Critical Thinking In Academic Contexts Oise Academic Skills Hub

Leo Migdal

-Dec 11, 2025, 7:00 AM

critical thinking in academic contexts oise academic skills hub

Critical thinking is an essential skill for academic success and professional growth, particularly in graduate school where advanced analytical abilities are required. This Resource Page introduces what critical thinking is, explains the importance of critical thinking for graduate students, and offers practical guidelines to enhance this skill. By mastering critical thinking, you can navigate complex academic challenges and contribute meaningfully to your fields of study. Critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating our and others’ thinking with a view to improving it. Critical thinking means: Many students find ‘being critical’ difficult because of:

For instance, you might accept a renowned professor's theory on educational methods without question, believing the professor's expertise makes their perspective infallible. Even if you have valid doubts or conflicting evidence, your respect for the professor's authority may prevent you from critically analyzing or challenging their theory. Lack of confidence in your own judgement Critical thinking is a complex intellectual process that emphasizes the ability to think abstractly and creatively, while contextualizing information within a personal framework. It encourages individuals to engage with material actively, rather than passively receiving information. This thinking style is often contrasted with traditional educational methods that focus on rote memorization and standardized testing, which can hinder deeper cognitive engagement.

Educational models, such as the "questioning circle," aim to facilitate critical thinking by allowing students to explore subjects through personal and societal lenses. While critical thinking can benefit all students, certain populations, such as those with learning disabilities or from different cultural backgrounds, may face unique challenges in developing these skills. Many educators recognize the importance of integrating critical thinking across various subjects, highlighting its role in fostering not only academic success but also moral and personal growth. However, the current education system often prioritizes fact-based learning, which can limit opportunities for students to practice critical thinking. As societal diversity increases, understanding how different groups assimilate and adapt critical thinking skills becomes increasingly important for educators. The article begins by defining "critical thinking," a multifaceted concept that requires people to think abstractly, to contextualize material into a personalized framework, and parallels a constructivist standpoint.

Despite the fact that critical thinking appears to be a sophisticated intellectual construct, school systems generally avoid incorporating activities that induce this advanced cognitive mechanism. Ideas for teachers who are interested in integrating a critical model (i.e., "the questioning circle") into their instruction are presented. Finally, populations for which critical thinking is more suitable are reviewed, as well as populations that might particularly struggle with the esoteric nature associated with this style of thought. Keywords Critical Thinking; Constructivist Perspective; Developmental Perspective; Reductionist Perspective; Questioning Circle; Triarchic Theory In an attempt to understand how students learn most efficiently, educational psychologists have broached various pedagogical issues and ascertained their proficiency, rigor, and contributions toward academia. Critical thinking is a concept that has been examined from various angles in terms of how it enhances the learning process, along with the advantages, disadvantages, and limitations that this thinking style imparts.

Much research (Glevey, 2006; Paul & Elder, 2006; Vansieleghem, 2005), asserts that the actual definition of critical thinking is somewhat abstract and varied. Heiman and Slomianko (1985) describe critical thinking as an internal dialogue whereby a person ponders and dissects the material that is being learned. As opposed to passively receiving information, critical thinkers internally apply the knowledge that they receive against their personal frames of reference. They devise specific questions that need further contemplation, and brainstorm relevant examples that help illuminate the material. Additionally, they use exploratory and imaginative methods that are conceptual in nature and do not typically yield right and wrong answers. By nature, instructors who assign writing activities elicit more critical thinking skills than those that evaluate students based upon testing assessments that are commonly formatted into multiple-choice, true/false, or fill-in-the-blank questions (Jackson, 2006).

The latter requires people to think deductively by narrowing down options until the correct answer remains. Writing, on the other hand, allows people to expressively justify their opinions, and it is typically their style and way with words that validates their convictions. Enhance your higher-level thinking skills. Critical thinking is a defining characteristic of university level study. It underpins everything from reading to analysing ideas and evidence and developing your own arguments. When we talk about the greater ‘depth’ of university learning, critical thinking is often what we mean.

Find out more about what critical thinking is and various ways to develop a critical mindset and apply it in your studies. Understanding criticality in a university context How to understand and apply critical analysis Click on the links below to move to the corresponding section of this page: Critical thinking is a key skill for university and students can find the concept hard to grasp. However, it is something that you do already; when you choose how to spend your time, which news sources to listen to, and which products to buy.

At university, you need to apply this analytical thinking to what you read, hear and write. Additionally, you must make sure to demonstrate that you have done so in your assessments and there is more guidance on how to do this in the Writing and assessments section of Skills Hub. Carlee: I think you hear critical thinking and it's a buzzword. It's something that everyone wants you to know how to do. And tells you it's so important to have to master that it can put a lot of pressure and you're like, what even is critical thinking? And I was exactly the same.

I was like, 'Oh, well, you know, I'm being critical.' Like how I translated critical, I was just kind of being negative and like nit picking out like the flaws of things. And it wasn't until, you know, I got some marks back and some feedback and they're like that's not necessarily what critical thought is. It's kind of if you were to look at something and just say, 'How can I break this down into smaller pieces? What's helpful about this? What's not helpful about this? What's the advantages?

What's the disadvantages?' And just kind of looking at something in both ways, not just your own perspective - that can kind of help you look at something and say, 'Oh, now I'm being... Rodrigo: Right now I'm writing my essays and when I receive some feedback, I can see completely the difference. It's interesting how at the beginning of my first year I got like two forties and a couple of fifties as well. And I was like, why? Why is this happening? And right now I'm getting like my sixties and my seventies, and I can see a difference.

I can definitely see a difference. My essays are more structured. I have more critical thinking like it's supposed to, like my uni wants to and yes, definitely, I can look at something and I'm like, is this really like this, what's the other point? What are the other arguments? Is this person who's talking, is she or he or they biased? Are they biased?

So yes, definitely 100%. It's helped me grow and think critically. Yeah, for sure. Imagine that someone tells you, “You’re going to need an umbrella.”

Critical Thinking In Academic Contexts Oise Academic Skills Hub

People Also Search

Critical Thinking Is An Essential Skill For Academic Success And

For Instance, You Might Accept A Renowned Professor's Theory On

Educational Models, Such As The "questioning Circle," Aim To Facilitate

Despite The Fact That Critical Thinking Appears To Be A

Much Research (Glevey, 2006; Paul & Elder, 2006; Vansieleghem, 2005),