Critical Thinking - With Case Study

By Karyn Thng

CRITICAL THINKING WORKSHOP

1. What is Critical Thinking?

2. What do you expect to achieve through attending this workshop?

CRITICAL THINKING

What is Critical Thinking? Critical Thinking is the attempt to ask and answer questions

systematically.

This means

1. Asking the most useful questions in the most productive sequence in order to yield a coherent and credible “Story”

2. Asking questions instead of accepting “at face value” what you write or read, i.e.,

i. separating reliable facts from false assumptions

ii. Look for evidence and good reason before believing something to be true

CRITICAL THINKING

CRITICAL THINKING

During World War 1, head injury among soldiers was very high and soldiers took a long time to recover .

Evaluate.

CRITICAL THINKINGStructure

Model to Generate Critical Thinking

Topic / Issue / Title

What next?

What? When?

Who? Where?Why?

How?

What if?So what?

Description

Analysis

Evaluation

CRITICAL THINKINGThe Common Question Words

Starters:

WHAT, WHO, WHERE, WHEN, HOW, WHY

Follow by:

WHAT IF, WHAT NEXT, SO WHAT

DESCRIBE • To describe is to clearly define what you

are talking about, say exactly what is involved, where it takes place, or under what circumstances.

• Basically an introduction to a topic.

CRITICAL THINKING

ANALYSE • To analyse is to examine and explain how

parts fit into a whole given reasons, compare and contrast different elements, show your understanding of relationships.

• Analysis basically forms the main part of any in-depth study.

CRITICAL THINKING

EVALUATE• To evaluate is to judge the success or

failure of something, it’s implications and/or value.

• Evaluation leads us to conclusions or recommendations and are usually found at the end of a topic.

CRITICAL THINKING

CRITICAL THINKINGGenerating Critical Thinking

• This is the Topic/Issue you might want to explore in a particular section or paragraph.

• Write key words in the middle of a sheet of paper, or a blank document screen.

Identify a topic

CRITICAL THINKINGGenerating Critical Thinking

• Starting with ‘what’ questions. Your answers may become part of an introduction, defining your terms or identifying issues.

Try to answer the questions

CRITICAL THINKINGGenerating Critical Thinking

• To generate descriptive background information.

• This will provide context or scene-setting material which is also useful for an introductory section.

Using the ‘who’, ‘when’ and ‘where’ questions

CRITICAL THINKINGGenerating Critical Thinking

• ‘How’ requires consideration of the ways that something operates or works – e.g. processes or procedures.

• Attempting to answer questions using “how‟ takes you from descriptive to more analytical work.

Using the “How” question

CRITICAL THINKINGGenerating Critical Thinking

• ‘Why’ also moves you deeper into analytical territory. It gets you to find reasons, explanations or causes.

• Think about all the possible questions to do with ‘why’.

Using the “Why” question

CRITICAL THINKINGGenerating Critical Thinking

• Asking questions using ‘what if’ moves you into a more evaluative phase of your thinking.

• It helps you to consider the possible implications or results of a particular action.

• This question is also useful for considering predictive work done by others, or engaging in forecasting of your own.

Using the “What if” question

CRITICAL THINKINGGenerating Critical Thinking

• ‘So what?’ is really the KEY QUESTION for an evaluation. It gets you thinking about value or values, meaning and significance.

• It is also about discriminating between more or less important factors in any situation.

• It helps you to think through and justify your own position, and discuss its implications.

Using the “So what” question

CRITICAL THINKINGGenerating Critical Thinking

• ‘What next?’ might refer to recommendations and predictions that your argument has brought to light.

• It leads you to consider and plan for more specific actions that might be necessary in certain kinds of assignment, such as a project or business report.

Using the “What next” question

CRITICAL THINKINGCritical questions – A Linear Model

Descri

pti

on

WHAT? What is this about?

What is the context / situation?

What is the main point / problem / topic to be explored?

WHERE? Where does it take place?

WHO?

Who is this by?

Who is involved?

Who is affected?

Who might be interested?

WHEN? When does it occur?

An

aly

sis

HOW?

How did this occur?

How does it work – in theory? – in practice / context?

How does one factor affect another? Or,

How do the parts fit into whole?

Introductory and background information to contextualize problem / topic.

Exploration of relationship of parts to whole.

Critical questions – A Linear Model

WHY? Why did this occur?

Why was that done?

Why is argument / theory / suggestion / solution?

WHAT IF? What if this were wrong?

What are the alternatives?

What if there were a problem?

What if this or that factor were – added? removed? altered?

SO WHAT?

What does this mean?

Why is this significant?

Is this convincing? Why/ why not?

What are the implications?

Is it successful?

How does it meet the criteria?

An

aly

sis

WHAT NEXT?Is it transferable?

How and where else can it be applied?

What can be learnt from it?

What needs doing now?

Possible situations and alternative response?

Evalu

ati

on

ImplicationsSolutionsConclusionsRecommendations

CRITICAL THINKING

CRITICAL THINKING

SO WHAT??

CRITICAL THINKING

WHAT’S NEXT??

CRITICAL THINKING

A survey conducted in Minnesota, USA presented below proves that Women are better drivers than Men.Discuss .

Age 20 - 65 Women Men

No. of Accidents in Year 2010 42 300 60 000

THANK YOU

• World War IWHO – WW1 Soldiers WHAT – Head Injury

WHERE & WHEN - Brief Introduction

• World War I

• When: WW1 Started in 28 July 1914 and lasted till 11 November 1918 in

• Where: Europe.

• How: The cause of the conflict is due to long term imperialistic foreign policies of the great powers of Europe (German Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ottoman Empire, Russian Empire, British Empire, French Empire & Italy)

SAMPLE HELMET USED PRE WWI

SAMPLE HELMET USED IN WWI

WHY - Soldiers’ Helmets

• World War I

WITHOUT TIN HELMET WITH TIN HELMET

WHAT IF

• World War I

CRITICAL THINKING