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Question?

Why do YOU study

for a Degree?

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What is Thinking?

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As you start asking questions and seek answers, you are in fact thinking.
What is Thinking?
Thinking is a purposeful, organized
cognitive process that we use to make
sense of our world.

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 Thinking is any mental activity that helps to
 solve a problem.
 answer a question.
 make a decision.
 fulfill a need to understand something.

 We think about lots of things every day, e.g. our current

studies, postgraduate studies later on, career & future life.

 We also think about less complicated things, such as what

to wear today, what to have for dinner tonight, whether to
watch TV or go shopping, surf the Internet or check 5
email, etc.
Are they thinking?

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Are they thinking?

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Are they thinking?

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Are they thinking?

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 Thinking Outside the Box ? ? ? ?

Thinking Outside the Box ? ? ? ?

Thinking Outside the Box ? ? ? ?

Thinking Outside the Box ? ? ? ?
Thinking Outside the Box ? ? ? ? 10

Thinking Outside the Box ? ? ? ?

The Human Brain
• Some facts about the brain:
• Average weight of the brain is 1.5 kg.
• Average size is approx. 1400 c.c.
• Sends or receives messages through nerves.
• Nourished by oxygen through blood supply.
• The brain consumes a large amount of blood,
equal to three full aluminum soft drink cans per
minute.
• You can become a better thinker by
learning how to use your brain to its
maximum potential, something which you 11
will learn in this course.
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Suggestions for Improving
Brain/Thinking Capabilities

• Learn a new language will provides a

workout for our brain’s prefrontal
cortex, which affects decision making.
• Drink plenty of water 14
Suggestions for Improving
Brain/Thinking Capabilities
• Reduce your time in checking your text
messages, email, and tweets on your
smartphone disrupts focus and saps
productivity.
• Learn to play a musical instrument.

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Suggestions for Improving
Brain/Thinking Capabilities
• Solve puzzles-reduce
alzheimer’s disease and
dementia for aging adults.
• Eat yogurt.
• Write using a pen or pencil
every now and then.
• Activity such knitting help
refine one’s motor ability
bolster one’s cognitive skills.
• Eat turmeric.
• Eat chocolate.
• Become an amateur critic
• Avoid crowded areas.
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• Eating garlic & fish
Left-Brained or Right-Brained?
• We tend to be inclined to
think that we use only one
side of the brain depending on
our personality & traits.
• Roger W. Sperry (left), an
American psychologist,
concluded through research
that humans actually use both
sides of the brain, though not
in equal proportions.
• So, humans do not entirely
use only one side of the brain
and not utilize the other side.
• Thus, some may be more left-
brained than right-brained &
vice versa.

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Youtube Video : The Most Amazing
Facts About The Human Brain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=D33Aj5w061g

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The Two Hemispheres
of the Brain
• Capabilities of • Capabilities of
the Left the Right
Hemisphere: Hemisphere:
• Science. • Arts.
• Math. • Music.
• Analysis. • Philosophy.
• Logic. • Religion.
• Language. • Instinct/Intuition.
• Reasoning. • Creativity.
• Organization. • Non-verbal
communication. 19
20
Level of Thinking

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Levels of Thinking

McWhorter, (2008) describes 6 level of

thinking:

•Level 1: Remembering.
Recalling & repeating information.
•Level 2: Understanding.
Understanding ideas, sequences, rules &
following directions.
•Level 3: Applying.
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Applying knowledge to new situations.
Levels of Thinking
• Level 4: Analyzing.
Through analysis, one can understand
relationships, one can break complex
information into simple pieces, or one
can analyze how things work.
• Level 5: Evaluating.
Making judgments & assessing the
value or worth of something.
• Level 6: Creating.
One can compile ideas & information in
a unique way to create something new. 23
Thinking Developed The Idea
and Action!!

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Why is Thinking Important?
• Thinking has become an essential part
of life.

• During our education years, we are

urged to think about what we learn &
study, as well as to solve problems
that come our way.

• When we start working, we are

expected to contribute to our
workplace by generating ideas, solving
problems that occur at work, & making
decisions that help our organization 25
become better.
Characteristics of Good
Thinkers
• Good thinkers tend to
produce more & better
ideas.
• They look at problems and
issues from different
angles.
• They are more willing to
take risks.
• They come up with unusual
and imaginative ideas.
• They base their conclusions
on evidence, not feelings.
• They are not afraid of
negative responses.
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Habits that Hinder Thinking

• Mine-is-better habit: This habit

makes us feel superior to others,
sometimes in terms of ideas, values,
social status, culture, religion, among
other things.
• Face saving: This is a habit that
people use to protect their image,
honor, or reputation, especially when
something has gone wrong, to shield
them from blame or shame. 27
Habits that Hinder Thinking
(contd.)
• Resistance to change:
This habit makes us reject
new ideas & new ways of
seeing or doing something,
so we get left behind. We
become like a cow; once a
cow, always a cow.
• Conformity: Conformity
in certain matters of life is
good, like obeying traffic
rules. But when it comes
to generating ideas & new
thinking, conformity is
discouraged, & thinking
out of the box is better.
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Habits that Hinder Thinking
(contd.)
• Stereotyping: This
is an extreme form of
generalizing. It is
usually a fixed,
irrational idea
maintained about
something or
somebody.

