Developing Critical
Thinking
Dr Ian Willis
Educational Development Division
Centre for Lifelong Learning
We are what we
think
Critical academic
Your own evidence informed
judgement
Rationally argued
Logically presented
Draws on research literature
Draws on theory/ideas from
literature
All practice has implicit theory
Hallmark of higher level university work
Outline
Development
Stages model
Takes: time,
practice, maturity,
inclination
Valuing
QAA, Practice,
Assessment
Understanding
Definitions
Blooms model
Activities
Review, evaluate,
CT as stages of development
Students (all of us) develop through stages
We may be at different stages in different contexts
e.g. in real life and in new academic situations
1 Absolute knowing 2 Transitional stage
3 Independent knowing 4 Contextual
knowing
Aim is fully contextual thinking
Unreasonable to expect it always and early at
university
Levels of Cognitive
Development:
Ways of Knowing
Absolute knowing
Received Knowing
Just give me the facts, Maam. Just the facts
Transitional stage
Subjective Knowing
Everybody has an opinion and all opinions are equal
Independent knowing Procedural Knowing
Every field has its own games with their own rules
Contextual knowing
Constructed Knowing
I understand why I believe this and why others dont
Adapted from: Belenkey, M.F., et al. Womens Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice
and Mind. New York: Basic Books, 1986 by Tom Angelo, (2005) Victoria University of Wellington,
NZ
see also: Baxter Magolda /Perry
Valuing CT &
its importance in H. E.
CT and its place in higher
qualifications
Activities in courses and
things you can do
First response system
Dont try to work it out
Notice your first response:
A bat and a ball cost 1.10
The bat costs 1 more than the ball
How much does the ball cost?
Kahneman 2011
People are overconfident
&
It takes effort to check
The number that comes to mind is
10p
Easy puzzle provokes an answer that
is intuitive, appealing and wrong
Do the maths
Takes conscious effort to check the
answer
50% students at top US universities
give wrong answer
Masters (PGDips) are
awarded to students who
have demonstrated:
Originality in the application of
knowledge & in tackling and solving
problems
Understanding of role of research
Ability to deal with complex issues
both systematically and creatively
Qualities of sound judgement,
personal responsibility and initiative,
in complex and unpredictable
professional environments
Deliberate Practice of CT skills
Research on
Focussed practice to
achieving excellence create improvement
reveals
Repetition
commonalities
Use feedback
van Gelder 2005 p7
Keep at it it takes
time
Do activities to
improve skills (of CT)
Have fun with puzzles
Use two squares to put all the cows in
separate pens
Fostering CT in
Get involved in
general
Recognise CT as
a developmental
process
Takes time
& attention
Use thinking
opportunities
Reflection, PDP
class interactions
e.g.:
Brainstorms
Discussions
Use maps
Check the
evidence
Learn language of
assessment/acad
emia slides
Following
What do you do?
What could you do?
Some things you can
Summarise
Prepare a summary - no more than seven
most important points
Question
Prepare at least three substantive questions about
the material
Propose
List at least three points you agree with and
state why
Critique
Angelo
(2005)
List at least two points you disagreed
with
or found unhelpful and state why
Find Examples
4 more things you could do:
Argument Maps
Provide a visual
representation of
anargument
Produce well organised
arguments in writing
Allow for evaluation of
reasoning
See: www.austhink.org
Against
#2
For #1
For #2
Key Point
Against Against
#A
#B
Concept maps
are graphical tools for organizing and
representing knowledge. They include
concepts, usually enclosed in circles or
boxes of some type, and relationships
between concepts indicated by a
connecting line linking two concepts.
