Essay
Critical Thinking
- Institution
- The Open University (OU)
Critical Thinking essay for Discussion Forum Unit 4 in Online Education Strategies
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Online Education Strategy (UNIV 1001)Discussion Forum Unit 4
Job postings often state that the successful applicant must have superior critical thinking and
problem-solving skills. Yet employers tell college administrators that graduates, both from
undergraduate and graduate programs, often lack these skills.
1. Having read this week's assigned materials, how would you define critical thinking?
2. Why are employers making these comments? Are they justified – should colleges be
responsible for teaching critical thinking? If not, whose job is it?
Critical Thinking
1) There are many debated variations of critical thinking, but I like skillsyouneed.com's idea
“Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally, understanding the logical con-
nection between ideas.” (2021). I believe Critical thinking is having the ability to analyse,
apply and evaluate information from a variety of situations using a variety of observations,
experiences and communication.
2) I think employers require future employees to have “superior critical thinking skills” and
there could be a few reasons why undergraduates and graduates are being told this.
To begin, Critical thinking is a skill you can/should learn. It's not an automatic thought process. The
education system doesn't provide such a course until later on in the pipeline (or not at all) so stu-
dents aren’t taking the skills required for interviews. In addition, Critical thinking is “a high order
cognitive skill” (Van Gelder,T, 2004, p. 7). It's not an easy skill to master and it takes years to per-
fect.
I think the main reason employers are looking for this skill is that hiring undergraduates/graduates
is a risk. It comes with a minimum investment demand in training them, along with salaries being
paid. They are hoping the investment pays off and they can fill important roles in the organisation.
I do think employers are justified in their requirements for future employees and their comments on
them. Whilst the workplace is forever evolving, they might feel universities should be doing more
to help educate the current generation in this advanced skill. It would seem some universities are
stuck in a routine and are less responsive to the needs of the workplace. You’d think most organisa-
tions require critical thinkers now to complete tasks at a higher standard in a shorter time, so there’s
no better time for them to make these comments when interviewees are below standard.
Word count - 304
references:
Critical Thinking, SkillsYouNeed. (2021). www.Skillsyouneed.com. Retrieved December 3, 2021,
from https://www.skillsyouneed.com/learn/critical-thinking.html\
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