Chapter 11 Making Good Decisions

1. Chapter 11Making Good Decisions

2. Making Good Decisions – Prepare 11-2 • Decision making is the process of deciding among various alternatives • Identifying your goals • Every decision needs to start with your short and long-term goals in mind

3. Making Good Decisions – Organize 11-3 • Considering and assessing the alternatives • Develop a list of flexible alternatives • Assess your alternatives • Determine the possible outcomes of each • Determine the probability that those outcomes will take place • Compare the alternatives, taking into account the potential outcomes of each

4. Making Good Decisions – Organize 11-4

5. Making Good Decisions – Work 11-5 • Making and carrying out the decision • Choosing among alternatives • Give the decision time • Make a mental movie, acting out the various alternatives • Toss a coin • Ask for advice • Learn to view indecision as a decision • Go with your gut feeling • The final step of decision making is to carry it out

6. Making Good Decisions – Evaluate 11-6 • Considering the outcomes • Did you make the right decision? • Consider the results • Reevaluate and consider alternatives if you find you are not happy with your initial decision • It’s not a bad thing to change your mind

7. Making Good Decisions - Rethink 11-7 • Reconsidering your goals and options • There is no single decision that is best – there are often many routes to the same goal • Ask yourself: • Are my decisions still producing the desired consequences? • Are my decisions still appropriate? • Are they consistent with what I want to get out of life? • Do my decisions fit with my personal mission statement?

8. Deciding to Change Colleges 11-8 • If you are considering transferring to a different college, consider: • Do you meet the admissions requirements? • What new requirements will you have at the next school? • What courses will transfer? • Is there an articulation agreement (official pact between schools that set out course equivalency) between your prior school and your new school?

9. Problem Solving 11-9 • The process of generating alternatives to work on • What is the problem? • What are the initial facts? • What is it that you need to solve? • What is the most critical aspect of the problem to be solved? • What can be ignored?

10. Problem Solving 11-10 • Strategies • Break the problem down into smaller parts • Work backward • Use a chart or graph to redefine the problem • Use analogies • Take a different perspective • Forget about it for a while

11. Problem Solving 11-11

12. Problem Solving 11-12 • Assess potential solutions • Is there a way to refine the solution? Are there alternative approaches? • There is often no perfect solution

13. Everyday Problems in Critical Thinking 11-13 • Don’t assume that labeling something explains the problem • Don’t accept vague generalities • Don’t confuse opinion with fact • Avoid jumping to conclusions • Be skeptical of “common sense” • Don’t assume that one event causes another just because they occur one after the other