critical thinking & reasoning

7/28/2019 Critical Thinking & Reasoning

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CRITICAL THINK ING & REASONING

Prepared By

Dr. Ahmed Yakout

Lectured ByProf. Adel El Hennawy

Prof. Abdel Wahab El Ghandour

Dr. Walid El Khattam


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REFERENCE

R. Paul, R. Niewoehner, and L. Elder, The

Thinkers Guide to Engineering

Reasoning, 2nd edition, 2006.

M. Mostafa, Technical Repo rt Wri t ing,

Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams

University .


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TALK OUTLINE

1. Critical Thinking

a. A Model For Critical Thinking

b. Intellectual Standards

c. Elements of Thought

d. Intellectual Traits

2. Reasoning

a. Inductive Reasoning

b. Deductive Reasoning


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1. CRITICAL THINK ING

Critical thinking is routinely applying intel lectual

standardsto the elements o f thoughtas they

seek to develop the t rai ts o f a mature

eng ineer ing m ind.


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1.1 A Model of Critical Thinking


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1.2 In tel lec tual Standards

1. Clar ity : understandable, the meaning can begrasped

2. Accu rac y: free from errors or distortions, true.

3. Relevance:relating to the matter at hand

4. Log icalness :the parts make sense together,no contradictions.

5. B read th : encompassing multiple view points.


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1.2 In tel lec tual Standards

6. Prec is io n: exact to the necessary level of detail.

7. Signif ic ance: focusing on the important, not trivial.

8. Comp leteness: something is whole, nothing ismissing.

9. Fairn ess : Justifiable, non self serving or one sided

10.Depth:containing complexities and multiple viewpoints.


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1.3ELEMENTS OF THOUGHTS

1. Purposes

2. Ques tions

3. Po in ts of v iew

4. In fo rmation

5. In ferences

6. Concep ts

7. Implicat ions

8. Assum ptions


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1.3 ELEMENTS OF THOUGHTS

When we

understand the

structure ofthought, we ask

impor tant

quest ions

implied by thesestructures.


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1.4 INTELLECTUAL TRAITS

1. In tellec tual Humi li ty : is knowledge ofignorance, sensitive to what you know andwhat you dont know.

2. In tellec tual Au tonomy :is thinking for oneselfwhile adhering to standards of rationality.

3. In tellec tual In tegr ity :consists of holdingyourself to the same intellectual standards youexpect others to honor (no double standards)


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4. In tellec tual Courage:is the disposition toquestion beliefs about which you feel strongly.

5. In tel lec tual Perseverance:is thedisposition to work your way throughintellectual complexities despite frustrationsinherent in the task.


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6. Con fidence in Reason:is based on thebelief that ones own higher interests andthose of humankind at large are best served by

giving freest play to reason.

7. In tellec tual Empathy :is awareness of theneed to actively entertain views that differ from

your own, especially those with which youstrongly disagree.


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8. Fair m indedness :is being conscious of the

need to treat all viewpoints alike, without

reference to ones own feeling or vested

interests, or the feelings or vested interests ofones friends, company, community or nation.


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2. REASONING

Reasoning occurs when we draw conc lus ionsbased on reason.

Reasoning includesAnalyzing and InterpretingInformation and Data where,Trends are observed,Percentages are determined, Common Sense is

applied, and Logical explanation is given to Draw

Conclusions and Formulate Recommendations.


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EXAMPLE 1


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SOLUTION

Company 1 has the largest power reserve.

Company

no.Reserve Power

(MW)

Average Unit

Capacity(MW)

Generation

Cost($/MWh)

1 450 164.285 100

2 288 87.52 503 - 680 345.556 25

Table 2 Reserve and unit capacities of three electric companies.

Company 3 needs to buy extra power from other companies to

supply its loads.

Company 3 should buy the total reserve 288 MW of company 2

as it is cheaper and then buy the rest 392 MW from company 1.

Company 3 has the largest unit capacity, while company 2 has

the least.


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EXAMPLE 2


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If Figure 1 shows some experimental results,

Discuss the figure.

Figure 1 Potential difference versus current.


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SOLUTION

Resistance changes with temperature.

The relationship is nonlinear for coil in air.

Resistance increases for coil in air.

Resistance is constant for coil in water.

The relationship is linear for coil in water.


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2.1 Two basic categories o f

human reasoning

Deduct ion:reasoning from general premises,which are known or presumed to be known, to morespecific, certain conclusions.

Induct ion:reasoning from specific cases to moregeneral, but uncertain, conclusions.

Both deductive and inductive arguments occur

frequently and naturallyboth forms of reasoningcan be equally compelling and persuasive, andneither form is preferred over the other (Hollihan &Baske, 1994).


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2.2 Deduction Vs. Induc tion

Deduct ion:

commonly associated

with formal logic.

involves reasoning from

known premises, orpremises presumed to be

true, to a certain

conclusion.

the conclusions reachedare certain, inevitable,

inescapable.

Induct ion

commonly known as

in formal logic, or

everyday argument

involves drawing uncertaininferences, based on

probabilistic reasoning.

the conclusions reached are

probable, reasonable,plausible, believable.


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2.3 Sample Deductive and

Induc t ive A rguments

Example of Deduc t ion

major premise:All

tortoises are

vegetarians

minor premise:Bessie

is a tortoise

conclusion:Therefore,Bessie is a vegetarian

Example of Induc t ion

Boss to employee:

Biff has a tattoo of an

anchor on his arm.He probably served in

the Navy.


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Induct ive or deduct ive

reasoning? A sample of fifty motorists

who were stopped by acheckpoint on a Saturdayat midnight revealed that

one in four drivers wereeither uninsured,intoxicated, or both.Thus, if you get involvedin an accident on the

freeway there is a 25%chance the other motoristwill be drunk or

uninsured.

The Law of the Sea treatystates that any vesselbeyond a 12 mile limit is ininternational waters. The

treaty also states that anyvessel in internationalwaters cannot be legallystopped or boarded.Therefore, when the U.S.

Coast Guard interceptsboats coming from Cuba orHaiti more than 12 milesfrom the U.S. coast, it isviolating the Law of the Sea.

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