Essays

Associate Level Material

Appendix A

Stages of Critical Thinking

Complete the matrix by identifying the six stages of critical thinking, describing how to move from each stage to the next, and listing obstacles you may face as you move to the next stage of critical thinking.

Stages of Critical Thinking | How to Move to the Next Stage | Obstacles to Moving to the Next Stage |

EXAMPLE:The Unreflective Thinker | Examine my thinking to identify problems that affect my thinking. | Deceiving myself about the effectiveness of my thinking |

The Challenged thinker | Thinkers move to this stage when they become initially aware of the determining role that thinking is playing in their lives. | Get past the everyday thinking that causes problems in my life. |

The Beginning thinker | Learn how to understand how I can take charge of and improve basic thinking problems. | Modifying my thinking. |

The Practicing thinker | Recognizing that problems exist and attack them. | Be sure I have all the right insight to the problem. |

The advanced thinker | Establish good habits of thought which are “paying off”. | Understanding the problems at deeper levels of thought. |

The Accomplished thinker | Take charge of monitoring, revising, and re thinking strategies. | Staying committed to fair minded thinking. |

Write a 150- to 200-word explanation of your current stage of critical-thinking development and explain why you placed yourself at that stage. Format your paragraph consistent with Associate Level Writing Style Handbook guidelines.

I will put myself in the stage of The Beginning thinker. I like to take up challenges and take explicit command of my thinking across multiple domains of my life. I do have some basic problems in my thinking at times and I am trying to improve those problems.