Critical Thinking Skills

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A Quick Glance

This two day workshop focuses on fundamental critical (and creative) thinking skills, taught in a way which expressly aims to facilitate their transfer to other subjects and other contexts. The method is to use ‘thinking maps’ which help improve thinking by asking key questions of students when they are faced with different types of problems.

Critical thinking is a disciplined methodology designed to channel a corporation’s creative intellectual capital, resulting in a thorough, fair and high quality guide for belief and action. Skilled critical thinkers:

  • Raise vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely;
  • Gather and assess relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively;
  • Come to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards;
  • Think open-mindedly within alternative systems of thought;
  • Recognize and assess their assumptions, implications and practical consequences; and
  • Communicate effectively with others as together they figure out solutions to complex problems.
  • This two day workshop focuses on fundamental critical (and creative) thinking skills, taught in a way which expressly aims to facilitate their transfer to other subjects and other contexts. The method is to use ‘thinking maps’ which help improve thinking by asking key questions of students when they are faced with different types of problems.

Topics covered include:

  • Defining critical thinking and how to improve it
  • Identifying reasons and conclusions: the language of reasoning
  • Understanding the different patterns of reasoning
  • Understanding assumptions and contexts
  • Developing a thinking map
  • Clarifying and interpreting expressions and ideas
  • Judging the credibility of sources and data
  • Evaluating inferences through deductive validity
  • Thinking through causal explanations
  • Decision making: options, consequences, values and risks

An optional critical thinking assessment can be included as a part of the workshop. This assessment takes about an hour to complete and is provided online. Students are provided with summary reports and a group summary can be provided as well. The assessment can be taken in advance with results incorporated into the workshop sessions or as a follow-up to provide a basis for ongoing personal development. Individual personal development coaching is available for additional benefit from the workshop.