Albina Balidemaj

Dr. Albina Balidemaj is an Associate Dean of Students at RIT Kosovo and a clinical psychologist specializing in international community and family studies. Her research work focuses on migrant mental health and human rights with a focus on acculturation, ethnic identity, and human trafficking. Before moving back to her native Kosovo, Dr. Balidemaj had lived in Twin Cities, Minnesota.

1. How do you teach or model applied critical thinking?

I view applied critical thinking as an interactive, action-focused learning that teaches how to think logically and systematically about a situation and identify an appropriate course of action. In courses that I teach, I always ask my students 'How do you know that?’. Through this basic question I aim to help students develop an appreciation for scientific explanations of behavior. This means not learning simply about the content of psychology but how and why psychology is organized into concepts, principles, and theories and how does psychological research aid in policy or other practical applications. However, I do always try to keep in mind the environmental context where I am teaching and the previous exposure of students to applied critical thinking. Critical thinking exercises are embedded into my lectures and they usually require an application of one’s solutions to a given problem. This means that respect and collegiality must be present when exchanging and discussing one’s ideas.

2. Why do you think applied critical thinking is important in your domain or role?

One of the key learning outcomes in psychological sciences is applied critical thinking. Critical thinking in psychology provides students with a set of tools which enable them to analyze, evaluate, explain, and streamline their thinking in a field that often comes with pre-existing assumptions. Examining the validity of a hypothesis or interpreting the meaning of research results, decreases the risk of adopting, acting on, or thinking with a false premise.

3. Can you share a story where quality applied critical thinking was key to your success?

I don’t have a specific in-classroom example to share but on a personal level, I am an avid traveler. I am mostly interested in other cultures and their way of life. This has put me in environments where my own values have been examined. Traveling has helped me tremendously broaden my horizon and exercise critical thinking when considering today’s world issues.

4. How do you use critical thinking in other areas of your life outside of RIT? And any last critical thoughts?

I am often cautious when working with data sets in regards to their interpretation. Data do not always tell the full story leaving various questions remaining. Although open data has the potential to improve numerous affairs, data sets are a product of human design and as such are prone to errors, flaws and biases. Therefore, I believe that understanding and questioning the elements excluded from the data set is just as important as the data itself. I often have to remind myself of a quote by the sociologist William Bruce Cameron where he says: “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted”.

I believe that critical thinking is an exercise between analysis and logic and by practicing critical thinking, we are allowing ourselves not only to solve or question problems but also to come up with new and creative ideas.