Alexs tip of the week: Sorry for the delay with this one! Critical thinking is a key aspect of studying at university. Academic writing should demonstrate your critical thinking, as opposed to being overly descriptive. Youve probably heard or read this plenty of times. What does it actually mean? There are many ways to answer that question. Rather than looking for the silver bullet solution that might magically clarify everything in your head, its better to build up an idea of what critical thinking is over time. The silver bullet answer probably doesnt exist - I certainly havent found it! Heres one way of looking at it (again, one way of many!): Next time youre at the university library, or any other healthily stacked bookshelves, pick up an encyclopedia - the kind that is alphabetically ordered, with short paragraphs about almost everything. (It might be called a concise encyclopedia.) Take note of the kinds of sentences inside: factual, neutral, descriptive sentences. Next time youre writing an assignment, for each sentence, ask yourself, Would this look out of place in an encyclopedia? The answer should be yes: each sentence youve written needs to demonstrate critical thinking. Ive provided some examples below. (One small caveat: in actual fact, a very small proportion of sentences in an academic essay could be factual. They will be so rare, however, that it is better to write as if they do not exist, including them in your work only in the rarest of cases.) For example (note the brackets in which youd put your references): Encyclopedia-type descriptive text: Four American presidents have been assassinated in office; most recently, President Kennedy in 1963. Ronald Reagan survived a high-profile assassination attempt in 1981. Critically-informed essay text: It is possible that Ronald Reagans survival of an assassination attempt in 1981, and the renowned good humour with which he recovered, contributed to - or reinforced - the image of him as an amiable and optimistic leader. Several historians have pointed out the fact that, for the most part, the nation would still clearly remember the shared experience of Kennedys death in 1963 (Reference 1, Reference 2...). Encyclopedia-type descriptive text: A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is the name given to a range of systems used in education. A VLE can serve various functions, including: document management; facilitating interaction between tutors and students; and assignment submission or grading. Critically-informed essay text: Given the rapid expansion of engagement with technology for a wide range of purposes, it is unsurprising that students expectations of their tutors are developing in this area. Many institutions are finding that, in particular, interaction between members of staff and students via a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) has a decisive effect on student satisfaction and engagement (References). Using your encyclopedia, find a subject you know well or are interested in. Look at the factual sentences describing the topic, and try to come up with some more critically aware discussion. This is just an exercise to help you understand the contrast between description and analysis - only spend all night doing it if youre searching for an interim hobby (and a rather strange one at that!).
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 02:06:41 +0000
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