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Critical ThinkingKeep Questioning p1
probing questions for critical thinking p2
look for the main point p3
create a chart p5
basic forms of reasoning p6
inductive reasoning p7
abductive reasoning p8
look for bias p9
Progress checklist p13
English for Academic Purposes
Eekta Resource Library
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Eekta Resource Library P2Critical Thinking
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PROBING QUESTIONS FOR CRITICAL THINKING
What is th main point?
Dos th matial mak sns?
What vidnc suppots th validity o th main point?
How solid o accuat is th vidnc?
Dos it hold up to scutiny, act-chcking and ason?
Is th any bias?
Is th main point tu?
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Eekta Resource Library P3Critical Thinking
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LOOK FOR THE mAIN POINT
Much o what you citically analys in you studis will b txt
matials psntd in pint om and on th Intnt.
You will otn com acoss a sction calld an abstract or an
introuction.This is a short suary which ientifes the
ain point an outlines the reasoning o the text. Somtims
th is no abstact o intoduction, so thn you will hav to ad
th nti aticl.
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Eekta Resource Library P5Critical Thinking
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Example o a fow chart
Mainpoint
Suppotingvidnc
Suppotingvidnc
Suppotingvidnc
Example o a web chart
Suppotingvidnc
Suppotingvidnc
Suppotingvidnc
Suppotingvidnc
Main point
CREATE A CHART
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Eekta Resource Library P7Critical Thinking
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INdUCTIvE REASONING
Whn using inductiv asoning, you xamin th vidnc
psntd and possibl bias to dtmin i th conclusion is tu.
Th stock makt has had v staight months o incass,
tho th countys conomy is stngthning is an xampl o
inductiv asoning bcaus th stock makt is an indicato o th
countys conomy and v staight months o incass points to
th conomy bcoming stong.
Howv, inuctie reasoning is best when there is a large
boy o eience to support the clai. On o two pics o
suppoting data wont always hold up und scutiny.
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Eekta Resource Library P8Critical Thinking
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ABdUCTIvE REASONING
Abuctie reasoning iners a possible outcoe or
correlation an sets up a hypothesis or later analysis.
Inhntly, abductiv asoning can poduc sults that a
incoct and so conclusions can only b mad valid by chcking
thm though ith inductiv o dductiv asoning.
Abductiv asoning has valu in stablishing a pmis, a
pdiction o a gnalisd statmnt that can b povd o
dispovd at a lat tim.
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Eekta Resource Library P9Critical Thinking
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LOOK FOR BIAS
It is also impotant to look o bias in a statmnt o an aticl.
Bias is when the author allows his or her personal iews,
experiences an / or preuices to oershaow the acts
presente. Bias is had to avoid, but impotant to dtct and
citically analys.
Whil ading biasd matial can hlp you om an opinion, you
want to mak su you daw you own conclusions basd on th
stngth o th acts and vidnc povidd.
Consid th souc.
Find out somthing about th autho, thi backgound and
what oganisation thy a aliatd with.
Look o a slant in th witing.
Otn, vidnc psntd can hav a slant. In oth wods, it
can b caully slctd to suppot th authos psonal blis
o th blis o th oganisation h o sh blongs to.
Look o motiv wods that sk to psuad th ad towad
th authos point o viw.
Ths a usually wods such as vil, nomal, abnomal,
unai, antastic, tc. By using such wods, th autho tis to
shap you viw instad o allowing you to shap it yousl.
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Eekta Resource Library P10Critical Thinking
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LOOK FOR BIAS
Onc you hav applid a asoning tchniqu and lookd o faws
and bias, you can valuat th quality o th vidnc psntd.
Th a sval actos you will want to consid.
Chck to s how old th aticl is.
Nw inomation coms out all th tim and an old aticl
can b outdatd.
It is also good to idntiy th typ o publication.
Is it a popula souc such as a nwspap o magazin,
o is it a possional o acadmic jounal?
In most cass, th jounal will hav stict ditoial citia o
a balancd psntation o acts and could b considd
mo cdibl.
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Eekta Resource Library P11Critical Thinking
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LOOK FOR BIAS
Writers oten use statistics to bolster their arguent.
Whn statistical inomation is usd to daw a conclusion, it is
calld quantitativ sach.
Wits can slct statistics to mak gnalisations and psuad
ath than o balancd and complt vidnc to allow th
ad to dcid o thmslvs.
Th suvy mthods usd to tak th statistics should b
xamind.Suvys might not ully psnt th goup bing suvyd o
thy might not ask nough popl to gt a ull ading o th
situation.
Also, somtims suvy qustions can b wittn in such a way
as to poduc a ctain answ.
At that, look at th mthod th suvy usd to gath its
opinions.
Popl a mo likly to povid tuthul answs i thy giv
thm anonymously and in witing ath than ac to ac.
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Eekta Resource Library P12Critical Thinking
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LOOK FOR BIAS
Finally, chck to s i th matial you a viwing has any
ncs, ootnots o ndnots which idntiy th souc oth contnt o povid additional inomation.
An aticl with many ncs is likly to b mo accuat than
on that has non. Look at th publications mntiond in th
aticl to chck i thy a om cdibl soucs.
You can also coss-chck acts om soucs you tust to
conm th accuacy o th pic you a viwing.
Its a good ida to viw sval soucs whn looking at
citical dtails o positions takn by th autho that suppot th
main point.
This is pobably most cucial whn looking at inomation on th
Intnt. Bcaus Intnt aticls a not always act-chckd
and can b biasd, you will nd to b caul in you slctions.
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PROGRESS CHECKLISTLEARNING OBjECTIvES
Now you should be able to:
Understand the importance of critical thinking
Create a ow chart or web chart to organise information
Differentiate between deductive, inductive and abductive reasoning
Seek out and identify bias in a statement or article
Evaluate the quality of evidence in a statement or article
Examine statistics and survey methods used
Critical Thinking
English for Academic Purposes
Eekta Resource LibraryP13
Assss you own pogss.
A GeNerALLY ABLe TO
B PArTIALLY ABLe TO
C NOT YeT ABLe TO
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English for Academic Purposes
Eekta Resource Library
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Critical Thinking