I started teaching middle school students in 1995. The school was private, with a strong governing association, so there was some discretion regarding what and how things were taught. My main subject was social studies, specifically American history. I noticed that the term “critical thinking” was sprinkled about the textbook we were using, but the term was never actually defined. 

Our textbook offered critical thinking questions that seemed easily answered by reciting the facts disclosed in each chapter. Surely this exercise required no more than rereading the book.    

My interest in critical thinking was piqued and I began to do some research. It seemed that a definition was in order, so I looked for it. There are many published definitions for this process, but I will try to provide a simple, workable, universal definition: Critical thinking is the ability to recognize problems and arrive at solutions. One might also cite decision-making using a set of discrete skills that critical thinkers employ.  

Let’s try a real-world example to show the process of making a decision or solving a problem using critical thinking skills. Your current apartment building is being converted to condominiums and you are not interested. Your child is approaching school age and you would like to own a home instead of renting. Looks like it’s time to go house hunting. 

Start by asking what is most important to your family as you search for your new home. Do you want a particular part of town? Is proximity to work a major consideration? Is there a particular school or district you want for your child? What is your housing budget? Will you need another car? What about bedrooms, bathrooms, a swimming pool or neighborhood associations? 

When considering these and many other questions, a critical thinker employs a variety of skills to help arrive at the best answers. Some of these skills are finding reasons and conclusions, generating possibilities, comparing and contrasting, classifying and recognizing relevance, as well as significance. Each of these skills assists in evaluating options. 

We have already discovered a reason as our apartment building no longer meets our needs, so the conclusion is that we want to find our own house. In our search, we generate possibilities by exploring the areas that meet our needs of proximity to work, school or family.

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After identifying a specific area, we can begin to compare and contrast different homes and neighborhoods. We can classify aspects of houses into number of bedrooms, one- or two-story, large yard or small lot, street or cul de sac.  

Next, we begin comparing houses after narrowing the selections. The skill of comparing and contrasting should prove to be most helpful at this point, but it is important to keep in mind that comparisons must be accompanied by an evaluation of what is more or less important to us. 

Purchasing a house, a car, a vacation cruise, changing jobs or choosing a college -- these are all decisions that people make every day. Those who are able to employ critical thinking skills often come out ahead because they are working with facts and information to help arrive at a realistic conclusion.

Knowing something is not the same as being able to use that information and critical thinkers are not any more or less intelligent than anyone else. They just are able to employ the process and skills that could lead to a satisfactory outcome.  

Critical thinking affects all aspects of life, not just a major decision as noted above. These skills play a role in just about any decision or problem that confronts us. When using these cognitive skills, we tend to ask questions and carefully examine the answers we receive. Terms like credibility, precision, relevance, depth, breadth and significance often permeate the thinking process.  

Critical thinkers are often seen as skeptics because they won't settle for uninformed responses. They are persistent in requiring accuracy and veracity when examining the information being used to make a decision. 

How does one become a critical thinker? Accident of birth? Good teachers? Super intelligence? Actually, critical thinking skills can be taught and learned. Some children are raised in a family where their parents, siblings, grandparents or others already possess these skills and they pass them on. Others absorb the skills from their total environment; for example, an auto mechanic learns many of these questioning techniques from working with other mechanics as they try to diagnose a problem with a car. Same with electricians or plumbers. 

We can apply critical thinking skills all day, every day. They are the key to making fact-based decisions that make life more productive (and comfortable). We are bombarded on social media and the internet with information, ideas, theories, accusations, excuses, scams and just plain misinformation. Good thinkers ask the right questions to get to the bottom of many false claims and bad advice that emanates from these sources.  

To learn more about these techniques, visit The Foundation for Critical Thinking. 

This guest column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Times-Union. We welcome a diversity of opinions.