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Habits that Hinder Thinking
(contd.)
 Self-deception: Many
people deceive
themselves about their
competency, pretending
to others that they are
knowledgeable.

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Conditions that are
Conducive to Thinking
• Time: Do you think
better in the morning,
afternoon, evening, or
late at night?
• Place: Do you need
absolute peace & quiet
to think (like at a park
by the lake), or can
you think in crowded
& noisy places, like at
the bus stop or coffee
shop?
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Conditions that are
Conducive to Thinking (contd.)

• Physique: A poor physical condition may

affect thinking negatively, e.g. lack of
sleep.
• Emotions: People going through a
difficult, emotional period of their life find
it more difficult to think.
• Attitude: People with low self-esteem
often are not able to think adequately as
those with high self-esteem.
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 Answer Ourselves For a Few
Questions;
Are you OPEN MINDED about other people’s view?

Are you HONEST to yourself (or others) when you are wrong?

Do you have the COURAGE and PASSION to take initiative and

confront problems and meet challenges?

Are you AWARE of your own biases and preconceptions?

Do you WELCOME CRITICISM from other people?

Do you have INDEPENDENT opinions and are not afraid to 33

disagree?
“Thinking” from an
Islamic Perspective

• There are several words

that mean “thinking” in
Arabic (depending on the
context), and they include:
• Fikr.
• Tafkir.
• Tafakkur.
• “Tafakkur” is perhaps
closest in meaning to the
abstract word “Thinking”.

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 Synonymous Quranic terms
- the Quran has used the following terms as synonyms for
tafakkur:

1. To consider or Nazara

Have they then never considered (God’s) mighty

domination over the heavens and the earth,
and all the things that God has created?
(Al-A’raf: 185) 35
Synonymous Quranic terms
2. To insight or Tabassur

Say thou: “This is my way: I do invite unto Allah, -

on evidence clear as the seeing with one’s eyes, –
I and whoever follows me. Glory to Allah, and
never will I join gods with Allah.”
(Yusuf: 108)

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Synonymous Quranic terms
3. To ponder or Tadabbur

All this have We expounded in this blessed divine writ

which We have revealed unto thee (O Muhammad), so
that men may ponder over its messages, and those
who are endowed with insight may take them to heart.
(al-Shad: 29)
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 Synonymous Quranic terms
4. To fully understand and comprehend or Tafaqquh

Behold how many facets We give these messages,

so that they might understand the truth.

(al-An’am: 65

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Synonymous Quranic terms
5. To bear in mind or Tadhakkur
And he makes clear His messages unto mankind, so that
they might bear them in mind.
(al-Baqarah: 221)

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Synonymous Quranic terms
6. To learn a lesson from or I’tibar

“Learn a lesson then, O you who are endowed

with insight.”
(al-Hashr: 2)

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Synonymous Quranic terms

7. To use one’s mind correctly and to reason or

Ta’aqqul

Verily! the vilest of all creatures in the sight of

God are those deaf, those dumb ones who do not
use their reason.
(al-Anfal: 22)

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Synonymous Quranic terms
8. To contemplate or reflect (tawassum)

Verily, in all this there are messages indeed for

those who can read the signs.
(al-Hijr: 75)

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Qur’anic Verses that
encourage thinking
• In the field of Tawhid to direct
man’s attention to the Creator.

“Those who remember Allah while

they are standing, sitting, lying
down on their sides, and think
deeply about the creation of the
heavens and earth, (saying): Our
Lord! You have not created all this
without purposes, glory be to
You! Save us from the torment of
the Fire.”

(Ali-’Imran: 191) 43
Qur’anic Verses that
encourage thinking (contd.)
• Learn lessons from the
Holy Qur’an:

“Narrate to them the

stories, so that they
may reflect.”

(al-A’raf: 176)
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 Qur’anic Verses that
encourage thinking (contd.)
• Reflect upon the beginning
of everything:
“Say (O Muhammad): Travel
in the land and see how He
(Allah) originated creatio
n.”

(The Spider/al-’Ankabut: 20)

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 Barriers that Hinder
“Tafakkur” according to
Islam
The Holy Qur’an mentions certain factors that influence “Tafakkur” or
“Thinking” negatively:

1. Ignorance and not being aware of the truth.

2. Turning away from the truth.
3. Blind following of (un-Islamic) traditions.
4. Blind following of lusts and desires.
5. Arrogance.
6. Hypocrisy.
7. Reliance on conjectures.
8. Conscious denial of the truth after being convinced about it.
9. Lying about the words of God.
10. Being influenced by Satan 46
Memory
• Most people think of
memory as being
either good or bad.
We marvel at people
who can remember
details of an event
that happened a
long time ago. As
we get older, we
recognize that our
memory isn’t as
good as it used to
be.
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The Stages of Memory
• Elizabeth Loftus (right),
an American professor
of psychology,
concluded from her
numerous research
studies that memory
was a process, and that
there were three main
stages of this memory.

