- Critical thinking is needed to make informed decisions.
- Critical thinking takes into account different points of view and therefore
helps to avoid bias.
- It is by questioning things that knowledge is developed.
In an academic setting, it can seem daunting to have to be critical of
material written by experts, but you don't have to be an expert to start questioning
things. When you're reading and doing research for your assignments, try to
see how the experts do it, as illustrated by the following
example.
How the author handles critical analysis of another scholar's work
| Rather than seeing use of memorisation strategies by some students as their "preferred way of studying" (Black, 2001) or a deficit in learning, |
Here the author criticises Black's explanation why students memorise information |
| it may be more productive to investigate the relationship between the contextual variables such as heavy workload and overassessment and students' learning strategies. |
Here the author points to other possible reasons that may explain such behaviour |
