This chapter focuses on the role of thinking as a tool for critical thinking. System 1 thinking (fast thinking) is instinctive and automatic, while System 2 thinking (slow thinking) is deliberate and reasoned. System 1 thinking dominates (and should dominate) your daily life, linked to survival instincts and heuristics (rules of thumb). System 2, on the other hand, responds when System 1 does not or cannot because you face an unexpected or unfamiliar situation; to monitor System 1 thoughts and responses and intervene to modify them if necessary; and when you intentionally put yourself in unfamiliar situations in order to improve it—like undertaking a university degree. University is a key opportunity to improve thinking which requires appropriate motivation, faith, and ongoing practice. The PURR acronym can guide you in structured thinking sessions: prepare, undertake, record, return, and distract-to-focus activities can be useful during these sessions. Time and distraction are the most common obstacles to dedicated thinking. Cognitive bias, in particular subconscious bias, can also influence your thinking and understanding, and uncovering this is essential to reveal its impact.
Chapter
Thinking
Book
Sarah Birrell Ivory
Becoming a Critical Thinker starts by considering what it is that makes someone a critical thinker and why critical thinking skills are worth developing. The text argues that there are many benefits to looking at the world through a critical lens. The book first defines critical thinking in direct relation to the university experience before proceeding to discuss the ways in which a learner can become more of a critical thinker. The second part of the book looks at the three aims of critical thinking: quality of argument, strength of evidence, and clarity of communication. The final part is about mastering the tools of critical thinking. There are five major tools that a good critical thinker should use: writing, reading, listening, speaking, and—perhaps obviously—thinking.
Chapter
Reading
This chapter considers why reading at university is an essential tool in becoming a critical thinker, what it means to read actively, and how to become an effective active reader. Reading at university moves you beyond reading-to-know and into reading-to-think, which is known as active reading. Active reading comprises seeing, comprehending, analysing, interpreting, and evaluating to make meaning from text. Your own interpretation is necessary because a text has three different authors: the human author, the imagined author, and the reader as an author. Reading is an essential part of university in part because texts allow authors the time and space to develop complex, carefully constructed arguments and ideas which are well reasoned. The chapter then looks at selective reading; the CBD active reading strategy, which focuses on Context–Breadth–Depth; and note-taking. Obstacles to active reading include time and focus, reading ability and accuracy, and the style and difficulty of texts.
Chapter
Listening
This chapter illustrates that the ability to effectively listen is a key tool not only within a university context, but also within your personal and professional life, and contribute to critical thinking. Where passive listening accepts the first and easiest meaning of what you hear, and rote listening aims simply to repeat what you hear, active listening is a cognitive process that aims to engage and improve your thinking. Active listening comprises hearing, comprehending, analysing, interpreting, and evaluating sounds. While recorded listening is increasingly available and can be useful, you must master ‘live listening’ in the pursuit of improved thinking and for your professional life beyond university. You should listen to lecturers and tutors, but it is also important to listen to your colleagues, and to those not speaking. Obstacles to active listening also include attention, distraction, and extended focus. However, not all listening should be active listening, even at university: empathetic listening has a place, especially in your relationships with others.
Chapter
Speaking
This chapter examines speaking as a tool to test ideas, develop unformed thoughts, and engage in real-time thinking. Speaking-to-think is a tool to hone your ideas and thoughts, get feedback and critique from others, or bond with your group. Speaking at university provides a relatively safe environment to practice this tool so that you can speak confidently beyond university, for example in your professional life. When speaking, you should focus on aiming to improve thinking, not image, and use whatever words are available without letting fluency hold you back. You should also ensure that your volume, articulation, pace, phrasing, and engagement contribute to being heard and understood. Moreover, you should welcome feedback and critique as one of the main purposes of speaking. It is also important to explore ways to overcome obstacles such as lack of confidence, anxiety conditions, emotion, and lack of opportunity.
Chapter
How to become a critical thinker at university
This chapter details the process of how to become a critical thinker at university. At university, in addition to discipline-based foundational knowledge, you also learn universal skills and develop personal characteristics. Foundational knowledge means that you know things. Learning universal skills means you know how to do things with that knowledge. Developing your personal characteristics gives you the actual ability to do things with that knowledge. You learn from academic faculty, from world-renowned (possibly dead) thinkers, from fellow students, from outside the curriculum, and from yourself. The learning environment at university sees you being independent but not alone, building a strong base, entering a productive struggle, actively engaging, preparing and attending, and embracing group work and assessment. Ultimately, the qualities you can draw on to become a critical thinker are curiosity and an open mind, a growth mindset and grit, and finally focus and willpower.
