Sessions for Success
Critical Thinking and Reading
Alison McEntee
Learning Developer
Session Aims
• Define critical thinking
• Define what is meant by an argument
• The importance of evidence to critical thinking
• Introduce the critical thinking process
• Introduce a critical approach to reading
What is critical thinking?
Critical Thinking is primarily interested in
arguments; and whether they succeed in
providing us with good reason for acting or
believing.
What is an argument?
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a disagreement;
an altercation;
a discussion involving differing points of view;
a debate;
a process of reasoning;
an address or composition intended to convince
or persuade;
• a discussion in which disagreement is expressed;
• a quarrel;
• a dispute;
What is an argument?
• A course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating truth or
falsehood.
• A fact or statement put forth as proof of evidence.
• A set of statements in which one follows logically as a
conclusion from the others.
• Reasoning given for or against a matter under
discussion.
• The act or process of arguing, reasoning, or discussing.
Facts and Evidence
• Facts are rarely the last word on any topic in any
discipline
• Facts are frequently open to modification from
new research
• Facts are ALWAYS open to interpretation
You should therefore begin to move away from
thinking in terms of ‘Facts’ and start thinking in
terms of ‘Evidence’
Facts and Evidence
• Evidence is what facts become when properly used in
an academic context
• Evidence can be assembled in countless ways to
provide an answer to essay or exam questions, and
forms the base material from which individual points
and whole lines of argument can be constructed
• Gathering and using evidence in this way is a basic but
absolutely vital university skill, regardless of discipline
or course
Why should we become critical
thinkers?
• Key to thinking in a critical way is “your attitude to knowledge rather than
the amount of knowledge that you can show you possess” (Thomas,
2009:42).
– Lecturers and other students will argue their point of view, and readings will
try to convince you of various claims on all manner of issues.
– As a student you cannot unquestionably accept what other people write or
say. You must challenge other people’s beliefs, forcing them to re-examine
their reasoning, prejudices, and assumptions.
– This will help you evaluate your own reasoning in the process; and enable you
to produce better arguments of your own, whether for an essay, a report, a
presentation, or debate.
The critical thinking process
• Identify arguments:
– Arguments should have one or more reason to
support them and should have a conclusion. A
conclusion is the main point of what is being said.
Unless a conclusion is drawn and reasons
presented, an argument has not been created.
You should always remember that in Critical
Thinking ‘arguments’ are meant to be persuasive.
The critical thinking process
• Match reasons to conclusions:
– For a conclusion to be drawn from the reasoning, the
reasons must have relevance and provide sufficient
support for the argument. In order to evaluate the
author’s reasoning, you must also consider any
assumptions that are being made, with regards to the
subject matter; and determine whether there are any
alternatives to this position. It is also important to
consider the context or circumstances in which the
author adopted this position. Do they have a vested
interest in putting forward a particular argument?
The critical thinking process
• Applying your skills and asking the right
questions
– When applying Critical Thinking the kind of
questions you should be always asking include:
What conclusion does the author come to? What
evidence/reasoning does the author use to
support this conclusion? What assumptions are
necessary for this conclusion?
Critical Reading
• What conclusion does the author come to?
• What evidence/reasoning does the author use to support this conclusion?
• What assumptions have been made in reaching this conclusion?
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Examine the evidence or arguments presented;
Identify influences on the evidence or arguments;
identify the limitations of a research design or focus of a paper;
Examine the interpretations made; and
Deciding the extent to which you are prepared to accept the authors’
conclusions based on the evidence and line of reasoning.
A checklist for critical reading
• The main purpose of this article is….
– (what is the author’s purpose for writing the
article/book/chapter?)
• The key question that the author is addressing is….
– (this may be explicitly stated up front, or implicit in their
argument/conclusion)
• the most important information/evidence in this
article is….
– (facts, data and experience the author uses to support
conclusions)
A checklist for critical reading
• The main conclusions in this article are…
– (the conclusions that the author presents)
• The key concept(s) we need to understand in this
article is/are….. These concepts mean….
– (what are the most important ideas you have to
understand in order to understand the author’s line of
reasoning?)
• The main assumption(s) underlying the author’s
thinking is/are…
– (Is the author taking anything ‘for granted’ that can be
questioned?)
A checklist for critical reading
• If we accept the author’s line of reasoning, what
implications does this have?
– (what are the consequences of accepting the line of
reasoning – implications for thinking/practice?)
• If we do not accept the author’s line of reasoning, what
implications does this have?
– (what are the consequences of not accepting the line of
reasoning – implications for thinking/practice?)
• The main point(s) of view presented in this article
is/are….
– (what is the author looking at, and how are they viewing
it?)
References
Thomas, G. (2009) How to do Your Research
Project. London: Sage.