The most difficult aspect for me is to compare, contrast and evaluate information. - Pakpao
Critical thinking is an important skill needed for university study in the UK. On your course you will be expected to learn new information about your subject but you will also be expected to reflect in a careful and critical way about what you are learning. Reflecting critically involves skills such as recognising a particular point of view being expressed or identifying the implications of an academic argument. It also involves being able to evaluate how true or useful certain information might be. Besides these, there are other skills involved in critical thinking.
These activities will help you to understand what critical thinking means in terms of your academic study and also identify which critical thinking skills you may need to develop.
What is critical thinking?
In this activity you are going to explore what critical thinking involves and the kind of approach you need to take in your studies.
Instruction
Read this text about critical thinking carefully. Some important words are missing. Think about the meaning of each part of the text, and for each gap choose a word from the list and type it in a box. Then look at the feedback to check your answers.
You can type the missing words directly into the boxes. You can delete or replace a word if you change your mind.
Critical thinking is an important requirement for successful academic study in the UK. It is basically a skill that students already have or might need to , which helps them to think in a particular way. For example, you might be asked to read a book or article from a journal for your course. If you think critically as you read, you will not automatically everything that the writer says at face value. A good academic text is likely to include ideas or opinions; some reasons for these in the form of ; and possibly some further conclusions that the writer wants to draw from this. The writer will have organised all of these elements into an academic .
A reader who is thinking and reading critically will first want to consider whether the ideas and opinions are with reasons and evidence. An unsupported academic argument is a very one. The reader will then want to the reasons and evidence given to decide if they are valid and . Evidence which does not support an idea directly may be questionable and is therefore less effective. The reader will also want to think critically about the ideas or opinions themselves to check that they are logical and reasonable in relation to the topic, and finally, to consider what might be the writer's ideas or opinions. This is particularly important if there are no arguments in the writing, offerng an opposite view that should be considered. In other words, the critical thinker needs to search for any evidence of or one-sided argument in the writing.
So the critical thinker should read and respond to a text by asking themselves questions about it before deciding whether or not to accept what the writer is saying. Critical thinking can be used when reading someone else's work or listening to someone else's ideas but it is equally important to apply this skill when writing academic assignments yourself.
Here is the text on critical thinking with the answers to the activity inserted:
Critical thinking is an important requirement for successful academic study in the UK. It is basically a skill that students already have or might need to develop, which helps them to think in a particular way. For example, you might be asked to read a book or article from a journal for your course. If you think critically as you read, you will not automatically accept everything that the writer says at face value. A good academic text is likely to include ideas or opinions; some reasons for these in the form of evidence; and possibly some further conclusions that the writer wants to draw from this. The writer will have organised all of these elements into an academic argument.
A reader who is thinking and reading critically will first want to consider whether the ideas and opinions are supported with reasons and evidence. An unsupported academic argument is a very weak one. The reader will then want to evaluate the reasons and evidence given to decide if they are valid and reliable. Evidence which does not support an idea directly may be questionable and is therefore less effective. The reader will also want to think critically about the ideas or opinions themselves to check that they are logical and reasonable in relation to the topic, and finally, consider what might be influencing the writer's ideas or opinions. This is particularly important if there are no counter arguments in the writing, offering any opposite views that should be considered. In otherwords, the critical thinker needs to search for any evidence of bias or one-sided argument in the writing.
So the critical thinker should read and respond actively to a text by asking themselves questions about it before deciding whether or not to accept what the writer is saying. Critical thinking can be used when reading someone else's work or listening to someone else's ideas but it is equally important to apply this skill when writing academic assignments yourself.
What have you learned about critical thinking by doing this task? Could you now explain to someone else what critical thinking means?
What skills are needed for critical thinking?
In this activity you are going to see how much you know about the different skills that are involved in critical thinking. You can also test yourself on what you have understood from the first activity.
Instruction
Make six descriptions of specific skills that are used in critical thinking by matching the start of the sentence on the left with the correct ending on the right. Then check your answers and read the feedback.
Click once on an item in the list on the left. This will highlight it. Then click once on a corresponding item on the right. A line will appear linking the two items together. Click on a different item on the right to change your selection and a new line will appear and replace the first line.
Use the reset button if you wish to begin the task again.
Here are the correct answers and some more explanation about these skills involved in critical thinking:
1. Thinking about a topic or issue in an objective and critical way. In an academic context, it is not enough to simply react to a statement by agreeing or disagreeing with it. You need to be able to reflect about it in a logical and objective way, recognising all the pros and cons that there might be. This applies in your reading and writing as well as in what you listen to during your studies.
2. Identifying the different arguments there are in relation to a particular academic issue. Different ways may be proposed to solve a problem in your subject area. It is important that you can identify these and that you don't miss seeing other arguments once you have found one argument in relation to an issue.
3. Evaluating an academic argument or point of view to identify how strong or valid it is. Academic writing often involves discussing the pros and cons of different arguments and finding the best one. You need to be able to compare and assess academic arguments effectively.
4. Recognising any weakness or negative points that there are in an academic argument. As well as comparing academic arguments in order to find the strongest ones you need to be able to notice weaknesses in arguments.
5. Noticing what implications there might be behind a statement or argument. The meaning conveyed by the words that make an argument also involves assumptions and may carry implications. In academic reading, it is important to be aware of these and other hidden meanings as well as the surface meaning.
6. Providing structured reasoning and support for a written argument that you wish to make. When you produce academic writing you need to make complex meaning clear for your reader. This is done by using careful reasoning and structuring your ideas in a logical way. Ideas and arguments will also need support in the form of evidence, examples or explanation.
Would you like to review the main points?
Critical thinking is an important skills for university study in the UK. Different skills are involved such as evaluating academic arguments or point of views to identify how strong or valid they are, and using structured reasoning and support for written arguments that you make. Skills such as these need to be used when you are reading for your studies and in your academic written work.
What is critical thinking?
What skills are needed for critical thinking?
