People use critical thinking to solve complex math problems or compare prices at the grocery store. Critical thinking clarifies goals, examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, accomplishes actions, and assesses conclusions.Ĭritical thinking has many practical applications, such as formulating a workable solution to a complex personal problem, deliberating in a group setting about what course of action to take, or analyzing the assumptions and methods used in arriving at a scientific hypothesis. In other words, critical thinking is the process by which people qualitatively and quantitatively assess the information they have accumulated, and how they in turn use that information to solve problems and forge new patterns of understanding. One definition for critical thinking is 'the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. Roosevelt and Churchill in Conversation: Effective listening leads to better critical understanding. This active listening chart shows three main degrees of listening: repeating, paraphrasing, and reflecting. When engaging with a particular speaker, a listener can use several degrees of active listening, each resulting in a different quality of communication with the speaker. Active listening is most often used to improve personal relationships, reduce misunderstanding and conflicts, strengthen cooperation, and foster understanding. The ability to actively listen demonstrates sincerity, and that nothing is being assumed or taken for granted. The goal of this repetition is to confirm what the listener has heard and to confirm the understanding of both parties. Basically, an effective listener must hear and identify the speech sounds directed toward them, understand the message of those sounds, critically evaluate or assess that message, remember what's been said, and respond (either verbally or nonverbally) to information they've received.Įffectively engaging with all five stages of the listening process lets us best gather the information we need from the world around us.Īctive listening is a particular communication technique that requires the listener to provide feedback on what he or she hears to the speaker, by way of restating or paraphrasing what they have heard in their own words. These stages will be discussed in more detail in later sections. The listening process involves five stages: receiving, understanding, evaluating, remembering, and responding. Listening is an active process by which we make sense of, assess, and respond to what we hear. Regardless of how we're engaged with listening, it's important to understand that listening involves more than just hearing the words that are directed at us. Listening is a skill of critical significance in all aspects of our lives-from maintaining our personal relationships, to getting our jobs done, to taking notes in class, to figuring out which bus to take to the airport. Learning to Listen: Antony Gormley's statue 'Untitled ,' Maygrove Peace Park

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