{"id":2052,"date":"2025-07-21T16:25:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T16:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/?p=2052"},"modified":"2025-07-24T08:50:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T08:50:10","slug":"critical-thinking-in-the-age-of-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/21\/critical-thinking-in-the-age-of-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Critical Thinking in The Age of AI"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With AI-generated content everywhere, convincing, polished, and often dead wrong, students need more than digital literacy. They need <em>intellectual grit<\/em>. They need the tools to question, to evaluate, to not fall for the first thing that sounds authoritative. They need the skills of AI.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Is Critical Thinking?<\/h3>\n<p>We\u2019ll start with two foundational definitions:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>John Dewey (1933)<\/strong> described it as <em>\u201cactive, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends\u201d<\/em> (p. 9).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Robert Ennis (2015)<\/strong> called it <em>\u201creasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do\u201d<\/em> (p. 32).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Dewey gives us the process, slow down, don\u2019t react, <em>think<\/em>. Ennis gives us the goal, make decisions worth standing behind.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Critical Thinking Matters?<\/h3>\n<p>Here\u2019s the short list. Critical thinking:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Protects us from manipulation<\/li>\n<li>Improves decision-making<\/li>\n<li>Helps us challenge assumptions<\/li>\n<li>Makes us better citizens<\/li>\n<li>Sharpens our learning<\/li>\n<li>And especially now helps us spot misinformation, disinformation, and outright nonsense<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ennis\u2019s Critical Thinking Dispositions (2015, p. 32)<\/h3>\n<p>Ennis (2015, 32) outlines 12 key dispositions. These are habits of mind. They reflect a willingness to think carefully and fairly:<\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Seek and offer clear statements of the question<\/li>\n<li>Seek and offer clear reasons<\/li>\n<li>Try to be well-informed<\/li>\n<li>Use credible sources\u2014and name them<\/li>\n<li>Take the total situation into account<\/li>\n<li>Stay focused on the central concern<\/li>\n<li>Be alert for alternatives<\/li>\n<li>Be open-minded\u2014seriously consider other views and withhold judgment when needed<\/li>\n<li>Take a position when the evidence supports it\u2014and change it if needed<\/li>\n<li>Seek appropriate precision<\/li>\n<li>Try to \u201cget it right\u201d to the extent possible<\/li>\n<li>Employ your critical thinking skills\u2014use them, don\u2019t just learn them<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If you\u2019re teaching CT and skipping dispositions, you\u2019re only doing half the job. Skills without the will to use them don\u2019t get you far.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ennis\u2019s Critical Thinking Skills (2015, pp. 32\u201333)<\/h3>\n<p>Here\u2019s the skill set. These are the intellectual moves students need to <em>practice<\/em> not just learn about:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Have a focus and pursue it<\/li>\n<li>Analyze arguments<\/li>\n<li>Ask and answer clarification questions<\/li>\n<li>Understand and use graphs and math<\/li>\n<li>Judge source credibility<\/li>\n<li>Observe and judge observation reports<\/li>\n<li>Use background knowledge and situational context<\/li>\n<li>Deduce and judge deductions<\/li>\n<li>Make and judge inductive inferences<\/li>\n<li>Make and judge value judgments<\/li>\n<li>Define terms and evaluate definitions<\/li>\n<li>Handle ambiguity and equivocation<\/li>\n<li>Attribute and evaluate unstated assumptions<\/li>\n<li>Think suppositionally<\/li>\n<li>Recognize and deal with fallacies<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Not all of these need to be introduced at once. But they should be scaffolded, modeled, and used regularly in student work.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Paul &amp; Elder Framework: Elements of Thought<\/h3>\n<p>Here\u2019s the other piece I use with students: Paul and Elder\u2019s <em>Elements of Thought<\/em>. It\u2019s deceptively simple: eight elements that show up every time we think critically (or fail to):<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cWhenever we think, we think for a purpose within a point of view, based on assumptions that lead to implications and consequences. We use concepts, ideas, and theories to interpret data, facts, and experiences in order to answer questions, solve problems, and resolve issues.\u201d<br \/><em>(Paul &amp; Elder, 2014, p. 14)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Let me break those down:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Purpose<\/strong>: What are you trying to achieve with your thinking?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Question<\/strong>: What are you trying to figure out?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Information<\/strong>: What data or evidence are you using? Reliable?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Inferences<\/strong>: What conclusions are you drawing?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Concepts<\/strong>: What theories or frameworks are shaping your thinking?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Assumptions<\/strong>: What are you taking for granted?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Implications<\/strong>: If you\u2019re right, what follows?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Point of View<\/strong>: From what perspective are you seeing this?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Students don\u2019t need to memorize this. But they need to start asking these questions, <em>and hearing them asked<\/em>, in the classroom.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n<p>James Paul Gee once warned about the \u201cculture of amateurism\u201d created by Web 2.0. AI is accelerating that. Now, anyone can produce content that looks polished and persuasive with no expertise, no accountability, and no truth-checking. This is why we teach critical thinking. This is why we <em>must<\/em> integrate it across the curriculum. I created the visual below to help you get started, use it, adapt it, share it. And follow the references if you want to go deeper.<\/p>\n<p>Because teaching students <em>how to think<\/em>\u2014not what to think\u2014is still our best defense.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-207167 lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Critical-thinking-simply-explained-1-768x1024-1.png\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ennis, R. H. (2015). <em>Critical thinking: A streamlined conception<\/em>. In M. Davies &amp; R. Barnett (Eds.), <em>The Palgrave handbook of critical thinking in higher education<\/em> (pp. 31\u201347). Palgrave Macmillan.<\/li>\n<li>Dewey, J. (1933). <em>How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Reflective Thinking to the Educative Process<\/em>. D.C. Heath and Company.<\/li>\n<li>Paul, R., &amp; Elder, L. (2014). <em>The miniature guide to critical thinking concepts and tools<\/em> (8th ed.). Foundation for Critical Thinking.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.educatorstechnology.com\/2025\/07\/critical-thinking-in-the-age-of-ai.html\">Critical Thinking in The Age of AI<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.educatorstechnology.com\">Educators Technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With AI-generated content everywhere, convincing, polished, and often dead wrong, students need more than digital literacy. They need intellectual grit. They need the tools to question, to evaluate, to not fall for the first thing that sounds authoritative. They need the skills of AI. What Is Critical Thinking? We\u2019ll start with two foundational definitions: John [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pedagogy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2052"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2055,"href":"http:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052\/revisions\/2055"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}