Critical Thinking and Problem Solving -- A MOOC

[Rocky]

For anyone who might be interested.

Edx, an online platform delivering MOOCs, Massive Open Online Courses, regularly sends me email listing course offerings.

Both Edx and Coursera offer many (if not most or all) of their courses for free unless you'd like an official certificate for completing each course.

Today I learned that the Rochester Institute of Technology, a world renowned engineering school, is offering one they call Critical Thinking and Problem Solving.

The hitch is that the class is oriented to business applications rather than the Humanities. But I have to figure there'd be at least some overlap.

About this course

Skip About ts course

In today's business environment, organizations have identified critical thinking and problem-solving as skills that are integral to an employee's--and their organization's--success.

The most successful professionals can assess the environment, analyze a situation, design a solution, and ultimately win in a competitive scenario.

This course, part of the Soft Skills Professional Certificate program, will demystify, discuss, and provide application techniques for critical thinking and problem-solving in a business context. Learners will draw connections to their work experience by analyzing and critiquing case studies. Best practices for problem-solving will be discussed and illustrated including how to weigh alternative solutions, incorporate feedback from stakeholders, and how and when to start over.

This course may be audited free of charge. Learners also have the opportunity to earn a verified certificate of completion. Exclusive learning opportunities such as live events hosted by subject matter experts will be available for verified learners.

Learning objectives include:

How to perform strategic analysis and assessment

How to perceive and assess a critical need and design a tailored solution

How to identify key stakeholders and ensure their needs are met

How to employ adaptive problem-solving

How to work through obstacles collaboratively

How to analyze failure to improve future performance

 

[WordWolf]

I'd never heard of this before.  However, I think it's a good thing,  The possibility of learning so many things for free online is, IMHO, one of the most fantastic things about the internet.

[Raf]

I used to think I was a critical thinker. The more I think of it, the more I question that.

Learning logical fallacies and recognizing when you've employed them is humbling.

 

 

[Rocky]

1 hour ago, Raf said:

I used to think I was a critical thinker. The more I think of it, the more I question that.

Learning logical fallacies and recognizing when you've employed them is humbling.

 

 

Very much so. And every human is subject to doing so.

[WordWolf]

"I used to think that the human brain was the most fascinating part of the body.  Then I realized, 'Well, look what's telling me that.' "- Emo Phillips.

 

 

Seriously, though...

The good news is that we're not exceptions- everybody does this to some degree, whether a little or a lot, so it's not just us that can be fools at times.   Furthermore, we can get better, and we can keep getting better, if we put some work into it.   We won't  "arrive"- there's no "destination".  It's a little like Zeno's Paradox.  We can eliminate 1/2 our faulty thinking and bad habits, then we can eliminate 1/2 of what remains, then 1/2 of what remains still,  and so on.    The effort is worthwhile, IMHO.  

[waysider]

7 hours ago, WordWolf said:

if we put some work into it.  

Well, I knew there had to be a catch.