Critical Thinking in Math

Video Transcript

"So, what is involved in critical thinking in mathematics? Hi. I'm Jimmy Chang and I've been teaching college math for nearly a decade. And we're here to talk about some things that are involved when it comes to critical thinking in math, because that is really one of the main objectives when it comes to learning mathematics and that is how to think critically. And it's not the easiest process in the world, but we're here to talk about a few things that'll help you engage in the critical thinking aspect of mathematics. The very first thing to definitely think about when you read a problem is, you need to think about what is being asked in the problem. They could be asking for one thing. There could be a two or three part problem. And, in order to get to that multi-part problem, you may have to do one part in order to solve the other part. So, you know, think about how involved the problem is. It could be a very easy one. It could be a rather involved one. But definitely think about what is being asked in the actual problem. Now, word problems take a long time to do and a lot of folks tend to get overwhelmed with it. So, one of the tips to think about when using critical thinking in any math problem is, use one sentence or phrase at a time. Break up the problem into as many little pieces as possible so that you don't feel overwhelmed when trying to solve it. So, the more little pieces you figure out, the more likely you are to figure out the big picture. Once you figure out what is being asked for an what kind of different phrases are at work, just think about what kind of operations and procedures. Are you going to be using algebra? Are you going to be using a lot of addition? Multiplication? There might be more than one equation that you might have to solve. A lot of students are visual learners, so if you draw a picture in accordance to what the problem is, it might give you a better idea as to solve the particular problem, in addition to the previous tips that we've talked about. And last but not least, once you find your formulas and draw a picture and you solve the equations, it's always important to check your answers. For example, if you want to find the width of a room, if you happen to get a negative number, it really doesn't make sense to say that your room is negative twelve feet wide, so be sure that you check your answers to make sure that the numbers make sense. So, I'm Jimmy Chang and this has been how to use critical thinking in mathematics."