The Formation and Evaluation of Critical and Creative Thinking for Good Personal, Academic and Professional Performance in These New Times

Dear Colleagues,

When the first operational smartphone appeared in 2007, this pocket computer led to the development of social networks; the world began to change, and this transformation did not stop. Critical advances were made in neuroscience, and AI was fully developed in 2023, while other less striking advances have changed our world so much that this new reality demands further knowledge of our environment as new challenges arise. These are the times in which we must face new personal, professional and social problems. We must ask ourselves the following question: if our world has transformed so much so quickly, are we changing enough and at the same speed as our environment? If the answer is no, then we are fail to adapt from the perspective of survival or progress. If we are not changing enough, our survival is at risk, and if our changes are slower than those in our environment, we will not progress. That said, the question of why this Special Issue, as per the above, makes a lot of sense:

1. Because formation needs new ways of acting that prioritize imagination and critical thinking.
2. Because it is essential to evaluate these modes of formation to know whether they have worked, both in terms of the change produced and their permanence and generalization.
3. Because these improvements, if they occur, should serve to achieve better personal, academic and professional performance.

Therefore, the contributions of experts to this Special Issue are expected to enable us to better adapt to these changes and progress in the field of the formation and evaluation of critical and creative thinking, improving our responses to the challenges of this new, more uncertain world.

We know that the present times are very different from those only two decades ago. Changes and new demands require transversal competencies such as critical and creative thinking. In the academic and professional environment, we are invited, in different instances, to foster our ability to solve new problems, make sound decisions and evaluate results accurately. These new times demand innovation that requires more significant research efforts. Thinking well and from different points of view requires a more substantial development of our transversal competencies, a more critical application of these competencies and a constant and rigorous evaluation of the results. The Journal of Intelligence invites researchers in the areas that are particularly in demand today to contribute new knowledge to this Special Issue, which will allow us to face today’s challenges more effectively. Therefore, specialists in these fields are invited to submit papers, which may be theoretical or empirical, in which research problems are identified and a response to them is given. These contributions will help to advance and overcome some of the main challenges in today’s world.

Yours faithfully,

Prof. Dr. Carlos Saiz
Prof. Dr. Sílvia F. Rivas
Prof. Dr. Patricia Morales Bueno
Guest Editors

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