University of the District of Columbia Critical Thinker Exemplars Discussion

No matter what walk of life you come from, what industry you’re interested in pursuing or how much experience you’ve already garnered, we’ve all seen firsthand the importance of critical thinking skills. In fact, lacking such skills can truly make or break a person’s career, as the consequences of one’s inability to process and analyze information effectively can be massive.

Think of someone you have come to admire as a critical thinker. If available, ask them a few questions on how they have implemented their critical thinking skills. (If they are not available, answer the questions based on your knowledge of them). Some questions to consider include:

How did you become such a great critical thinker? What tips can you offer to someone trying to increase their critical thinking skills? How easy is it to avoid impediments to critical thinking?

Be sure to include some questions of your own.

Then, because you’re now a guru too, how would you explain/teach critical thinking to someone who hasn’t quite grasped its fundamentals? What tips would you offer them? How would you explain to them how to assess their critical thinking?

Compile your responses to Steps 1 and 2 in a 1-2 page paper