The material in this chapter is adapted from Critical thinking^[1] licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Critical thinking as a life skill

Critical thinking is often talked about at university. That’s because it’s a very important skill for you to develop as you go through your degree. You probably already have experience in critical thinking from other areas of life, such as deciding on which phone, computer, or car to purchase, where to live, or even what to wear on a particular occasion. In each situation, you probably don’t just do what someone else tells you to do, but you make a decision based on a range of factors.

Critical thinking at university

At university, critical thinking and writing involve many different ways of thinking.

It’s good to remember that being critical in your thinking is not the same as being negative. For example, when you are reading a paper you might think the author has made a good point. The ‘critical’ part is being able to say why you think they’ve made a good point based on their evidence and argumentation.

If you do disagree with someone’s ideas, you should always do so respectfully. You can show respect by taking their ideas seriously and doing your best to understand how they came to their conclusions. If you go through this process of genuinely engaging with other people’s ideas, you have the right to disagree (even very strongly) with an author’s view.

Why do I need to think critically?

In some cultures, students are expected to memorise information and reproduce it in an exam. In the Australian university context, you are considered a member of the academic community. You are expected to be able to think independently and form your own conclusions based on information from various sources.

Thinking critically has the following benefits:

• You get to see that there is always more than one way of looking at something
• You’ll be able to identify the best ideas and evidence to use in your assignment, and not just settle for the first thing you read
• Your assignment will stand out from the rest because your ideas will be better supported and more convincingly argued
• Your own ideas and academic ‘voice’ will be clearer in your writing because you are better able to explain how and why ideas differ
• You’ll develop your knowledge and understanding more generally as you make connections between different ideas and methods
• You’ll become a better problem-solver and lifelong learner
• You’ll be more attractive to employers

How do I develop my critical thinking skills?

Develop your critical thinking skills by questioning what you read and hear and evaluating it against your own knowledge and other resources. Read widely on the topic to become familiar with the terms and operating landscape. Ask questions about what you read, about what is suggested for you to read and who the experts in the field are.

Ted-Ed video (4:29secs)^[2]

Evaluating Material

When reading individual sources, pay attention to the way that the author makes their point and what evidence they use to support their idea or argument.

Questioning as you write

As you research and write, you will make decisions and come to conclusions about particular questions and ideas. It’s important to examine your own processes and ideas as well as those of others. For example, you might ask ‘Why did I come to that conclusion?’ and ‘Why did I decide to include that piece of evidence but not another one?’.

Note-making for critical thinking

You can use notes to do more than collate and organise information. You can also start to think and write critically using your notes.

Choose a note-making system designed to help you:

• question and evaluate information
• ask and answer questions about different aspects of the topic (e.g. who, what, why, how)
• form your own conclusions after reading different viewpoints about issues
• look at the theory and how it relates to practice

A three-column, note-making system for thinking critically also helps you to organise information so you can compare what different sources say about topics. For example, comparing different viewpoints about issues, or comparing research findings about a similar research topic.

This table is adapted from Western Sydney University^[3] provided under a CC BY 4.0 Creative Commons Licence; and Kwantlen Polytechnic University^[4] provided under a CC BY-NC-SA Creative Commons (Attribution ShareAlike 4.0) Licence.

Need a template to help with note-taking?

You can use this Library Study Smart How-To Guide as a template:  https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/1251681/Note-making_for_critical_thinking.pdf

Also, try this H5P interactive Cornell Notes feature: https://h5p.org/node/1252534