Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life (3rd Edition)

I was first introduced to the Paul/Elder Approach to Critical Thinking in graduate school. Had I learned and used this information to help me ask good questions and think for myself, in elementary school and onwards, I would have likely avoided making some seriously bad decisions in my youth, and in my early and mid-age.I am presently in the middle of an advanced online certificate course on how to teach critical thinking through the author's foundation. I have this book and an older edition of this book, and I have several well-worn booklets by the same authors.The authors have taken great care to attempt to clearly and thoroughly, and step-by-step, teach how to comprehensively think about our thinking and the thinking of others. There is nothing like this significant information, and the training they provide anywhere else, or not that I am aware of.The information provided within all of their literature, like this book, have definitely helped me improve the clarity and effectiveness of my thinking and decision-making. This has positively impacted not only my own personal life, but that of my family, who are effected by what I think and do.

For faculty members: stop reading this and move onFor students having to buy this book: buy the older version and save your moneyI was a student in a class that used this book as part of the curriculum. In this text, there were no "ah-ha!" moments, nor were there any concepts I could really take and use in my critical thinking in every day life. There is little thinking at all with this book other than "why was it assigned to class?" This book suffers from a severe lack of real-world application. Even the authors struggle to pose hypothetical cases to support their points.In many cases, this book seems to be a defense of itself. The authors argue that one must use critical thinking to find value in things and to just shrug them off is a sign of "weak-sense" critical thinking. It might also be worth noting that they attempted to use the text, verbatim in many parts, for another book:  Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life .Faculty, this book is fluff and your students deserve better. Just for reference, my course used a companion book which I would recommend. Though it is not specifically about "critical thinking," I was able to gain more critical thinking skills and apply it more often to my life than P+E's book. Try this one:  Why Decisions Fail . You have a duty to your students, and using this text, in my humble opinion, is simply being negligent.

I'M IN A CRITICAL THINKING CLASS. THIS CLASS EVOLVES AROUND ALL THERE IS TO BUILD YOUR BRAIN IN THINKING CRITICALLY CONCERNING ALL ASPECTS OF YOUR LIFE. IT IS OPENING NEW OPPORTUNITIES IN WHICH I NOW VIEW DECISION MAKING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING WITH THE CRITICAL THINKING TOOLS PROVIDED IN THIS BOOK. I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK NOT JUST FOR COLLEGE BUT TO USE IN YOUR EVERYDAY WALKS OF LIFE. IT IS AN EXCELLENT INVESTMENT. THANK YOU, AMAZON!

I would highly recommend this book for any one. The book teaches you to become more fair-minded and think more logically. I like how the author teaches you the fundamentals of critical thinking and how to apply what you have learned in your every day Life. This is a great book for anyone taking a starter course, especially if they are just starting college!

I know its a rental but didn't expect the book to arrive being this beat up.

This book is horrible, and I would not recommend it to someone who doesn't *have* to read it. If there were negatives stars, I'd give it -5! I'm reading it because it is required in a critical thinking course - someone clearly did not read this book themselves! The writing is trite, the authors repeat themselves repeatedly (that was an intentional demonstration), and sometimes they repeat themselves but just in a different way than they repeated themselves the first time. The writing level is more on par with high school level (10-12) than college. Every chapter begins with 'this is what we're going to teach you' followed by this is what we're teaching you ending with we have taught you this. Overall the book is poorly planned. It's almost as if the writers hired a ghost writer who had never written a text book in his or her life. If I haven't made it clear yet, I am not impressed with this book by any measure.

It has helped me out a lot for class and life

Great product for the price

This book is academic in content but yet it is easy to read and clearly gives the reader excellent skills in thinking in different perspectives. The brilliant writers are well knowledgeable and the way they have organised the book helps the reader to not only practice the skills and strategies given but to also understand how these tools work. I really rate the way the theme is developed using a model based on Theory, Practice and then Attitude. This must be the best book I have read on Critical Thinking and I thoroughly recommend it both on a personal and professional level. Buy it!

The correct book