How to improve your critical thinking & reflective skills by Kathleen McMillan and Jonathan Weyers

<p><strong>Introduction</strong></p><p>1. Key concepts and processes - how thinking, reflection and creativity involve important skills</p><p><strong>Key approaches to thinking</strong></p><p>2. Critical thinking - how to develop a logical approach to analysis and problem-solving</p><p>3. Reflective thinking - how to evaluate your feelings in academic contexts</p><p>4. Creative thinking - how to generate innovative and original ideas</p><p><strong>Critical thinking in practice</strong></p><p>5. Arriving at a viewpoint - how to sift fact and opinion to arrive at a position on a topic</p><p>6. Supporting and opposing an argument - how to express your point of view through discussion and debate</p><p>7. Interpreting and manipulating data - how to approach graphs, tables, formulae and basic statistics</p><p>8. Decision-making and work-planning - how to make choices, plan ahead and prioritise</p><p>9. Group effort and collaboration - how to enhance your contribution to teamwork</p><p><strong>Evaluating the ideas of others</strong></p><p>10. Evaluating information sources - how to filter and select reliable material</p><p>11. Effective academic reading - how to read efficiently and with understanding</p><p>12. Note-making from texts - how to create effective notes for later reference</p><p>13. Plagiarism and copyright infringement - how to avoid being accused of 'stealing' the ideas and work of others </p><p>14. Citing and listing references - how to refer appropriately to the work of others</p><p><strong>Putting your thinking into words</strong></p><p>15. Tackling a writing assignment - how to respond to the specified task</p><p>16. Academic writing style - how to adopt appropriate language conventions</p><p>17. General writing structures – how to select and shape your content appropriately</p><p>18. Writing about reflection - how to structure and report your thoughts</p><p>19. Editing and presenting your assignment - how to review your own work and follow academic conventions</p><p><strong>Forward thinking</strong></p><p>20. Exploiting feedback - how to learn from what lecturers think of your work</p><p>21. Preparing for employment- how to transfer your thinking skills to a career</p><p></p><p></p>