in better communication

6. WhyShouldstudentslearnCriticalThinking
Deeper learning
 Knowledge of Critical Thinking makes it
instinctive for you to apply it while:
◦ Reading
◦ Writing
◦ Or discussing
 Your learning is active – as against passive
absorption of material without thought
 This results in deeper learning – as you understand
and internalize not only the ‘What’ but also the
‘How’ and ‘Why’ of any subject matter you learn

7. WhyShouldstudentslearnCriticalThinking
Make better decisions
 Throughout school, and more so in college you are
taking decisions:
◦ What subjects to major in
◦ Which college to opt for
◦ What career(s) you intend to pursue
 Formal training in Critical Thinking helps you:
◦ Examine the options, skills and decision
variables from several angles
◦ And you also learn to critically evaluate tentative
decisions for logic, evidence and likelihood of it
being right for you

8. WhyShouldstudentslearnCriticalThinking
Perform Better at Competitive
exams
 GMAT and GRE have entire sections designed to
test your Critical Thinking Skills
 Many business schools across the world have
entrance exams that test your critical Thinking skills

9. WhyShouldstudentslearnCriticalThinking
Perform better at Group
Discussions
 Group discussions involve discussing issues,
taking positions and defending/arguing them
 Selectors evaluate performance based on the
relevance and cogency of your arguments – which
is nothing but output of your Critical Thinking ability

10. WhyShouldstudentslearnCriticalThinking
Write better SOP’s and
Resume’s
 Resume’s are a statement of what you are and
what you have achieved in a particular format.
Knowledge of Critical Thinking helps you develop
Resume’s that are persuasive and relevant to the
jobs you are applying to
 SOP (Statement of Purpose) is essentially an
argumentative essay that argues why you should
be selected for the course you are applying for. It is
a pure application of Critical Thinking.

11. WhyShouldstudentslearnCriticalThinking
Better your chances of
employment
Wall Street Journal Survey of Important skills for
employment
“When asked which skills new college graduates
needed to improve most, more than half of the
respondents to the question on The Wall Street
Journal's survey of 479 college recruiters amed
some combination of critical thinking, problem
solving skills and the ability to think independently”
 Interview questions are designed to test your Critical
Thinking Skills
 Performance on the job is dependant on your Critical
Thinking skills

12. WhyShouldstudentslearnCriticalThinking
Role of Critical Thinking in
landing a job

13. WhyShouldstudentslearnCriticalThinking
Employers want you to think
Critically
 Employers More Interested in Critical Thinking and
Problem Solving Than College Major
A National Survey of Business and Nonprofit
Leaders: Key Findings
 Nearly all employers surveyed (93 percent) say
that “a demonstrated capacity to think critically,
communicate clearly, and solve complex problems
is more important than [a candidate’s]
undergraduate major.”

14. WhyShouldstudentslearnCriticalThinking
Job Interviews & Group
Discussions
 The questions asked during job interviews
primarily test student’s abilities to think critically
 Performance in Group Discussions is judged
based on how pertinent and persuasive the
participants contributions are. Only a student
who thinks critically can be pertinent and
persuasive. Critical Thinking is about correct
reasoning and ability to examine a problem
from different perspectives.

15. WhyShouldstudentslearnCriticalThinking
Stays with you throughout life
 Critical Thinking is a skill that once learnt, you
employ throughout your life – at work and in your
personal life
 Critical Thinking helps you take more reasoned
decisions and prevents you from falling prey to
fallacies and ill-thought out decisions and beliefs.

16. WhyShouldstudentslearnCriticalThinking
Learn Critical Thinking
 Learn Critical Thinking?
◦ Email:
prasad@criticalthinkingacademy.net
◦ URL: http://criticalthinkingacademy.net