A member of Sigma Theta Tau International, she has developed a wide variety of courses and seminars in nursing, communication, leadership, and is actively engaged in research and writing, as well. About the Author's Thinking Among her recent publications, Dr. Duldt has defined scholarship. It is the key characteristic of the educated person. One becomes scholarly by systematically developing habits of thinking. Critical thinking is characterized by careful analysis and judgment.
Discovery refers to the identification of new knowledge, a unique approach, or a different paradigm.
This means perceiving the subject in a new perspective, noting the gaps in the literature, seeing more questions rather than only answers to questions, and many more things like these. Integration refers to those thought processes which interpret, draw together, and bring new insight to bear on original knowledge and research. This means developing a new paradigm, reorganizing structures, and fashioning a new idea. Application refers to those ideas, old or new, which are considered as potential solutions of current problems of significance and consequence. So, problem solving is really only one element of the critical thinking, yet it seems to be discussed more readily in nursing than the other three elements.