Category: Decision-making

By Scott Dockins

Though I lack statistical data, I am willing to bet it is safe to assume that most have heard “What were you thinking?” a time or two. Am I right? As a child, I heard this often. As a parent, I say it often. I still hear it, too, but not from my parents, from my wife. As Forrest Gump said: “Sometimes we all do things that, well, just don’t make no sense.” (1). You may be wondering what this has to do with being a college student, and I must confess, I am wondering the same. Just kidding. Or am I? Implicit in Forrest Gump’s statement is our ability to use reason to form conclusions, i.e., make decisions, and as you have likely “deduced,” the more adept our reasoning abilities, the greater the probability that we avoid “…do(ing) things that, well, just don’t make no sense.” (1), both in and out of academic and professional settings. Now, my exploration of reasoning and decision-making will be broad and terse; my goal is too “prime” that gelatinous thing between your ears, a.k.a. your brain, so you begin your college career thinking about thinking (metacognition) and thus improving your ability to think critically and efficiently in and out of the classroom. First on the agenda is metacognition, then inductive and deductive reasoning, and finally, I will conclude with decision-making, all of which are skills every college student needs to hone to be successful, whether a freshman or beyond.