Development of critical thinking as an important component of the professional competence of higher education students

Abstract

The article deals with the development of critical thinking skills of
students of higher education in the process of learning the German
language. The essence of the concept “critical thinking” and its
influence on educational activity are analyzed and summarized. It is
emphasized that critical thinking is the ability to analyze information
from the standpoint of logic and a personal-psychological approach,
applying the obtained results to both standard and non-standard
situations, issues, problems, etc. It is determined what qualities the
students should have and how a teacher can form these skills in
them for further use in the professional field. Considerable attention
is paid to Bloom's taxonomy in its modern version and the division of
critical thinking skills into lower (memorization, understanding,
application) and higher (analysis, evaluation, creativity) levels.
Examples of tasks for each level of the cognitive process from the
educational component “Practical course of the German language
with speaking practice” are given on the following topics:
Geographische Lage Deutschlands, Sprachenlernen, Die
bekanntesten deutschen Erfindungen, Politik in Deutschland,
Gesundheitssystem in Deutschland, Feste in Deutschland. The
proposed tasks direct the students to the development of creative
abilities, improve communication skills, and also motivate them to
study the German language