Am I a Critical Thinker?

The other day in class, Jasmine asked us a question about what we thought our group's biggest problem-solving issue was.  Initially, our group could not come up with an answer, because we honestly felt like we did not have any major issues when it came to problem-solving.  And when we said this, Jasmine told us that our biggest problem was probably lack of critical thinking.  

  After taking time to consider this, I think she was probably right in this assumption.  Because our group does get along so well all of the time, I think in some cases we might have settled on a solution without delving into it much further.  We like what the members of our group say, we respect their opinions, and we do listen to all of the options that we come up with, but sometimes I think we do not take that extra step to come up with EXTRA solutions to the problem.  

With this being said, for the next task that we are given in class, I will personally make an attempt to be more of a critical thinker and follow some of the guidelines outlined in Chapter 9.  For example, instead of just sharing opinions when analyzing the problem, I will use data and information as well.  Second, I will help our group establish criteria so we know what a good solution will look like, and third, we will evaluate the potential negative consequences of the possible solutions we have come up with.  

So the next time our group is asked what our biggest downfall to problem-solving is... we can honestly answer that we don't have one!!

-Kristen Gilson