Critical Thinking

While my work on my inquiry continues I have spent some time focusing on critical thinking so that I am able to present my work in an appropriate manner. Critical thinking involves being active in your approach to learning. You must not just except things as they are given but analyse the information. You must question in order to evaluate and present your findings and ideas.

'Critical thinking is not a matter of accumulating information ... A critical thinker is able to deduce consequence from what they know, they know how to make use of information to solve problems and to seek relevant sources of information to inform themselves' (Joe Law Jonathan Chan, 2004-2017, What is Critcal Thinking?) 

It is important to question the literature you are working with as well as piecing together what is important. A critical thinker must 'understand the logical connections between ideas' and 'identify the relevance and importance of ideas' (Law and Chan).

You must not except that ideas and theories already presented are correct. A critical thinker must be 'looking for possible flaws in the reasoning of evidence, or the way in which the conclusions were drawn'  as well as 'comparing the same issue from the point of view of other theorists and writers' whilst 'checking for hidden assumptions' (Stella Cottrell, 2008, The Study Skills Handbook 3rd ed)

I found some more useful information on www.skillsyouneed.com such as:

Someone with critical thinking skills can:
·         Understand the links between ideas.
·         Determine the importance and relevance of arguments and ideas.
·         Recognise, build and appraise arguments.
·         Identify inconsistencies and errors in reasoning.
·         Approach problems in a consistent and systematic way.
·         Reflect on the justification of their own assumptions, beliefs and values.

The Skills We Need for Critical Thinking

The skills that we need in order to be able to think critically are varied and include observation, analysis, interpretation, reflection, evaluation, inference, explanation, problem solving, and decision making. Specifically we need to be able to:

• ·         Think about a topic or issue in an objective and critical way.
• ·         Identify the different arguments there are in relation to a particular issue.
• ·         Evaluate a point of view to determine how strong or valid it is.
• ·         Recognise any weaknesses or negative points that there are in the evidence or argument.
• ·         Notice what implications there might be behind a statement or argument.
• ·         Provide structured reasoning and support for an argument that we wish to make.

As I continue with my critical review my aim is to not be a passive learner but apply these ideas to constantly question and analyse the literature and data I am working with. I hope this will alow me to present my work in depth, with clear reasoning and without bias.