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The 3 Stages of Memory

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Types of Memory

• Memory is affected by
input, storage, &
output conditions.
E.g. if a student does
not listen carefully to
a lecturer in a class,
he may lose part of
the information being
delivered, so his input
may not be complete,
& this will affect his
memory of the
information later.
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Types of Memory

• Immediate Memory: This involves

things that we remember a few
seconds or minutes after they happen.
• Short-term Memory: This involves
remembering information over a period
of several hours or days.
• Long-term Memory: This deals with
information remembered over weeks,
months, or even years.
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Improving Our Memory
• Break down information
into manageable chunks.
That way the smaller pieces
will be easier to remember
because they are in a simpler,
less complex form.
• Use organizing stationery
or gadgets to help you
remember. When you go
shopping, write what you
need to buy in a list. Use
your smartphone, tablet or
laptop computer to help you
recall certain kinds of
information that you easily
forget.

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Improving Our Memory
(contd.)

• Concentrate more. During the acquisition

and retrieval stages of memory, try as much
as possible to eliminate all distractions so 54
that you can focus on the information that
you need to remember or recall.
Improving Our Memory
(contd.)
• Use various sensory
modes. Use as many senses
as possible to take in
information. E.g. listen &
watch what your lecturer says
in class.
• Use association. Associate
a name with another item.
E.g. The American
psychologist, Alfred North
Whitehead, says thinking of
many ideas is always better
than thinking of only one
idea. His surname,
Whitehead, can be recalled by
just looking at his picture on
the right. Doesn’t he have a
white, balding head? 55
Improving Our Memory
(contd.)
• Use mnemonics. Use certain short
formats to remember certain
information. E.g. the colors of the
rainbow in English can be recalled
through VIBGYOR (Violet, Indigo, Blue,
Green, Yellow, Orange, Red).
• Relate present information to past
information. Relate what you learn
today with relevant material that you
learned last semester or last year.
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What this course is
about?
• This course comprises a number of topics that
deal with creative thinking & problem solving,
namely:
• Chapter 2: Thinking styles.
• Chapter 3: Thinking Tools.
• Chapter 4: Creativity.
• Chapter 5: Critical Thinking.
• Chapter 6: Problems & Issues.
• Chapter 7: Problem solving & Decision making.
• Chapter 8: Thinking Culture & Innovation.
• Chapter 9: Innovation & Product Development.

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Activities

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 Creative Thinking

How , Why , When, What

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What do you understand by this
picture

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If you think it is only
illusion
Then look back it is
Optical Illusion

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IT’s TIME TO TEASE YOUR BRAIN

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Me in You

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One who teach should learn
One who learns can teach

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 Amazing but True
 Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs.                                                 
                                                                                     
                                                                                             
  cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty  uesdnatnrd waht I was
rdanieg. The    phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig  to
a rscheearch at Cmabrigde
Uinervtisy,                                                                                           
 it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the  ltteers in a wrod are, the olny
iprmoatnt tihng is taht the   
 frist and lsat  ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl
mses and you can sitll  raed 
 it wouthit Prblem                                                                                       
 Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey  lteter by
istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.     
 Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas  tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
if                                 
  you can raed tihs psas it                                                 
                                                                                               
                    

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 Believe
• Believe – Your Self
• Believe- Your Intuition
• Believe – Your Words
• Believe – Your Action
• Believe – Your Beauty
• Believe – If you cant then no one can

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Example of Creative and Critical
Thinking Activities
• How would life be different if there were no electricity? List three different
ways.
• Explain a flower to someone who has never seen or heard of one before.
• Write a story about the zoo without using the names of any animals.
• Pretend that you get to make one rule that everyone in the world must
follow. What rule do you make? Why?
• You can have any three things that you want. In return you must give away
three things that are about the same size as the things you get. What do
you get and what do you give away?
• What are some ways you could celebrate "Backwards Day?"
• Are you more like a square or a circle? Why?
• How would the game of soccer be different if the ball was shaped like a
cube?
• What are three ways the world would be different if people did not need to 67
sleep? What would you do with the extra time?
• What would happen if all the bowling balls and bowling pins in the world suddenly became
alive?
• Which do you think is more important: motorized vehicles like cars and airplanes or
computers? Why?
• If you could choose one thing that costs money and make it free for everyone forever, what
thing would you choose? Why?
• If you could live in a tree house, would you? What are three advantages and three
disadvantages to living in a tree house?
• If people could not see colors, how would traffic lights work? Design a traffic system that
does not rely on colors.
• What are the ten most important jobs in the world? Do you want to do any of these jobs
when you are an adult?
• Pretend that parents have to take a test before they can have children. Write six questions
that would be on the parenting test.
• If you could invent a new subject that would be taught to all children in school, what would
the subject be? Why do you think children need to learn about your subject\?
• If you could talk to trees, what do you think they might say? Create a conversation between
you and a tree.
• Are you more like a river, a lake, an ocean, or a waterfall? Why?
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