Discipline is a must in performing tasks more accurately and efficiently and not be tempted to make quick decisions. Critical thinking requires anaysis and step by step evaluation of information in order to reason logically and get to the correct solution.
Rhodri,
Thank you for sharing this student example with us. I know it will benefit many instructors as you have given a step by step procedure to work through to help a student that was probable going to fail in the field to become successful. You gave him a strategy to follow so he could and would include all of the needed steps as he provided patient care. I live success stories and this is one of them.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I'd like to use an example to answer this question. I teach in a healthcare field, and had a student who just couldn't seem to grasp the process involved in developing a comprehensive treatment plan based on information in the patient's chart. Through some trial and error, we discovered that he was just reading the chart and haphazardly choosing interventions that he could remember from class. I started by modeling for him: we reviewed a chart together, and I explained the thought process of identifying the patient's problems, concerns and goals, then thinking of specific interventions that might apply to each problem, then analyzing which of these interventions were realistic for that particular patient. The student then practiced this process on several cases on his own. He eventually learned the process.
It took some disciplined thinking for him to slow down and ask the critical questions required for success, rather than skipping to the last step and ultimately failing. I've found this myself as well. I tend to want to skip the intermediate thinking steps in order to save time, but this will often result in my missing important aspects of the problem or solution.
Elizabeth,
Thank you for these comments as they really reflect the value that students need to associate with their ability to "read" a situation and then move toward a solution. Skill in this area is what shapes many careers in the medical field.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
It is easy to jump to conclusions and apply braod generalizations to a clients problem. One of the disiplined processess required in nursing is to find out what the client sees as a problem. It is usually not the medical diagnosis, but one of the effects of the disease that interferes with the client's life choices. There is where the nurse needs to focus, and it requires disipline to focus on the client's concern not the nurse's concerns.
Robert...I couldn't agree more. We are living with the Wikipedia generation. In each of my classes, I try to personalize homework and pose open-ended questions that require them to engage their frontal lobe. They must think critically for themselves and about their life circumstance in order to come to the answer or solution. They cannot simply "Bing" or "Google" it. I have had some amazing self-reflective papers submitted and critical dialogue articulated in class. These exercises have helped my students, at all levels, realize they can critically think. Although it was/is not easy, they have felt rewarded and enlightened through this journey of discovery.
Ariana,
You hit upon something that many students overlook in developing their knowledge and skills. Self-discipline. It is essential and history bears out that successful critical thinkers have all had self-discipline as they refined their abilities as problem solvers.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Discipline is essential in performing tasks more accurately and efficiently. Critical thinkers need to hace discipline when assessing situations and not be tempted to make quick decisions. Critical thinking requires careful anaysis and step by step evaluation of information in order to reason logically.
Germain,
Good point and the reason that critical thinking courses are being offered all over the educational scene. Students are trying to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills at a point in their life when they have a lot of urgency in doing so and as a result they often miss critical steps in the critical thinking process. They are in need of learning how to learn in many cases.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
It really shouldn't surprise us that students don't know how to structure their learning. After all, their entire lives are often structured externally (by helicopter parents who program their entire days/weeks/months for K-12 and beyond if allowed). They haven't had to puzzle out how to do anything. They've been led all the way.
Agreed. A vested interest breeds excitement (positive, or tension), and excitement fuels activity leading toward the end goal.
Miriam,
You raise a very good point about being able to walk through solutions steps when faced with a problem or challenge. Critical thinking does take personal discipline because without it decisions may be made that have serious consequences and do not solve the problem.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I have found personal discipline helpful in critical thinking because it leads me to explore all of my options. I am actually aware that I "overthink" things at times which can delay my actions/responses but I feel more comfortable with that than "jumping into decision". Personal discipline can help guide a student through the steps of critical thinking.
Kevin,
You got that right. All of my students have "skin in the game" because they have chosen to enroll in college and pay tuition to attend but they often don't see it in such light. The problem is that they often forget that it is their future that they are creating. We instructors have already graduated and are or have been in our field. We are there to help them be successful but they must put forth the time and effort needed to be successful and if they don't they are going to be out of the game very quickly.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
It has been my experience in teaching that when students have a vested interest (skins in the game)discipline will follow. So as an instructor it is critical to create the interest in students.
Paul,
Good discussion on how individuals need to develop a personal system of organizing and using their cognitive processing. Discipline in the critical thinking arena is means developing a personal system of steps to follow to solve problems and see big picture solutions. Individuals need to develop this form of self discipline because many of today's careers are based upon problem solving and solution seeking.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Discipline sounds a little threatening in this day and age, but I take it to simply mean teaching. It is also a very subjective term and can mean different things to different people. Some may consider it punishment. Others just formal rules. When students learn they need some degree of personal discipline even if it just means taking notes or some other method of remembering what was taught. Personal discipline helps because it gives students a way to absorb what is taught. It may come in different forms, but it is necessary in the critical thinking process.
Mike,
So true. Today's culture seems to overlook the value of self discipline. Learning is a long term effort that requires discipline and our students need to realize this. By providing them with diverse learning opportunities we are giving them the opportunities needed for learning success. It is up to them to have the discipline to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
When I think of personal discipline, I think of practice and the phrase practice makes perfect. Discipline is absolutely necessary to learning anything well. One needs to practice reasoning and analytical skills in order to become an astute critical thinker. -Mike
Erin,
I agree in a big way. So many of my students do not want to invest in themselves via discipline to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to be critical thinkers or problem solvers. There is no quick fix to experience and expertise. We acquired knowledge and expertise through self discipline and they have to as well.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
