The Academics of Critical Thinking Every institution of learning is rooted on a logical-thinking foundation. critical thinking is used to make a good system better. According to Logical, Critical, and Creative Thinking By T.N. Turner Pearson Allyn Bacon: “[w]hen evaluation is based on analysis, as it normally is, then critical thinking involves often complex logical reasoning. Critical thinking requires comparing a personal [institutional, or corporate] set of experiences and values to current experiences, newly encountered data, and decision- and judgment-demanding situations.” Meagan Meehan in The importance of critical thinking says: “[h]omeschoolers have an advantage for learning critical thinking skills because they can largely make their own curriculum and incorporate critical thinking lessons into it”
To us it really doesn’t matter if the education is institutional or home grown, the importance is acquiring the skills. Here are our 5 steps to critical thinking during Armis game play juxtaposed with the same steps in relation to academic success:
1) Analysis and Assessment
2) Planning
3) Risk Assessment
4) Action
and
5) Reaction, Effect, and Experience
1) Analysis and Assessment - before you start any endeavor is important to know the rules that govern it. For Armis you should read the rules; the equivalent for any level of school is reading the syllabus.
Then familiarize yourself with the environment, for Armis that means knowing the game board and player pieces; for school that mean knowing your teacher/professor, classmates, school building/campus, and key faculty (Principal, Dean, Advisers).
Now that you know what you are expected to do and where you are expected to perform the next step is to assess values so that you properly budget your efforts and resources.
2) Planning - In Armis there are over a million ways to properly setup , so after a setup is formed you should map and manage offensive and defensive strategies; for school you do the same with respect to an offensive strategy, the defensive strategy is less academic and more social. However, if it can impact your academic performance in a meaningful way it must be factored into your planning.
3) Risk Assessment - this is where you say "What if?", not just "What if he does?", but also "What if she doesn't?" for the game it is weighing probabilities that a player will do, or not do, certain actions; for school it has more to do with what can happen if you don't do as expected or planned. Not only on the macro level: 'what if I don't graduate', but also on the micro level: 'what if I oversleep, barely eat, or fail to exercise', 'what if I skip a class, or a homework assignment?'.
4) Action - for Armis this is where you make your move; for school this is where you: participate in class, hand in homework, take a test, and/or submit a paper.
and
5) Reaction, Effect, and Experience - for Armis it is as much how your opponent’s reacts (or lack of reaction) as much as what effect that specific move has on the rest of the game. For school it is about how the instructor and class respond to your class participation, the teacher's feedback on a homework assignment or term paper, your professor’s feedback on a paper, as well as your academic ranking.
Everything counts, as such the information that make up 1 - 5 including your opponent’s move, we consider to be a single whole experience. Each move you make should be made with the intelligence of your experience. Likewise, everything you do, or don’t do, during your time in school impacts your academic success.
continued at: http://www.armisgame.com/Home/armis-for-schools-worldwide/critical-thinking