- Level 1
- At the first level of critical thinking, you will learn to observe and analyze your personal perspective which includes the way in which you currently solve problems as well as your individual biases and assumptions. You will learn to analyze the limitations of your current state of knowledge and personal perspective and begin to ask questions to clarify and interpret your perspective on issues. At this level, you will also have the opportunity to demonstrate that you understand the difference between opinions or subjective statements and facts or objective statements.
- Level 2
- As you progress in critical thinking skills, you will learn to draw reasonable inferences from your observations. You will learn to accurately define problems, seek out new information to clarify the problems and to identify assumptions inherent in arguments. At this level, you will learn to make rational and fair-minded arguments keeping an emotional balance when confronting opposing views. In addition, you will begin to work with issues, problems and concepts that have several potential and equally valid answers.
- Level 3
- At this level of critical thinking, you will begin to dissect the structure of arguments and identify the central points and inherent assumptions. You will begin to use a variety of different strategies to solve problems, challenging claims, and seeking out novel information to support claims. You will learn to identify and employ logical arguments. You will learn to evaluate the credibility and usefulness of information sources and identify the sources that are most helpful in a given situation. You will begin to seek out and argue in favor of opposing viewpoints to help clarify an issue. You will also become aware of the changes in your thought processes and show the ability to reflect upon these changes. You will learn to work in a collaborative fashion with problems that have multiple solutions and ill-defined answers.
- Level 4
- At this level, you will learn to make informed decisions, taking multiple perspectives and applying your knowledge and problem solving frameworks to novel situations. You will learn to think independently and tolerate ambiguity. You will habituate to the process of making decisions based on the current state of knowledge, recognizing that many intellectual problems do not have clear answers or achieve closure.
