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CRITICAL THINKING
“You
had better watch out - there’s a polar bear behind you!”
In the statement above there is
a conclusion based on a reason.
What are the assumptions that have been made in
drawing the conclusion that "You had better watch out!"?
There are at least 30 of them – how many
can you think of?
Department
members:
Mrs Annie O’Dea
Mrs V Jane Smith
Examination Board:
OCR
The challenging exercise above is one used in
the Critical Thinking
AS course, taken by students as part of the Key Skills options in
Year 12.
It is a taught course, undertaken over two terms in one afternoon
each week. There is no homework or coursework, just lots of lively
discussion and demanding thinking.
The OCR AS examination is composed of two units
:
1. Credibility of Evidence ( F491)
2. Assessing and Developing Argument ( F492).
New textbooks, published by Heinemann, are used
to support the course, with Unit 1 to be examined in January 2007
and Unit 2 in June 2007.
The results from June 2006 (a cohort of 17) were
particularly pleasing with four students achieving an A grade, and
six a B grade. Three girls are to be particularly congratulated
on gaining full marks in one of their papers.
Critical Thinking is increasingly popular as it
not only supports other subject areas but is widely recognised by
universities. It is particularly helpful when preparing for admission
tests, which may rely on skills such as:
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the identification of
reasons and conclusions
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the identification of assumptions and
flaws in arguments
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assessment of the credibility of evidence |
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evaluation of the structure, strengths and weaknesses of arguments. |
These actually form the core aspects of this fascinating
subject and we are delighted to provide this further dimension to
the sixth form curriculum.
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