Critical thinking: reasoned decision making (Coursera)

Critical thinking: reasoned decision making (Coursera)

Making decisions in today's world, a world increasing in complexity, with broad changes and uncertainty, creates the need of approaches that allow us to discern the real problems and the causes that create them. Identifying these problems, in most cases, requires challenging the assumptions on which we base our judgments, regarding the world and its realities. Critical thinking could be defined, as "that way of thinking - on any subject, content or problem - in which the thinker improves the quality of his thinking by seizing the inherent structures of the act of thinking and by subjecting them to intellectual standards".

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Critical thinking helps making decisions within a company, selecting the best action for the organization.
In this course of critical thinking the students will learn the tendencies, approximations and assumptions on which their reflections are based, and the conditions and the outcomes derived from their ways of thinking. This reflective thought is the active, careful and persistent examination of all beliefs in the light of the fundamentals that support them and their conclusions.
The reasoned decisions that the world requires, occur in many different areas, especially in business decisions, related to strategies, in the solution of problems in organizations, in the solution of social problems and in corporations’ social and ethical responsibility. In this online course the approaches will be oriented to analyze the critical thinking required in these areas.

What You Will Learn

  • Employ a methodology for the application of critical thinking
  • Analyze the standards of critical thinking practice
  • Apply critical thinking to groups

Course 2 of 3 in the Leadership and Critical Thinking Specialization

Syllabus

WEEK 1: Thinking for our times
WEEK 2: Evaluating our ways of thinking
WEEK 3: Elements and standards of critical thinking
WEEK 4: Articulating our decisions

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

3D Printing Hardware (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

3D Printing Hardware (Coursera)

This course will provide an in-depth exploration of desktop 3D printing hardware. It will examine the history of desktop 3D printing and demonstrate how 3D printers are made and how they work. This course will also provide step-by-step instructions for how to use and repair a 3D printer. It will also explore the different types of materials that can be 3D printed and will demonstrate how you can create various objects using these tools and materials.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Fundamentals of Organization (Coursera) Coursera
Politecnico di Milano

Fundamentals of Organization (Coursera)

Organization is a fundamental theme to understand the real functioning of each company or, more in general, of any institution, and it is part of the basic know-how of each manager. Organization design implies decisions on how work is subdivided and how coordination between the various activities and people who autonomously perform them is guaranteed.

Sep 14th 2026
3 Weeks
Design Thinking and Global Startup (Coursera) Coursera
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology - KAIST

Design Thinking and Global Startup (Coursera)

This course offers a systematic engineering design methodology: Stanford Design Thinking for preparing global startup. The course empathizes the whole Stanford design thinking process, "Empathy-Define-Ideation-Prototype-Test," for building a startup with a business model that has a “customer truly need” component.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Finance for Everyone: Debt (Coursera) Coursera
McMaster University

Finance for Everyone: Debt (Coursera)

In Debt, we take on one of the most challenging financial questions that remains unresolved: How much to borrow? We start by demonstrating why using debt has always been and continues to be a great temptation, particularly when borrowing costs are historically low. We identify conditions for selecting the optimal amount of debt for a corporation looking to maximize its value. You’ll become fluent in related concepts like norms and benchmarks.

Sep 14th 2026
4 Weeks
New Product Development - develop your own new product (Coursera) Coursera
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

New Product Development - develop your own new product (Coursera)

New product development is essential for the survival of many companies in the Hi-Tec sector, as well as other sectors. The percentage of sales of successful business organizations tied to the successful Introduction of new products and services is high. However, the failure rate of new products development projects is also high and therefore there is a need for a methodology based on a well-designed process as well as tools and techniques to manage New Product Development (NPD) projects. Since most companies develop new products, it is important to you as a manager to be familiar and understand the basic concepts and terminology of NPD projects. This course will give you holistic view of the new product development arena and will help you gain specific knowledge in how to select, plan, monitor and control a new product development project, using the proper tools and techniques.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Les partenariats qui changent le monde : alliances innovantes entre entreprises et associations (Coursera) Coursera
ESSEC Business School

Les partenariats qui changent le monde : alliances innovantes entre entreprises et associations (Coursera)

Ce MOOC, crée en partenariat avec Le RAMEAU, a pour vocation de vous aider à mieux appréhender la dynamique des partenariats entre entreprises et associations. Que vous soyez une entreprise responsable, soucieuse d’avoir un impact positif sur votre communauté, une association désireuse d’augmenter votre impact, ou si vous êtes tout simplement curieux de comprendre pourquoi est-ce que secteur privé lucratif et structures d’intérêt général travaillent ensemble, ce MOOC est fait pour vous !

Sep 14th 2026
4 Weeks
Sustainable Vikings: Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility in Scandinavia (Coursera) Coursera
Copenhagen Business School

Sustainable Vikings: Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility in Scandinavia (Coursera)

This course gives you immediate access to the world leading sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. Scandinavian firms dominate the major sustainability and CSR performance indicators including the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). In this course we explore the concepts of sustainability and CSR and focus attention on how Scandinavian firms, like Novo Nordisk, have achieved superior sustainability and CSR performances.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
International Business I (Coursera) Coursera
University of New Mexico

International Business I (Coursera)

We live in a world of intensifying global relationships, one in which international business has become the key determinant of economic development and prosperity. This course, Global Business Environment, Part I, introduces students to a fundamental understanding of the socioeconomic political, cultural, and linguistic environment in which international businesses operate.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
The Marketing Plan (Coursera) Coursera
IE Business School

The Marketing Plan (Coursera)

Create your own Marketing Plan for your own product or service idea. In this course you will learn how to produce arguably the most important marketing tool for any business. Rather than simply learning the stages of The Marketing Plan, you will be asked each week to complete a peer graded assignment which will help you complete a simplified version of the plan.

Sep 14th 2026
4 Weeks
Costos para los Negocios (Coursera) Coursera
Universidad de Chile

Costos para los Negocios (Coursera)

Al completar el curso, los participantes podrán: a) Analizar los elementos, las estructuras, los métodos y los sistemas de costeo propios de una empresa, utilizando diversas herramientas, para identificar los posibles tipos de cálculos a generar. b) Calcular costos, utilizando diversos procedimientos acordes a los tipos de objetos de costos, estructuras, procesos y sistemas, con el propósito de obtener información relevante para la empresa que permitan una adecuada toma de decisiones. c) Elaborar e interpretar informes de costeos de objetos del costo, basándose en la información recabada y los datos obtenidos, con la finalidad de proponer diversas recomendaciones que permitan efectivas toma de decisiones.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Behavioral Finance (Coursera) Coursera
Duke University

Behavioral Finance (Coursera)

We make thousands of decisions every day. Do I cross the road now, or wait for the oncoming truck to pass? Should I eat fries or a salad for lunch? How much should I tip the cab driver? We usually make these decisions with almost no thought, using what psychologists call “heuristics” – rules of thumb that enable us to navigate our lives. Without these mental shortcuts, we would be paralyzed by the multitude of daily choices.

Sep 14th 2026
3 Weeks