GET AHEAD
UNDERGRADUATE SUMMER PROGRAMME 2012
Critical thinking skills
Sara Steinke
Aims of the session
• To recognise the value of your everyday
critical reasoning skills for academic studies
• To identify what is meant by analytical
thinking at university
• To reflect on how you can translate your
everyday critical reasoning skills into analytical
thinking for your academic studies
Why consider everyday critical
reasoning skills?
• Adult learners process a diverse range of
knowledge, experiences and skills that involve
critical reasoning, involving family and work;
these qualities are of great value for university
studies
• Everyday decisions are rarely straightforward.
Similarly, analytical thinking at university is
‘messy’, topics are not seen as ‘black or white’.
Think about the following
a) Job opportunities
/promotion
What factors were
involved in your
decision to study a
particular course at
Birkbeck?
b) Desire to return to
learning
c) Financial concerns
d) Time constraints
e) Course subject
f) Other reasons
What is critical thinking?
• Persistence – consider an issue carefully, and
more than once
• Evidence – evaluate the evidence put forward
in support of the belief or viewpoint
• Implications – what conclusions would follow;
are these suitable and rational; if not, should
the belief or viewpoint be reconsidered?
Cottrell, S. The Study Skills Handbook page 275
The importance of analytical
thinking at university
• Core of academic study
• Takes place across a variety of study skills
– reading, note-taking, writing essays
/reports, exams, revision, presentations
• Involves thinking analytically about yours and
other peoples work/ideas
• Actively engage with these activities. You will
be constantly updated your study skills.
What is analytical thinking?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Stand back from the information given
Examine it in detail from many angles
Check whether it is accurate
Check each statement follows logically
Look for possible flaws in the reasoning/evidence/conclusion
Compare the same issue from point of view of theorists
/writers
• Explain why different people arrive at different conclusions
• Argue why one opinion/result/conclusion is preferable to
another
• Be on guard for devices that encourage the reader to take
questionable statements at face value
• Check for hidden assumptions
• Check for attempts to lure the reader into agreement
Cottrell, S. The Study Skills Handbook page 275
Think about the following
You have been asked
to read an article in
preparation for a
lecture.
What questions might
you ask in order to
undertake a critical
reading of the article?
1. What is the main
argument of the article?
2. What are the reasons
given to justify the
argument?
3. What evidence has been
used?
4. What do you know about
the author?
5. What audience is the
author addressing?
6. What sources has the
author used?
Definition of a ‘critical thinker’
• Intellectually independent
• Distinguishes between theory, facts and
opinions
• Recognises and resists manipulation
• Reads ‘between the lines’
• Distinguishes between emotive and neutral
vocabulary
• Sees connections between subjects
What is wrong with this piece of
analytical writing?
Mount Pepe is going up – it’s going to take
everything with it when it goes. And I mean
everything – villages, farms, trees, the lot. It’s
frightening to think of how powerful a volcano
can be. Think of the damage they cause!
Remember Pompeii and Mount Etna!
Cottrell, S. The Study Skills Handbook page 209
What is right with this piece of
analytical writing?
In order to assess whether it is necessary to
evacuate the villages on Mount Pepe, three main
factors need to be taken into consideration. The
first, and most important, of these is the element of
safety. According to seismic experts currently
working on the volcano, there is likely to be a major
eruption within the next ten years (Achebe 2007)
According to Achebe, the eruption is likely to
destroy villages over a radius of 120 miles (Achebe
2008, p.7).
Cottrell, S. The Study Skills Handbook page 209
Create a critical thinking
action plan
1.
Write down the three most important
critical thinking skills that you have learnt
/thought about in this session?
Why are they important to you?
2.
Identify which of your current knowledge,
skills, qualities and experiences can be
turned into analytical skills.
How are you going to make this happen?
Recap of the session
• We have thought about your everyday critical
reasoning skills
• We have started to consider how to turn your
everyday critical reasoning skills into analytical
thinking skills for your academic studies
• We have introduced what is meant analytical
thinking at university
Cottrell, S. (2008) The Study Skills
Handbook, 3rd Edition (London,
Palgrave) chapter 12 ‘Critical
analytical thinking’ pp.275-292
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/getahead-stay-ahead/skills/critical-thinking
http://www.palgrave.com/skills4study/
mp3s.asp#Critical
studyskills/course_timetable
5 minute interactive tutorial
supporting this Student
Cottrell, S. (2005) Critical Thinking Orientation programme
Skills (London, Palgrave)
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/
12 minute audio file based on
Cottrell’s Critical Thinking Skills
book
study skills workshops which deal
with critical thinking skills – and
other study skills – in greater
detail
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/
services/facilities/support/criticalthinking
http://www.palgrave.com/skills4study/
studyskills/thinking/index.asp
online resources on critical
thinking skills available on the
Birkbeck Library website
helpful information on critical
thinking skills on the Skills4Study
website