Connecting the Dots: A Writer’s Reflection on Critical Thinking and Synthesis
When I was a school librarian and first started teaching middle and high school students how to do research in 2004, the information landscape was drastically different than it is now. Yes, they were using the internet, but Wikipedia was considered an unreliable, forbidden resource for any purpose at all (now, depending on your topic, it might be a reasonable place to get an overview before starting real research). And I had to teach my students that anyone could write anything and post it online. They couldn’t just blindly believe something because they “found it on Google.”
When I left teaching after twelve years, I had just researched and written my first self-published book about parenting and I became a family and life coach. Soon after, I studied copywriting and marketing, first for my own business, then for clients. I always have to ask critical thinking questions to write copy. (Eg, Who is the audience? What are the author’s credentials and reliability? Are the facts substantiated? etc.)
Three-plus years ago I began researching material to write a major book about discipleship (which is close to being published… but isn’t quite… yet). My husband still teases me because I have shelves and shelves of books, most of which I haven’t “read”. But I’ve dipped into 85% of them either to gather information for the book, or because I was interested in the topic and wanted to get “some more” information.
Writing has never been a linear process for me. Even with my hand-written papers in college, I was always writing things in the margins and putting arrows to show where the sentences belonged. Heavy, clunky computers with word processing – in the late 1980s when I was first in grad school – were a lifesaver. Today, ChatGPT is my daily researching and writing friend to bainstorm, get my wheels turning, and give me something to work with.
In short, I taught critical thinking skills to students (which, sadly, too many people give up when they get to be adults). And I’m very used to skimming and scanning through the Table of Contents, the online reviews, the Amazon reading sample, and key paragraphs of a book, to zero in on the content that I’m looking for. I see now that the first gift of writing the discipleship book has been what God has taught me about himself and following Jesus. But another gift has also been learning how to gather information, sift through it, make connections between things, and synthesize everything into either more understandable content, or even something totally new.
After reading and viewing all the assignments for this week, I would say that although I already have a system that “works” for note-taking, I could use an upgrade in my note-taking strategies. Obsidian is new to me, and I’m eager to see how it can help me connect even more dots, even more efficiently than I already do. I look forward to working with Obsidian and the “Zettelkasten” method.
About the Author
Debbie Owen
Deborah C. Owen is an experienced spiritual director, Neuro-based Enneagram executive and life coach, disciple maker, professional writer, senior librarian, and long-time church Music Director and lay leader. She has earned the award of National Board Certification for teaching excellence, and a podcasting award, and is pursuing a Doctor of Leadership degree through Portland Seminary at George Fox University. She lives in the backwoods of Maine with her husband and flat-coated retriever. She spends as much time as she can with their 3 grown children, daughter-in-law, and 2 small grandchildren. Find her online at InsideOutMinistries.info.18 responses to “Connecting the Dots: A Writer’s Reflection on Critical Thinking and Synthesis”
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Debbie, I am glad that your experiences can serve you well in this current journey. Did the ChatGPT prompts that Dr. Mario Hood used in the seminar today give you any different perspective on how to approach AI? I appreciated how specific he was. I started being very generalized. Interesting, ChatGPT reminds me of a librarian helping someone find books in a local library. Only this one is electronic.
Diane, thanks for asking about the AI workshop. Yes! I did learn some new things from Dr. Mario, even though I use it just about every day. It got me experimenting with some new uses. 🙂
Hi Debbie, first, Congratulations on your “close to being published book. I am glad that you are already in the rhythm of skimming and scanning. As you already have a note-taking system, it would not be a challenge to transition to Obsidian.
Like you, I use AI to brainstorm to aid my work.
Shela, it’s good to hear you have also found the uses of AI for brainstorming. And thanks for noting the upcoming book. Now I just need a few big chunks of time to finish….
Debbie, Congratulations on your books, published and yet to be published. I’m glad that you taught critical thinking skills to your students. I looked over the Guide to Critical Thinking and feel like many of the college students I interact with need to either learn it or need a refresher. At the University where I work all students take a humanities class titled “Discipleship of the Christian Mind.” Student, in that class, are taught about intellectual integrity and a term Dr. Kim Phipps, President of Messiah College, terms intellectual hospitality. Intellectual hospitality would be similar to what Paul and Elder term fairmindedness. However, I think the students need to learn the other Essential Intellectual Traits. I plan to pass that book along to those who design the course. I think it is great that you have embraced using AI. I’ve played around with ChatGPT some over the past year and enjoyed today’s presentation. I find it interesting that I am using a form of AI to type my posts as the computer keeps trying to finish my sentences and sometimes, I hit the tab key to accept the suggestion.
I love that course title, “Discipleship of the Christian Mind”. I love how the title frames our relationship between our minds and following Jesus. I also love “intellectual hospitality”. Thank you for sharing these terms with me!
Great post Debbie!
Regarding critical thinking, you said, “too many people give up when they get to be adults”. I’ve been thinking about this – and I think you’re absolutely right. Why do people tend to struggle with critical thinking? I’ve noticed that some take notes for recollection rather than understanding. These same people have a hard time shifting from information gathering to critical thinking and problem solving.
Are there any generational patterns that you’ve observed? As a leader, do you have any tips for helping others to think critically? Would love to hear your thoughts on this!
Christy, good questions. But what I meant when I said, “people give up critical thinking as adults” is they forget the lessons they learn in school about “who said/wrote this? are they reliable? are they credible? what are the facts? what do I think about the facts? etc.”
What I meant is I know – and see around me – too many people who just live in their feelings and most of our feelings come from a place of fear. So they/we don’t think critically; we just feel fear. And that drives our decisions. It’s discouraging, especially on a regional and national (and global) leve.
Great post Debbie and thank you for sharing. I didn’t know, or had forgotten, that you were a librarian. Libraries are my favorite indoor places in the world! I’m so grateful we are in a small group together because I learn from you every time you share and I appreciate the way you are incorporating Ai into your research and writing.
If there was one critical thinking question every adult would ask each day, what would you prefer it to be?
Thank you Ryan, and what a great question!
For me, the question is, “How can I be more like Jesus in each situation today?”
That question encompasses my thought world, which impacts my feelings, all of which impact my behavior and thus, my relationships. Maybe not a typical “critical thinking” question, but certainly the most important one.
Congrats on the book Debbie! I enjoyed hearing about the varying transitions in your professional life. It certainly sounds like all your experiences have set you up with a strong foundation when it comes to reading and writing. Will you remind me of your NPO?
Thanks Akwese. My NPO has changed, lol! The research question I just handed in for this week’s assignment reads,
How can church leaders increase self-awareness and intentional self-care to flourish joyfully in life, ministry, and disciple-making?
oooh I love this! Will be eager to follow along and see what you uncover 😊
Debbie, in reading your background and successes, I have no doubt you will do just fine in note-taking, writing and critical thinking. You have a great foundation for this program! I will be interested to see what your project looks like when we are all finished!
Chris, thank you. I’ll be interested too, as it has shifted from last fall! Has yours?
no.. I am more excited than ever after doing the last paper!
Debbie, I am excited to glean from your research and writing experience! You mentioned having a system of note-taking that works but could use an upgrade. What stood out from the reading this week as a possible upgrade?
Good question Chad. I think the upgrade will be putting my notes into Obsidian so I can see the connections between notes and sources, which should – I expect – help me make even more mental connections. Thanks for asking! It’s useful to articulate it. 🙂