For the development of Critical thinking skills, complete with case studies examples and solutions. Great for first time workshop.

1. By Karyn Thng

2. 1. What is Critical Thinking?
2. What do you expect to achieve
through attending this workshop?

3. What is Critical Thinking?
Critical Thinking is the attempt to ask and answer questions
systematically.
This means
1. Asking the most useful questions in the most productive
sequence in order to yield a coherent and credible “Story”
2. Asking questions instead of accepting “at face value” what you
write or read, i.e.,
i.
separating reliable facts from false assumptions
ii. Look for evidence and good reason before believing
something to be true

4. During World War 1, head injury among
soldiers was very high and soldiers took
a long time to recover .
Evaluate.

5. Structure
Model to Generate Critical Thinking
Descriptio
n
Wh e r e
Wh o ?
?
Wh a t ? Wh e n ?
Wh y ?
Analysis
Ho w?
Wh a t
ne x t ?
Evaluation
So
wh a t ?
Wh a t
i f ?

6. The Common Question Words
Starters:
WHAT, WHO, WHERE, WHEN, HOW, WHY
Follow by:
WHAT IF, WHAT NEXT, SO WHAT

7. DESCRIBE
•
To describe is to clearly define what you are talking
about, say exactly what is involved, where it takes
place, or under what circumstances.
•
Basically an introduction to a topic.

8. ANALYSE
•
To analyse is to examine and explain how parts fit
into a whole given reasons, compare and contrast
different elements, show your understanding of
relationships.
•
Analysis basically forms the main part of any indepth study.

9. EVALUATE
•
To evaluate is to judge the success or failure of
something, it’s implications and/or value.
•
Evaluation leads us to conclusions or
recommendations and are usually found at the end of
a topic.

10. Generating Critical Thinking
Identify a topic
• This is the Topic/Issue you might
want to explore in a particular
section or paragraph.
• Write key words in the middle of a
sheet of paper, or a blank
document screen.

11. Generating Critical Thinking
Try to answer the questions
• Starting with ‘what’ questions.
Your answers may become part of
an introduction, defining your
terms or identifying issues.

12. Generating Critical Thinking
Using the „who‟, „when‟ and „where‟ questions
• To generate descriptive
background information.
• This will provide context or scenesetting material which is also
useful for an introductory section.

13. Generating Critical Thinking
Using the “How” question
• ‘How’ requires consideration of
the ways that something operates
or works – e.g. processes or
procedures.
• Attempting to answer questions
using “how‟ takes you from
descriptive to more analytical
work.

14. Generating Critical Thinking
Using the “Why” question
• ‘Why’ also moves you deeper into
analytical territory. It gets you to
find reasons, explanations or
causes.
• Think about all the possible
questions to do with ‘why’.

15. Generating Critical Thinking
Using the “What if” question
• Asking questions using ‘what if’ moves you
into a more evaluative phase of your
thinking.
• It helps you to consider the possible
implications or results of a particular action.
• This question is also useful for considering
predictive work done by others, or engaging
in forecasting of your own.

16. Generating Critical Thinking
Using the “So what” question
• ‘So what?’ is really the KEY QUESTION
for an evaluation. It gets you thinking about
value or values, meaning and significance.
• It is also about discriminating between more
or less important factors in any situation.
• It helps you to think through and justify
your own position, and discuss its
implications.

17. Generating Critical Thinking
Using the “What next” question
• ‘What next?’ might refer to
recommendations and predictions that your
argument has brought to light.
• It leads you to consider and plan for more
specific actions that might be necessary in
certain kinds of assignment, such as a project
or business report.

18. Critical questions – A Linear Model
WHERE?
Where does it take place?
Who is this by?
Who is involved?
Who is affected?
Who might be interested?
WHEN?
An a l y
s i s
What is this about?
What is the context / situation?
What is the main point / problem / topic to be explored?
WHO?
De s c r
i pt i o
n
WHAT?
When does it occur?
HOW?
How did this occur?
How does it work – in theory? – in practice / context?
How does one factor affect another? Or,
How do the parts fit into whole?
Exploration of relationship
Introductory and
background information to
contextualize problem /
topic.
of parts to whole.

19. Ev a l u
a t i on
An a l y
s i s
Critical questions – A Linear Model
WHY?
WHAT IF?
SO WHAT?
WHAT NEXT?
Why did this occur?
Why was that done?
Why is argument / theory / suggestion / solution?
Possible situations
What if this were wrong?
and alternative
What are the alternatives?
response?
What if there were a problem?
What if this or that factor were – added? removed? altered?
What does this mean?
Why is this significant?
Is this convincing? Why/ why not?
What are the implications?
Is it successful?
How does it meet the criteria?
Is it transferable?
How and where else can it be applied?
What can be learnt from it?
What needs doing now?
Implications
Solutions
Conclusions
Recommendatio
ns

22. A survey conducted in
Minnesota, USA
presented below proves
that Women are better
drivers than Men.
Di s c u s s .
Age 20 - 65
Women
Men
No. of Accidents in Year
2010
42 300
60 000

23. THANK YOU

24. • World War I
WHO – WW1 Soldiers
WHAT – Head Injury

25. • World War I
WHERE & WHEN - Brief Introduction
• When: WW1 Started in 28 July
1914 and lasted till 11
November 1918 in
• Where: Europe.
• How: The cause of the conflict
is due to long term
imperialistic foreign policies of
the great powers of Europe
(German Empire, AustroHungarian Empire, Ottoman
Empire, Russian Empire, British
Empire, French Empire & Italy)

26. • World War I
WHY - Soldiers‟ Helmets
SAMPLE HELMET USED PRE WWI
SAMPLE HELMET USED IN WWI

27. • World War I
WHAT IF
WITHOUT TIN HELMET
WITH TIN HELMET