Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking is not the study of a specific subject. Rather, it develops skills which are transferable to any 'AS' and A2 subjects. 'AS' Critical Thinking is a good supplement to any combination of 'AS' and A2 subjects as the skills it develops are relevant to all areas of academic study and also to practical situations (such as in interviews).
It is a concept course rather than a content one - students are tested by how they think rather than by what they know. As the course title suggests, it is about learning how to think and reason, how to decide on the value and quality of information that is given and how to write in a logical and coherent way.
Skills covered include:
- Identifying the elements in a reasoned case
- evaluating different kinds of reasoning
- recognising and evaluating assumptions
- clarifying expressions and ideas
- presenting reasoned arguments
- evaluating the quality of witness testimony in coming to a conclusion
Students learn how to construct good arguments and to arrive at reason-based judgements. Students will interpret, analyse and evaluate ideas and arguments - examining different methods of reasoning and assessing the validity of different ways of arguing a case. Students need to see through phoney arguments and identify examples of convincing reasoning. They learn to recognise different kinds of reasoning and to identify the hidden assumptions behind arguments.
