What is Critical thinking?
It’s likely that at some you’ve heard a teacher say ‘you need to show more critical thinking.’ It’s a phrase teachers love to use but what exactly does it mean and what would it look like in an extended essay? It is also important to note that this part of the assessment is worth 12 points and therefore has a large influence on the Extended Essay, which if you recall is scored out of 34. Critical thinking is a notoriously difficult skill to assess (and teach) but there are some key ideas and guiding questions that can help to see critical thinking in the EE.
In many ways critical thinking is all about passing judgement on knowledge claims, for example are statements valid, partly valid or invalid? This is one of the hardest skills to master and it takes time to develop your critical thinking skills.
Also sometimes how you show critical thinking depends on the subject of your EE. For example, are you writing for an EE in English A or Mathematics or Geography? That being said however there are some core questions that are always a good starting point.
Do you challenge opinions?
Are you aware if your information/data is wrong or weak?
Are you approaching the problem with the correct application of tools, techniques or theories?
Lekanides (110-11) argues that there are three key areas to consider if you want to score high marks for critical thinking.
Relevance of research
All research materials gathered and used are clearly relevant to the research question
Analysis of research findings
The research findings are effectively analysed so as to produce a reasoned argument. Any developing analyses are well supported by relevant evidence
Discussion and evaluation of evidence
A coherent and well reasoned argument is developed that is supported by the evidence presented. What’s more, a critical evaluation of the source material is provided.
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Colin Swatridge offers a nice summary when he says... What does this mean: ‘critically’? The word often has negative undertones of carping of fault finding. In this context though it means using one’s judgement: in Greek, a kritikos was a judge, examining evidence on two sides in a case, and judging which was the weightier. This is what you do when you think ‘critically’: you judge what it is that makes an argument strong or weak; you learn how to put forward stronger arguments and how not to be seduced by the weak ones. The uncritical accept what they read or what they are told, at face value; critical thinkers weigh claims in the balance, and make - or reserve - judgement when the evidence has dispelled reasonable doubt. |
Difference between Descriptive & Critical Analytical Writing
The following is taken from The University of Bradford, Academic Skills, Self Help resources
The examples below show the difference between descriptive and critical analytical writing. Can you see how they are different?
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EXAMPLE 1: DESCRIPTIVE WRITING My name is John. I live at 33 Acacia Drive. I have five sisters and brothers. I am good at team games, and enjoy football, cricket and baseball. Team games were encouraged by both my parents. All of my family took part in sport. Our teachers at Beckfield School were very interested in sports sciences. We were encouraged to drink lots of water to improve our performance. Our team always did well, so it seems to have worked. I also like to go running. I live in the beautiful Welsh borders, so it is a pleasure to take a healthy run each day. |
EXAMPLE 2: CRITICAL ANALYTICAL WRITING EXAMPLE At Beckfield School, teachers took a scientific approach to school sports over a ten-year period. In particular, pupils were encouraged to monitor they intake of fluids. All pupils were required to drink a minimum eight glasses of tap water a day. The school did consistently well in sports competitions over this period, and the teachers claimed that this was proof of the importance to good performance of liquid intake. However, it is not clear that the school’s sports performance can be attributed to water intake. Beckfield School’s claims were investigated by an independent researcher, Martinez (2012). Martinez argued that although Beckfield’s performance was good, its performance in competitions was consistent with what would be expected of a school of its size. In addition, interviews with pupils showed that most had not followed the school regulations on drinking water. Most pupils stated that they drank less than one glass of tap water a day. Although other research does suggest that water intake benefits performance (Fredo 2107; Mitsuki 2016), Beckfield School’s claims about the benefits of tap water in its sports success have not been proved. |
Criterion C: How good is your Critical Thinking?
Take special note that critical thinking is not achieved by going through a list of characteristics and simply ticking off criteria. It is far more organic and context based. Clarity of communication is also vital in making progress here. For example when to raise a point and exactly how to raise it can influence how aspects of critical thinking are perceived by the examiner.
As a reminder Lekanides (110-11) states three main areas to focus on if you want to improve your critical thinking.
Relevance of research
All research materials gathered and used are clearly relevant to the research question
Analysis of research findings
The research findings are effectively analysed so as to produce a reasoned argument. Any developing analyses are well supported by relevant evidence
Discussion and evaluation of evidence
A coherent and well reasoned argument is developed that is supported by the evidence presented. What’s more, a critical evaluation of the source material is provided.
