Critical and Creative Thinking: A Brief Guide for Teachers

Critical and Creative Thinking: A Guide for Teachers reveals ways to develop a capacity to think both critically and creatively in practical and productive ways. Explains why critical and creative thinking complement each other with clear examples Provides a practical toolkit of cognitive techniques for generating and evaluating ideas using both creative and critical thinking Enriches the discussion of creative and critical intersections with brief “inter-chapters” based on the thinking habits of Leonardo da Vinci Offers an overview of current trends in critical and creative thinking, with applications across a spectrum of disciplines

Table of Contents:
Preface xi Acknowledgments xiii About the Website xv Part One Introducing Critical and Creative Thinking 1 Essential Critical Thinking Concepts 3 What Is Critical Thinking? 4 Habits of Mind 5 Why Intellectual Habits and Character Matter 7 Overcoming Obstacles to Thinking 8 A Model for Critical Thinking 13 How You KnowWhat You Know 14 Perception and Knowledge 15 Being Wrong 23 Why Errors Persist 25 Applications 27 References 30 Interchapter 1 Facts and Knowledge 32 2 Essential Creative Thinking Concepts 36 What Is Creative Thinking? 37 Seeking Alternatives and Possibilities 38 Reversing Relationships 41 Cross-fertilizing 42 Shifting Attention 42 Denying the Negative 43 The Creative Habit 46 Creative Confidence 48 Creative Theft 49 Creative Crime 51 Creative Questions 52 Applications 56 References 58 Interchapter 2 Sustaining Curiosity 60 Part Two Practicing Critical and Creative Thinking 3 Becoming a Critical and Creative Thinker 65 Becoming a Critical Thinker 66 Intellectual Standards as Guidelines for Critical Thinking 67 Language and Thought 67 Reports, Inferences, and Judgments 69 The Prevalence and Power of Metaphor 74 Innovating through Analogy 78 Becoming a Creative Thinker 79 Developing the Creative Habit 80 Focus 83 Solo and Group Creativity 85 Concepts as Cognitive Tools 87 Applications 90 References 95 Interchapter 3 Embodying Experience 96 4 Critical Thinking Strategies and Applications 101 The Nature of Argument 102 Claims, Evidence, and Assumptions 102 Evidence: Claims and Warrants 105 Inductive and Deductive Reasoning 106 Sherlock Holmes as a Logical Thinker 109 Syllogisms, Enthymemes, and Argument 112 Argument and Authority 113 Argument and Analogy 114 Argument and Causality 116 Causality, Coincidence, and Correlation 120 Further Causal Consequences 122 Applications 123 References 129 Interchapter 4 Blending Art and Science 130 5 Creative Thinking Strategies and Applications 133 Imagination First 134 Imagination, Creativity, and Innovation 135 The Limits of Imagination 136 Capacities for Imaginative Thinking 137 Why Ideas Are Important 139 How to Get Ideas 140 Creative Whacks 147 Being Practical/What Iffing 153 Combining Things 156 Using Paradox 157 Thinking the Unthinkable 160 Applications 161 References 164 Interchapter 5 Combining Connections 166 Part Three Applying Critical and Creative Thinking 6 Decision Thinking: Making Critical Decisions 173 Making Decisions 174 Affective Forecasting 180 Achieving Insights that Affect Decisions 184 Institutional Decisions 186 Incentives and Decisions 188 Decisiveness 189 Making Tough Decisions 192 Making Group Decisions 194 Applications 195 References 198 Interchapter 6 Embracing Ambiguity 200 7 Ethical Thinking: Making Ethical Decisions 205 Basic Ethical Concepts 206 Ethics, Values, and Virtues 209 Ethical Imagination 213 Cosmopolitanism and Global Ethics 218 Technology and Ethics 220 The Ethics of Information 222 Ethical Decisions 224 Ethical Provocations 225 Applications 227 References 231 Index 233

About the Author :
Robert DiYanni is Adjunct Professor of Humanities at New York University. He has authored or edited a variety of books, including Literature: An Introduction, The Scribner Handbook for Writers, Occasions for Writing, Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities, and Modern American Poets: Their Voices and Visions.