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1CriticalThinkingTypicalComments‘I’mnotsurewhattheyexpectwhentheyaskusto‘criticallyevaluate’‘Theword‘critical’soundssonegative,asthoughyouhavetoundermineeverything’‘Theword‘analysis’alwayssoundslikesomethingdifficultandtechnical’‘Ireallydon’tfeelsurewhatthesetermsmean’‘HowcanIbe‘critical’ofsomethingwhenIdon’tknowmuchaboutit?’Aimsoftheleaflet•Showhowyouarealreadya‘criticalthinker’•Clarifykeyterms•Outlineacriticalapproachtolectures,essaysandreading•Lookinmoredetailatcriticalreadingofacademictexts2CriticalThinking–aneverydayactivityWetendtoreceiveknowledgepassivelyatmanystagesofeducation,althoughwecanbehighlycriticalinotheraspectsoflife.Criticalthinkingandanalysisisaneverydayactivity,evenifwedon’tthinkofitasthat.Everytimeyouhavetomakeadecision,theprocessyougothroughinvolvescriticalthinking,andthisprocesscanbecomealmostautomatic.Ausefulexampleofasituationwhereyouthinkcriticallyisbuyingasecond-handcar.Hardlyanyonewouldbuyacaron‘facevalue’.Instead,regardlessofyourknowledgeofcars,youwouldgothrougharoughprocessof‘criticalanalysis’.Thismightinvolvelookingatthingslikethetyres,brakes,paintwork,lights….andforeachoftheseyouwouldhave‘criteria’,aroughideaofwhatconstitutesgoodbrakes,goodlightsandsoon.Afterthinkingcriticallyabouteachelement,youmightaskforextraevidence(recordofservices,MOT).Youcanthendoyourowninitialevaluationbyweighingupthegoodandbadpoints,anddecidewhetherornotthecarmeetsyourneedsandisagoodbuy.Ifnecessary,youcancallinexpertopiniontogivefurtherdetailedanalysisonaspectsyouarenotsureabout,andyoucanthenmakeyourfinalevaluationanddecision.Withexperience,yougetabetterideaofwhattolookforandwhatquestionstoask.Withmostsecond-handpurchases,wewouldhaveageneralideaofwhattolookforbecauseweknowwhattheitemshoulddo,andwhatwewanttouseitfor.Thisgivesusaroughsetofcriteriaforacriticalanalysisandevaluation.Withcriticalanalysisandevaluationinacademicstudy,thekeyistostartdevelopingideasaboutwhatmakesupa‘good’or‘sound’argumentinapieceofreading,orourownwriting,andwhatcriteriaweneedtoapplytotestthis.3KeyTermsCriticalthinkingCriticalthinkingisageneraltermthatcoversallthinkingprocessesthatstrivetogetbelowthesurfaceofsomething:questioning,probing,analysing,testingandexploring.Itisnotanegativetermassuch,althoughitcansoundit.Criticalthinkingrequiresdetective-likeskillsofpersistencetoexamineandre-examineanargument,inordertotakeinalltheanglesandweighupevidenceoneveryside.Tothinkcriticallyisnevertotakesomethingon‘facevalue’buttoquestionandthinkindependentlyaboutanissue,however‘authoritative’awriterorthinkermaybe.AnalysisAnalyticalthinkinginvolvesparticularprocesses,inparticularbreakingdownthe‘parts’andlookingatthemmoreclosely.(Thinkbacktothesecond-handcar)Itinvolves:•Standingbackfromtheinformationgivenandexaminingitcarefullyfromdifferentangles•Checkingtheaccuracyofstatements•Checkingthelogic–whetherpointsfolloweachotherlogically•Spottingflawsor‘jumps’inthereasoning•Identifying‘gaps’–argumentsorinformationthatmightberelevantbuthasbeenleftout•Checkingforpersuasivetechniques,whichencourageyoutoagreeEvaluationToevaluate,or‘critically’evaluateistoreachaconclusion,throughaprocessofcriticalthinking,aboutthevalue,or‘soundness’ofanacademicargument.Criticalanalysisisakeyactivityinevaluation.Evaluationisaboutweighingupthestrengthsandweaknessesofanargumentinordertodecidehowmuchitcontributestoaparticularbodyofknowledgeinyoursubject.4Developingacriticalapproach:FirststepsYoudon’tneedtohavedetailedknowledgeofyoursubjecttothinkcritically.Theguidebelowgivessomeinitialcriticalquestionstostartaskingindifferentstudycontexts.Itcanhelptostartwithverybasiccriticalquestions,whichbecomemoredetailedandindepthasyourknowledgeandconfidenceincrease.Lectures•Isthisclear?AmIunderstandingthis?Ifnot,whynot?•Whatistheoverallthemeandideahere?AnyaspectsIdon’tunderstand?Why?Terminology/language?•HowmightIusethis?Whatnotesareavailable?•AnyideaIwanttofollowuplater?Findrelatedreading?ReadingFordetail,see‘ActiveReading’leaflet.•WhatdoIwanttoread?HowwouldIselect?•Whattypeofreadingisthis?Isitdifficult?Why?•Whatisgenerallybeingsaid?Clearpoints?Worthreading?•Howdoesitcomparetosimilartexts?Howmightuseit?•Aretheideasbackedupwithevidence?Convincing?•Aretheresimilarviewstosupportthisidea?Alternatives?•IsanythingnotcoveredherethatIexpected?Whynot?AcademicessaysandassignmentsYouneedtodevelop‘criticaldepth’inyouracademicwritingovertimebypractisingcriticalquestioningofyourownandotherwork.•Examinetheoriesandevidencefromauthorsyouuse–don’tjuststateideas,butexaminestrengthsandweaknesses•Questionevidence–what’smissing?Anygaps?•Exploreotheroptionsfor,say,atreatment,ratherthanacceptingthefirstoneyoufind–andlookatevidence•Showtheimplicationsofanidea,don’tjuststateit•Thinkaboutdifferentangles–readtofindtheseThedetailedcriticalreadingapproachoutlinednextwillhelpinallstagesofresearchingandwritinganacademicassignment.5CriticalanalysisofacademicwritingAneffectivepieceofacademicwritingwillhave:•Aclearandlogicallineofreasoning,a•Alackofprejudiceorbiasinexamples,evidenceandpoints•Relevantandrecentdata,•Enough