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HAVE YOU OFFERED ANY DEFINITIONS IN YOUR EE? Els Van Geyte offers a useful reminder of how critical thinking can be applied to definitions that you present in your EE ...imagine that you wanted to include a general definition at the start of your essay, but there are many definitions to choose from. You can show that you can think critically by selecting a definition and explain why you want to use that one. This could be because it is the most cited one, the one most commonly used by other scholars, the most comprehensive one, the one that picks up on aspects related to your specific question etc. Your justification will demonstrate that you have read widely, understood what you have read, questioned what the authors wrote and thought about how the issues related to your essay question. Use this sheet to improve your critical thinking |
How to keep Critical Thinking on your mind?
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Taken from Hoang & Taylor (89) Socratic questioning is a useful technique that you can use to explore complex issues and ideas encountered in your EE. It can uncover misconceptions and enhance your analysis and evaluation of the research topic. Critical thinking is improved through the use of questioning to enhance understanding. The technique is derived from classical Greek philosopher Socrates who believed that effective use of questioning promotes active and independent learners. There are six main types of Socratic questions
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Adapted from: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/skillshub/?id=344 Critical thinking skills need to be understood and developed in the context of your subject discipline - check this out with your supervisors. Identify what's important:
Evaluate what you find:
Look beyond what you're reading/hearing:
Clarifying your point of view:
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Telltale signs your critical thinking is weak
As you are probably now realising critical thinking isn’t easy or does not always come naturally to students. Sometimes poor critical thinking is obvious to see - it jumps out of the page. Lekanides (111) puts forward five mistakes that students might make. Treat the following list as things to avoid or after proofreading your work issues to correct.
Evaluations that are based on narrative or descriptive accounts.
Embedding new information in your final, concluding evaluation.
Basing your final evaluation on personal opinion or unsupported claims.
Drawing a conclusion at odds with your argument as it develops in your main body.
Failing to omit any mention of limitations in terms of your approach. It is good academic practice to recognize any shortcomings in your method or approach.
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Thomas (2017) also helps us see how the language used in the EE can be important for communicating issues around critical thinking. Also, be tentative about any conclusions that you yourself feel you are able to make: avoid phrases such as ‘this proves’ and ‘this shows’ and instead use words such as ‘this indicates’ or ‘the evidence suggests’ or ‘points towards’ or ‘implies’. Try to use moderating phrases such as ‘tends to’ or ‘one might conclude that’ instead of bolder ones. Academic writing is an area where is pays to be tentative: no one will give you high marks for making unwarranted claims about your own research, or for gullibly believing reports of others. Doubt everyone’s findings, even your own,
How to write critically, conceptually and creatively
Different levels of thinking and writing include:
You will go through all of these kinds and levels of writing at different points in your work and all are useful, but if you stay at the level of describing how something has happened, what is the case, what are the facts only; telling the story (narrative), without commenting on it or analysing it; and summarising other people’s or your own points, you will be working at a conceptual, creative and sufficiently critical level for [an extended essay]. You need to move beyond and start to synthesise, ie pull the main points out of a range of writing, stand back and categorise these, find their themes, and pull them together. Then you need to be able to identify the main issues and meanings, in other words to analyse what you have read or written, or others have written, and work out what the important elements are in relation to to your own question and argument. You need to evaluate and reflect on what has been read, done and written, judge it, identify strengths and weaknesses, and work at the level of the ideas and theories, conceptual levels. You need to relate what has been read, doner and written in the work of others, engage in a discussion with others’ comments, ideas and theories, and then to add a well thought out argument of your own, make a contribution to the discussion and to your understanding, to meaning. |
Summary
Taking a critical approach involves analysing, questioning and evaluating in order to reach a reasoned and evidenced position.
Conducting a thorough analysis of concepts, models and ideas can be hard work and is the most often neglected stage of a critical approach. Weak or absent analysis will lead to weak or incorrect evaluation and conclusion.
Thinking and writing critically is not a natural process and can be hard work–if your brain hurts a bit you’re doing it right.
Thinking and writing should go hand in hand as you produce a piece of work–think, plan, think, write and think, rewrite, think …
The difference between an average assignment and an excellent one is the quality of the critical analysis, use of evidence and evaluation, and the logic and clarity of the connections made between these and the student’s own ideas.