A500.5.3.RB – Critical Thinking About Critical Thinking

11 November 2015

Richard Martinez

MSLD 500

            As I was reflecting on the current state of my critical thinking I have noticed a change in how I was thinking and think about things in general. I now maintain a disposition that is open to change. My thinking has become very organized and purposeful. Before I didn’t evaluate all the evidence or do any deliberate exploration and investigating. These are just a few of the new process that I am now doing in my critical thinking. I feel that it has become easier for me to make the connections between things that I am thinking about. I have always been the type of person who asked questions when I did my thinking but I feel that now I am asking better questions and more of them. My reasoning has improved and I consciously see that I am utilizing the elements and standards of reasoning. I hope that this is something that stays with me as I move forward in this Master of Science in Leadership program and in my daily life.

            Another area of improvement for me is being able to internalize some of the techniques and concepts that were taught in this course so far. I have noticed that I am now raising vital questions to problems and have been able to formulate them clearly and precisely. I am communicating more effectively as well as my thinking has become more open minded. I am trying to apply the SEE-I (State, Elaborate, Exemplify, and Illustrate) process in everything that I do. I haven’t mastered it yet but I have noticed a change in things. I am still working on trying to improve the SEE-I process as I apply it to my critical thinking.

            To make lasting and positive changes in the way I think I need to continue to apply what I have learned in my critical thinking. As with anything the more you do something the better you become at it. It’s no different with my critical thinking. I now have a better understanding of what I need to do to improve my critical thinking. The more I continue to apply critical thinking concepts the more natural it will become for me. With the improvements in my critical thinking I have notice that my writing has improved a great deal. Based on my background in the military I have always been the person who asked a lot of questions about things and was always very observant. Even my wife has noticed a big difference in me and has seen a difference in our conversations with each other. Ultimately I want to continue to improve my critical thinking as well as my reasoning and as I continue to do it more and more then it will eventually become second nature for me.