Words on the line, referred to as linking
words or linking phrases, specify the
Novak
Canas (2008)
relationship between the
two&concepts
Helps develop understanding
Mind maps
Show hierarchical
relationships around a
central idea or key word
Often hand drawn
Useful for planning,
generating ideas, seeing
connections
An alternative to using lists
for planning assignments
elps develop
understanding
new ideas
Some
people love&em;
See Tony Buzan
Brainstorming
Divergent and convergent thinking
Keep idea generation and judgement separate
Divergent thinking:
Focus on quantity: the more ideas generated,
the more chance of getting useful new ideas
Withhold criticism: Suspend judgment to create
the space for innovative and unusual ideas
Encourage unusual ideas: Look from new
perspectives and suspend assumptions
Combine and improve ideas: Build on, combine
and enhance ideas
Convergent thinking:
As a separate and later step: sort out ideas using set
criteria, group ideas, identify next steps
The language of
assessment
(re) Learn what is meant by common terms
Does this differ from u/g work
Check with your tutor if in doubt
For example:
Justify: make a case for a particular view;
explain why something is like it is; give reasons;
show adequate grounds
Be critical: identify what is good and bad about
the information and why, probe, question,
identify shortcomings in the information
Fuller list in next slides for reference
Instruct
ion
What is meant
clarify
identify the components of an issue/topic/problem;
identify the main points; make the meaning plain;
remove ambiguities or misunderstandings, restate
something in your own words
analyse
break information into constituent parts; examine the
relationship between the parts; question the
information
be
critical
identify what is good and bad about the information and
why, probe, question, identify inaccuracies or
shortcomings in the information, estimate the value of
the material
evaluate, as above but also come to a conclusion (see below)
weigh up about the information
compare
consider the similarities or dissimilarities; implies
evaluation (e.g. which aspects of two or more
topics/subjects are most valuable)
identify
trends
identify patterns/changes/movements in certain
directions (e.g. over time or across topics/subjects)
Instruct
ion
What is meant
argue
put the case for/against a view or idea giving evidence
for your claims/reasons; attempt to influence the reader
to accept your view
conclude the end point of your critical thinking; what the results
/ draw
of an investigation indicate; arrive at a judgement by
conclusio reasoning
ns
develop
a view
decide what you think (based on an argument or on
evidence)
justify
make a case for a particular view; explain why
something is like it is; give reasons; show adequate
grounds for something
give
evidence from your own work or that of others which
evidence could be checked by a third party to prove/justify what
you say
summari
se
briefly indentify the main points or aspects of the
information, remove unnecessary detail
review
similar to summarise (see above) but usually includes
Activities summary
Summarise, Question, Propose,
Critique, Find examples
Get involved in class discussions
Mind maps; Argument maps;
Concept maps; Brainstorming
Learn assignment & academic
language
Plenty on the web
E.g. Learn Higher, CT.org
Understanding CT
Definitions
Models
Blooms Taxonomy
Universal
Standards
Critical thinking
Is not: automatic response or
intuition etc
whatever their value or lack of value!
Critical thinking is reasonable
reflective thinking that is
focused on deciding what to
The significant problems we face cannot be
believe
or
do
(R.
Ennis)
solved at the same level of thinking we were
Critical Thinking:
definitions
... Most formal definitions of critical thinking
include the intentional application of rational,
higher-order thinking skills such as analysis,
synthesis, problem-recognition and problemsolving, inference and evaluation
T.A. Angelo. (1995). Classroom assessment for critical thinking.
Teaching of Psychology, 22(1), p.6
Critical thinking is not simply being highly
critical of everyone elses thinking but your own
Anonymous (2002)
Critical & Critical
thinking
Critical position: personally derived
evidenced based judgement
Jude Carroll
Critical thinking: thinking that helps you
figure out whether you should believe some
claim, and how strongly you should believe it
i.e. is it true or the art of being right!
Tim van Gelder
Critical thinking: capacity to work with
complex ideas. Provide effective evidence to
justify a reasonable judgement. Attending to
context
Jenny Moon
Each prisoner knows that there
are 2 red hats and 2 blue hats,
but no one knows the colour of
Six Levels of
Thinking
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Remembering
Understanding
Applying
Analysing
Synthesising creating
Evaluating
- Information
Students need the language of their
discipline
Thinkers need the language of thinking!
Bloom et al
- a classic model
1. Remembering
Information
list, name, identify,
define, label,
describe
Mnemonic system
for improving
memory
Acronyms, Acrostics
Use baroque music
Might not like it
Musicbut
accesses
memory
it works!
List: - ooops Liszt
2. Understanding
Information
Mind maps (webs)
Key words
Single word
summarise,
discuss,
distinguish,
predict,
generalise,
Thinking is the hardest work there is
categorise
Thats why so few people do it Henry Ford
3. Applying Information
Problem solving
Testing learning in
the real world or
in class activities
apply,
demonstrate,
examine,
Whatsolve
we have to learn to do, we learn by doing
- Aristotle (this includes CT!!)
4 Analysing
Information
Breaking it down
Fact v. opinion
Reasoned
judgement
Logical thinking
Activity - PMI
analyse, explain,
compare, classify
e Alec Fisher
ts of activities to build arguments and reasoning
First response system
Is this argument logically valid?
Does the conclusion follow from
the premises?
All roses are flowers
Some flowers fade quickly
Kahneman 2011
Therefore some roses fade quickly
Question
What is the main point or claim being made?
What subsidiary points/claims are being made?
