Critical Thinking is the act or practice of thinking critically (as by applying reason and questioning assumptions in order to solve problems, evaluate information, discern biases, etc. (merriam-webster.com)
Sometimes the word critical makes us think about being negative or judging harshly. But in the case of critical thinking, think of it as applying reason and questioning assumptions. Then, as in the definition above, using those thinking skills to solve problems, evaluate information, etc.
As was already covered in the Information Literacy reading, evaluating information is an important part of information literacy. Information is used for a variety of things, one of which is problem solving. Imagine you had a question about your health. There are a variety of ways that you could obtain information that could help you. Likely you might receive advice from a friend or relative, google your question, or ask your doctor. You must evaluate each piece of information you receive. If you use bad advice or information, you could make yourself sick.
Critical thinking skills are an indispensable part of information literacy.
This class aims to build and develop students’ critical thinking skills by learning to evaluate information. We will attempt to use the Socratic method as much as is possible, where we ask open-ended questions and encourage students to think outside the box and question unexamined beliefs.
If we do not learn to think critically, we could be fooled by faulty information and perpetuate problems that are being caused by mis- and disinformation. But if we think critically, and analyze information before using it (sharing it on social media, using it to justify our beliefs, or using it as evidence for a paper) we can be part of the solution.
Note: Critical Thinking is the main reason students are asked to not use AI in this course. When you utilize generative AI to answer deep questions, you outsource your thinking, thereby not learning to think critically. Artificial Intelligence has its place, but it is not in this course.