Apply a Critical Thinking Process

Scenario Exercise

This scenario exercise helps Learning & Development professionals apply a critical thinking process to avoid being distracted by emotions and biases when attempting to solve a problem. Participants need to reflect on the scenario problem and make choices on how to proceed. This practice helps participants widen their perspectives about people and situations and allows for more strategic thinking when faced with business problems.

Audience: Learning & Development Professionals

Skills used: Instructional Design, E-learning Development, Visual Design, Storyboarding, and Mockup

Tools: Articulate Storyline and Adobe Photoshop

Problem and Solution

Most seasoned L&D professionals have at least one story where they rushed to create a learning experience that an executive requested—only to see it fail to solve the problem. If only they had taken the time to apply a critical thinking process, they would most likely have gained the insights needed to reveal the steps of a reliable, sustainable solution.

While interviewing several training managers, curriculum developers, and facilitators—I learned that nearly all of them were using various elements of critical thinking to help them solve challenging problems. However, none of them were applying a critical thinking process that incorporated proven steps and tools to identify a problem’s meaning, root causes, and possible solutions.

Once I identified the problem, I applied my own critical thinking process to uncover the root causes. Using deductive reasoning and a mind map, I discovered that the L&D professionals were not using a critical thinking process because they lacked knowledge of the various process steps and the skills to implement them. I also used a cause-effect diagram to determine the knowledge and skill gaps were negatively impacting the professionals’ abilities to establish and implement effective solutions, training or otherwise.

Next, I analyzed the details of the critical thinking process knowledge and skill gaps and determined an online, asynchronous scenario practice exercise would be an effective solution. Lastly, I conducted a SWOT analysis to help identify my solution’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The results showed that the solution should bring about desired behavior changes and improve the professionals’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills.