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Cr|t|ca| 1h|nk|ng
Importance |n Lducat|on

S|mon nards
000S01124












Slmon Pards 000301124
loundaLlons of Scholarshlp and 8esearch MeLhods

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1able of ConLenLs

10 lnLroducLlon 3
20 CrlLlcal 1hlnklng 3
21 ueflnlLlon of CrlLlcal 1hlnklng 3
22 CrlLlcal 1hlnklng ln LducaLlon 3
30 Concluslons 4
40 8eferences 4



















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10Introduct|on
uesplLe debaLe over lLs preclse meanlng (8rookfleld 2000) crlLlcal Lhlnklng has formed a slgnlflcanL
parL of unlverslLy educaLlon (8rookfleld 2000) as well belng hlghly appllcable and Lransferable lnLo
mosL professlons 1he purpose of Lhls brlef reporL ls Lo flrsL ouLllne Lhe deflnlLlon of crlLlcal Lhlnklng
before analyslng lLs lnfluence wlLhln educaLlon
20Cr|t|ca| 1h|nk|ng
21Def|n|t|on of Cr|t|ca| 1h|nk|ng
Much llLeraLure has aLLempLed Lo deflne crlLlcal Lhlnklng and lL appears Lhere ls no unlversally
correcL deflnlLlon When we conslder Lhe meanlng of ctltlcol we may conslder lL as slmply 'negaLlve
and faulLflndlng' (8assham eL al 2008) Some descrlbe lL has a reflecLlve Lhlnklng process (Lnnls
2003) or as 'Lhlnklng abouL Lhlnklng' (8alskums 2008) Powever ln a wlder deflnlLlon 8assham eL al
(2008) suggesLs LhaL
ctltlcol tblokloq olso meoos lovolvloq ot exetclsloq skllleJ joJqmeot ot obsetvotloo

8assham eL al (2008) p 1

uesplLe dlfferences ln deflnlLlon mosL llLeraLure (8assham eL al 2008 ascarella and 1erenzlnl 1991
Peywood 2000 Scrlven and aul 1987 WaLson eL al 2002) suggesLs LhaL crlLlcal Lhlnklng ls Lhe Lerm
glven Lo a wlde range of cognlLlve skllls and lnLellecLual dlsposlLlons LhaL would be requlred Lo
effecLlvely

O ldenLlfy cenLral lssues and assumpLlons
O Analyse and LvaluaLe argumenLs and evldence
O lnLerpreL wheLher concluslons are warranLed
O ulscover and overcome blas
O lormulaLe and presenL convlnclng reason ln supporL of concluslons

lollowlng Lhese deflnlLlons crlLlcal Lhlnklng can be consldered an lnLellecLual dlsclpllne lnvolvlng
skllfully synLheslslng lnformaLlon LhaL has been gaLhered (8assham eL al 2008 Scrlven and aul
1987) agalnsL lnLellecLual sLandards of clarlLy preclslon accuracy relevance conslsLency loglcal
correcLness compleLeness and falrness (8assham eL al 2008)

22Cr|t|ca| 1h|nk|ng |n Lducat|on

LlLeraLure offers LhaL Lhe alm of posLgraduaLe educaLlon ls Lo

O rovlde sLudenLs wlLh an undersLandlng and awareness of advances ln Lhelr professlon
(Cervero 2000)
O uevelop sLudenLs ablllLy Lo puL Lheory lnLo pracLlce (urennan and Pyde 2008)
O uevelop Lhe ablllLy Lo Lhlnk crlLlcally (Cerlsh eL al 2000 urennan 2010)

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urennan (2010) suggesLs LhaL crlLlcal Lhlnklng ls Lhe deslred ouLcome of hlgher educaLlon Pe
proposes LhaL Lhe purpose ls Lo allow sLudenLs Lo analyse and lnLerpreL slLuaLlons Lhey may be llkely
Lo face wlLhln Lhe real worklng world so LhaL Lhey may generaLe raLlonal and evldencebased
soluLlons 1hls can be seen Lo be Lhe case when looklng Lhrough unlverslLy course guldes and
ldenLlfylng marklng crlLerla and learnlng ouLcomes (eg SLalr 2011 loundaLlons of Scholarshlp
course gulde) lurLhermore a sLudenL capable of Lhlnklng crlLlcally ls llkely Lo adopL a sysLemaLlc
approach when analyslng lnformaLlon allowlng for an appreclaLlon of Lhe roles of oLher funcLlons
ln relaLlon Lo Lhelr own concluslons (urennan 2010)

uesplLe agreemenL LhaL crlLlcal Lhlnklng forms a ma[or parL of hlgher educaLlon Lhe amounL of
research LhaL aLLempLs Lo evaluaLe lf crlLlcal Lhlnklng developmenL has acLually been achleved ls
llmlLed (urennan 2010) CuL of Lhe sLudles LhaL been publlshed lL would appear LhaL hlgher
educaLlon correlaLes poslLlvely Lo crlLlcal Lhlnklng skllls (ascarella and 1erenzlnl 1991) Powever
Lhls research focused on undergraduaLes and Lhere appears Lo be llLLle supporLlng evldence of
crlLlcal Lhlnklng sklll developmenL Lhrough MasLer level degrees A sLudy conducLed by urennan
(2010) provlded LhaL alLhough educaLlonal lnsLlLuLes acknowledge Lhe lmporLance of crlLlcal
Lhlnklng aL MasLer's level only 'modesL galns' were experlenced

0Conc|us|ons

CrlLlcal Lhlnklng lnvolves Lhe uLlllsaLlon of lnLellecLual and cognlLlve skllls ln order Lo falrly lnLerpreL
lnformaLlon lL has been ldenLlfled as a crlLlcal facLor for a sLudenL's developmenL wlLhln hlgher
educaLlon and can be seen wlLhln unlverslLy deflned learnlng ouLcomes 1he reason for lLs
lmporLance ls LhaL lL allows sLudenLs Lo apply Lhelr academlc Lheory Lo real worklng problems
encouraglng conLlnuous reflecLlve learnlng AlLhough Lhere ls supporLlng evldence whlch suggesLs
LhaL undergraduaLe degrees have a poslLlve lnfluence on crlLlcal Lhlnklng skllls (ascrella and
1erenzlnl 1991) Lhere appears Lo be llLLle evldence of such lnfluence from posLgraduaLe educaLlon

40eferences

8assham C lrwln W nardone P Wallace ! (2008) ctltlcol 1blokloq A 5toJeots lottoJoctloo 3
rd
LdlLlon
McCraw Plll

8rookfleld S (2000) 'ConLesLlng CrlLlcallLy LplsLemologlcal and pracLlcal conLradlcLlons ln CrlLlcal 8eflecLlon'
uolvetslty of 5t 1bomos u5A (lound aL hLLp//wwwadulLercorg/roceedlngs/2000/brookflelds1flnalul
lasL accessed 03/10/11)

Cervero 8 (2000) '1rends and lssues ln conLlnulng professlonal educaLlon' New ultectloos fot AJolt ooJ
cootlooloq Jocotloo vol 86 p 312

urennan ! (2010) 'CrlLlcal Lhlnklng as an ouLcome of a MasLer's degree ln nurslng programme' Iootool of
AJvooceJ Notsloq vol 66(2) p 422431

urennan ! and Pyde A (2008) 'ConLrolllng response shlfL blas Lhe use of Lhe reLrospecLlve preLesL deslgn ln
evaluaLlon of a masLer's programme' Assessmeot ooJ volootloo lo nlqbet Jocotloo vol 33(60 p 699709

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loundaLlons of Scholarshlp and 8esearch MeLhods

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Cerrlsh k AshworLh and McManus M (2000) 'Some dllemmas of masLer's level educaLlon' Iootool of
AJvooceJ Notsloq vol 32(4) p 834 841

Lnnls 8P (2003) 'CrlLlcal 1hlnklng AssessmenL' ctltlcol 1blokloq ooJ keosooloq cotteot keseotcb 1beoty
ooJ ltoctlce PampLon res

ascarella L and 1erenzlnl (1991) now colleqe Affects 5toJeots lloJloqs ooJ loslqbts ftom 1weoty eots
of keseotcb San lranclsco !ossey8ass

8alskums 8 (2008) Ao Aoolysls of tbe coocept ctltlcollty lo AJolt Jocotloo Capella unlverslLy (lound aL
hLLp//gradworksumlcom/3324824pdf lasL accessed 03/10/11)

Scrlven M and aul 8W (1987) ctltlcol 1blokloq os uefloeJ by tbe Notloool cooocll fot xcelleoce lo ctltlcol
1blokloq presenLed aL Lhe 8
Lh
Annual lnLernaLlonal Conference on CrlLlcal 1hlnklng and LducaLlon 8eform
Summer 1987 (lound aL hLLp//wwwcrlLlcalLhlnklngorg/pages/deflnlngcrlLlcalLhlnklng/766 lasL accessed
03/10/11)

SLalr n (2011) 'loundaLlons of Scholarshlp and 8esearch MeLhods' cootse 5toJy ColJe unlverslLy of
Creenwlch

|b||ography

uennlson and uuncan S (2010) cteotlvlty ooJ ueclsloo Mokloq 2
nd
LdlLlon unlverslLy of Creenwlch
McCraw Plll