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Critical Thinking at University: An Introduction

Ensure your prepared for university by improving your critical thinking skills with this online course from the University of Leeds.

Duration

2 weeks

Weekly study

4 hours

100% online

How it works

Unlimited subscription

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Make sure you have the critical thinking skills required for university

Critical thinking is a vital skill at university and later in life. University study introduces you to new concepts, ways of learning and requires you to think critically. You need to know how to question information sources and how to evaluate different arguments.

Despite critical thinking being so important, students are often unprepared when they start their studies. This course will show you what critical thinking skills you need at university level, how they can be applied to different disciplines and how to use practical strategies to develop these skills for a successful academic life.

This course has been ranked as one of the best online courses of all time by online course aggregator class central.

Week 1
Critical thinking and what it means at university
- Welcome
  Welcome to Critical Thinking at University: An Introduction. This course explores what critical thinking means at university and how to think more critically.
- What is critical thinking?
  This activity seeks to establish what you currently know about critical thinking through an initial reflection. You will then be introduced to what critical thinking is and understand how it can help in our everyday lives.
- A model for critical thinking
  In this activity, you will be introduced to the Learnhigher critical thinking model. This will help you to develop a more systematic and analytical approach to your studies so you can develop your critical thinking skills.
- Why is critical thinking important at university?
  This activity explains why thinking critically at university is important and offers examples of critical thinking skills at different levels of study. You will also hear from academics and students about their experiences.
- Summary
  This activity offers a summary of this week's learning and a glossary of terms.
Week 2
Improving your critical thinking
- Welcome to Week 2
  In Week 2, you will explore and practise strategies to help you tackle the challenges of thinking critically at university. The week finishes with an opportunity for you to create an action plan.
- Challenges to thinking critically at university
  This activity builds on the previous week which introduced critical thinking at university. You will focus on the challenges you may face when trying to think critically during your time at university.
- How can you improve your critical thinking?
  This activity builds on the previous activity by re-examining the challenges to critical thinking. Examples will provide you with practical strategies to help you to understand how to overcome the challenges highlighted.
- How will critical thinking help you at university?
  This activity looks at the outcomes of successfully applying critical thinking at university, and finishes with an opportunity for you to create an action plan.
- Summary
  In this final activity you can explore further resources to support your development of critical thinking.