8.2: Types of Thinking
| Thinking Still | What It Involves |
|---|---|
| 1. Remembering and Recalling | Retrieving or repeating information or ideas from memory. This is the first and most basic thinking skill you develop (starting as a toddler with learning numbers, letters, and colors). |
| 2. Understanding | Interpreting, constructing meaning, inferring, or explaining material from written, spoken, or graphic sources. Reading is the most common understanding skill; these skills are developed starting with early education. |
| 3. Applying | Using learned material or implementing material in new situations. This skill is commonly used starting in middle school (in some cases earlier). |
| 4. Analyzing | Breaking material or concepts into key elements and determining how the parts relate to one another or to an overall structure or purpose. Mental actions included in this skill are examining, contrasting or differentiating, separating, categorizing, experimenting, and deducing. You most likely started developing this skill in high school (particularly in science courses) and will continue to practice it in college. |
| 5. Evaluating | Assessing, making judgments, and drawing conclusions from ideas, information, or data. Critiquing the value and usefulness of material. This skill encompasses most of what is commonly referred to as critical thinking; this skill will be called on frequently during your college years and beyond. Critical thinking is the first focus of this chapter. |
| 6. Creating | Putting parts together or reorganizing them in a new way, form, or product. This process is the most difficult mental function. This skill will make you stand out in college and is in very high demand in the workforce. Creative thinking is the second focus of this chapter. |
| Skill Set | How You Used It in the Past Three Weeks | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Remembering and Recalling | ||
| Understanding | ||
| Applying | ||
| Analyzing | ||
| Evaluating | ||
| Creating |
| Table 8.2 Thinking Verbs | Verbs |
|---|---|
| 1. Remembering and Recalling | Bookmark, count, describe, draw, enumerate, find, google, identify, label, list, match, name, quote, recall, recite, search, select, sequence, tell, write |
| 2. Understanding | Blog, conclude, describe, discuss, explain, generalize, identify, illustrate, interpret, paraphrase, predict, report, restate, review, summarize, tell, tweet |
| 3. Applying | Apply, articulate, change, chart, choose, collect, compute, control, demonstrate, determine, do, download, dramatize, imitate, implement, interview, install (as in software), participate, prepare, produce, provide, report, role-play, run (software), select, share, show, solve, transfer, use |
| 4. Analyzing | Analyze, break down, characterize, classify, compare, contrast, debate, deduce, diagram, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, infer, link, outline, relate, research, reverse-engineer, separate, subdivide, tag |
| 5. Evaluating | Appraise, argue, assess, beta test, choose, collaborate, compare, contrast, conclude, critique, criticize, decide, defend, “friend/de-friend,” evaluate, judge, justify, network, post, predict, prioritize, prove, rank, rate, review, select, support |
| 6. Creating | Adapt, animate, blog, combine, compose, construct, create, design, develop, devise, film, formulate, integrate, invent, make, model, modify, organize, perform, plan, podcast, produce, program, propose, rearrange, remix, revise, rewrite, structure |
Key Takeaways
- List three verbs that are associated with application skills.
- What is another name for “evaluation” thinking skills?
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What thinking skills are associated with each of the following?