Do the subsidiary points/claims connect logically
with the main one? Are all the points/claims linked
together? Are they in an order which aids
understanding?
Is there appropriate evidence for each point/claim?
Have any steps/information/evidence been missed
out of the argument?
Has information/points/claims not relevant to the
main point/claim been included?
Do the conclusions follow from the
points/evidence/claims? Have the judgements been
made about the topic or information?
SKILFUL ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF
ARGUMENTS
Thinking Map: Analysis
1. What are the main Conclusions: may
be recommendations/explanations,
Conclusion indicator words and
therefore test may help
2. What are the Reasons : data,
evidence
3. What is Assumed ; i.e. implicit or
taken for granted, perhaps in the
Context
(Fisher, 2001)
4. Clarify the Meaning (claims or
Thinking Map: Evaluation
5. Are the reasons Acceptable this may
involve evaluating factual claims,
definitions and value judgements and
judging the Credibility of a source
6. (a) Does the reasoning Support its
conclusions: is the support strong, e.g.
beyond reasonable doubt, or weak
(b) Are there Other Relevant
Considerations/ Arguments which
strengthen or weaken the case
(Fisher, 2001)
7. What is your Overall Evaluation
5 Evaluating
or criticising information
Objective
Open-minded,
flexible
Check assumptions
Check bias
NB first response
system
assess,
recommend,
compare/contrast,
conclude,
Questions are the active acts of
intelligence justify
- Frank Kingdom
6 Synthesising
or creating information
New ideasCreativity
New applications
of old ideas
Lateral thinking
design, invent,
rewrite, rearrange
ee de Bono
ountless ideas: lateral thinking
Nothing can happen unless you
first dream
- Carl Sandburgh
Creative scientists are ones with access to
their dreams
Albert Einstein
Snake swallowing its own
tail
Let us learn to dream, gentlemen,
and then perhaps we shall learn the truth. August Kekul
3
4
Universal Intellectual
Standards
Clarity
Accuracy
Precision
Relevance
Depth
Breadth
Logic
(ethical)
Check thinking and
writing against these
universal standards
Critical thinking: involves
improving the quality of
thinking by imposing
intellectual standards - R.
Paul
http://set.lanl.gov/programs/cif/Resource/Handouts/intl
Stan.htm
Summarising!
CT is developmental
Variety in class and over time
Levels of thinking a key model
Allows analysis of your learning
focus
Allows analysis of assignments
Lots of activities
Plenty on the web (Learn Higher,
Takeaway
message:
Do it! Practice
Try some thinking skills activities
at any level
Personal practical knowledge comes from
putting ideas into practice
A twit on the move may be
worth ten seated
philosophers - Unknown
Dr Ian Willis
Centre for Lifelong
Learning
Sources
Carr, K. (2001) How can we teach critical thinking?
Claxton, G. (1997) Hare brain, tortoise mind
Fisher, A. (2001) Critical thinking: An introduction.
Kahneman, D. (2011) Thinking fast and slow
Langreher, J. (1992) Teach thinking strategies: Ideas
for teachers
Novak & Canas (2008) The theory underlying concept
maps and how to construct and use them
Paul, R. & Elder, L (2002) Critical thinking
QAA (2008) The framework for higher education
qualifications in England, Wales and Northern
Ireland
Useful Sites
Articles by Tim Van Gelder
http://www.arts.unimelb.edu.au/~tgelder
van Gelder, T. J. (2005).
Teaching critical thinking: some lessons from cognitive science.
College Teaching, 45, 1-6.
Argument mapping
www.austhink.org
Universal Intellectual Standards
http://set.lanl.gov/programs/cif/Resource/Handouts/Handouts.htm
http://criticalthinking.org/Posters.html
Blooms Taxonomy Skills and questions
http://www.coun.uvic.ca/learn/program/hndouts/bloom.html
Thinking Writing
http://www.thinkingwriting.qmul.ac.uk/srb.htm
Jenny Moon (2005) We seek it here...a new perspective on the
elusive activity of critical thinking. HEA Escalate
http://escalate.ac.uk/2041
We think of the mind as a storehouse to be
filled, when we should be thinking of it as an
instrument to be used - Reed & Graeme
Useful Sites
Dan Kurland
http://www.criticalreading.com/
Pierce handbook of CT
http://academic.pgcc.edu/~wpeirce/MCCCTR/handbook.pd
f
Critical Thinking Community
http://www.criticalthinking.org/ABOUT/index.cfm
SNAS (HEA)
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/professional/snas/s
nasdatabase
Learn Higher
http://www.learnhigher.ac.uk/pages/critical_thinking_and_reflecti
on.html
