Robert Ennis
"Critical thinking," as I think the germ is generally used, roughly means reasonable reflective thinking focuses on deciding what to believe or do (Ennis 1991)."
Robert Ennis has been contributing to the discussion on critical thought for over 50 years and runs the website CriticalThinking.net. He has written countless articles and numerous books on the topic. Some of his most accessible work is his use of acronyms such as:
"FRISCO
F focus: identify the focus or central concern
R reason: identify and judge the acceptability of the reasons
I inference: judge the quality of the inference, assuming the reasons to be acceptable
S situation: pay close attention to the situation
C clarity: check to be sure that the language is clear
O overview: step back and look at it all as a whole (Ennis, 1989)"
RRA (Reflections, Reasons, Alternatives)
"1. Urge students to be reflective, to stop and think, instead of making snap judgments, or accepting the first idea that comes into their heads, or automatically accepting whatever is presented in the media.
2. Gently ask such questions as “How do you know”, "What are the reasons?" and “Is that a good source of information?” thus prodding them to have good reasons for their views and to seek reasons for others' views.
3. Emphasize alertness for alternative hypotheses, conclusions, explanations, sources of evidence, points of view, plans, etc. (Ennis 2011)"
John Dewey
Richard Paul
Robert Ennis
Others
Image: Ennis, R. H. (1989, April). Critical Thinking and
Subject Specificity: Clarification and Needed Research. Educational
Researcher, 18(3), 4-10. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1174885
