1.1 Thinking critically at university

Being critical in lectures

Lectures are a key part of ‘big picture’ learning in universities. They’re often filled with the main theories, ideas and concepts that are the basis of the module or course and are very important in the assessment.

• If there is pre-reading, prepare for the lecture by noting down any doubts you had while you were reading so that you know to listen especially carefully during that part of the lecture.
• In the lecture, create notes that contain more than what the lecturer says — include your own questions, doubts, and opinions. Actively question the information as you hear it. What does it mean? Why does it matter? Does it make sense? What questions do you still have?
• After the lecture, review your notes and actively link the learning to other parts of the module or course. You could use a mind map to do this.
• What are the key ideas in the lecture? How is the lecturer using them? What are they not saying? This can include potential links to other theories and ideas.
• What links are there between the lecture and the assessment? This can help you to think through the main ideas and how they are used.
• Can you find areas of the lecture you can argue against, using academic evidence?
• Meet with classmates after the lecture and talk through what you think you heard. This will help to consolidate learning and identify what you did not understand.

Being critical when doing pre-reading

Pre-reading is one of the most important parts of learning at university, yet it’s common for students to neglect it. By arriving with background knowledge and understanding, ideally with some prepared questions, you’ll be better able to think about the content in the session critically and ask the right questions. Ideas on how to be critical when doing pre-reading are:

• Make notes that include questions you would like to learn the answers to in the learning session (e.g. tutorial, seminar, lecture).
• Meet with classmates to read together or after reading to discuss what you have found and things you don’t understand yet.
• Ask, why does this reading matter? What key ideas are in the reading? How does this reading link to the taught session to come? These questions will help you to be critical in your reading process.
• For each source, have a look at the author, where and when it was published, what the key ideas are, and what makes them a credible source of information.

Being critical in tutorials

Tutorials are a personalised learning environment in which a student or a small group of students meet with an individual member of academic staff to discuss their learning, to ask questions. Being critical in these sessions is all about having good questions, preparing well and keeping track of your thinking and progress. Ideas for how to be critical in your tutorials are:

• Think of questions to ask in advance. The type of questions will depend on the purpose of the tutorial. By preparing, you are likely to think more deeply about the content of the tutorial and achieve a greater critical level of understanding from engaging in the process.
• Make notes in the tutorial that include questions you can engage with afterwards to prompt you to think more and consequently, be critical.
• Use the opportunity to ask why a particular concept or idea matters. What does it link to? Why is it on the list of things you need to learn? Asking your tutor this type of question can prompt critical discussion.
• Make a bullet pointed list of what the tutorial was about afterwards. By reducing the content, you are likely to be critical in evaluating which ideas and thoughts really matter.
• Ask questions: Why? What? Why does it matter? What does it link to? What evidence is there for that?

Being critical in labs

Labs are a key element of many higher education programs, especially science subjects. They are about completing tasks, experiments, and the practical application of knowledge. To be critical in labs you need to ask why you are doing what you are doing, why it matters, why you should care about the results, what the implications of the results are, and why exactly you are following the methods you are asked to. Here are some ideas of what you can do in labs to be critical.

• Read about the tasks you’ll be doing in advance in advance. Why has each been chosen? Are there alternatives? Why have you been asked to do the particular tasks or experimentation in the labs?
• Talk with classmates about the labs in advance. Discuss what the labs are for, what you hope to gain from them, and what the challenges might be.
• How do the labs fit with the big ideas in the course you’re taking?
• During the labs, make notes of key questions that may be related to concepts, methods, implications or links to other learning so you can use your time afterwards to further develop your critical understanding.
• Talk about the labs afterwards with classmates to identify learning, links to other parts of the module, and questions you still have.
• If you were asked, ‘what is the point of the labs you are doing next?’, what would you say? Can you justify them from the point of view of skills, knowledge areas involved, implications of the methods and knowledge used?
• Ask why you are doing each element of the labs. By questioning, you will identify links and form critical understanding of the methods and knowledge involved in the labs, within your subject area.

Being critical when doing academic writing

Academic writing is a key element of university studies. It’s best thought of as a one-way conversation with a curious person; that person cannot ask questions, so your writing must be clear — but it can only be clear if your thinking is clear. To create clear, but critical thinking, you need to invest time in understanding each concept and idea, so you can use them to create a critical argument, answer or judgement that the reader can follow. Here are some ideas on how to be critical when completing academic writing tasks:

• The main skill is to be able to show your critical thinking within your writing by showing your critical processes of analysising, evaluating, and coming to a conclusion. You might make comparisons, consider reasons and implications, justify choices, or consider strengths and weaknesses.
• At each point, think about the questions a reader will have and try to ensure you answer them.
• Use concepts critically. This means showing their limits, how they fit into the whole literature base, and choosing your language carefully to show the level of certainty attached to each idea, relationship, and assertion.
• Ask a friend to read your work with a questioning mindset. If they assume you are wrong, they can question each element to make you prove you are right. This will reveal where more critical understanding is needed in your writing.

Being critical when discussing your learning with friends and classmates

A key, but often overlooked, element of learning at university level is the critical thinking that happens when talking to friends and classmates in an informal setting. This is one reason university campuses are filled with social spaces. Some ideas of how to be critical when informally discussing learning are:

• Ask the person how they know what they think they know. In other words, get them to consider the source of their understanding. Is it a reliable source?
• Ask the person whether they can give you an example of how or when a concept or theory might be used. This prompts them to apply the idea to real-world settings and different contexts, which generates a more critical understanding of the idea.
• How does X link to Y? By asking a person how one idea is related to another, they must examine what that idea is and its limits.
• ‘Can you tell me about…?’ We often develop more understanding through telling or teaching others about our learning. A person answering this question can develop more critical understanding by really having to think through what the core idea is and why it matters.
• Why should I care about X? Having to justify why an idea or concept matters prompts critical thinking.
• What if X did not exist? E.g. What if radiocarbon dating had never been developed? By having to identify what a thing does or why it exists in the world, a person needs to think critically about that ‘thing’.