UndergradSkiller: Skill Set Map for Undergraduates and Their Educators

CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING: Critical Thinking

Developing Thinking Skills

Beyond introductory awareness, developing thinking skills involves engaging with formal logic, recognizing fallacies, and practicing structured analysis through exercises and extended study.

Useful Resources on Developing Thinking Skills:

Cleave, M. V., & Lansing Community College. (2016). Introduction to logic and critical thinking. Matthew J. Van Cleave. https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/457

Annotation: Textbook covering argument reconstruction and analysis, formal methods of evaluation, inductive reasoning and statistical fallacies, and informal fallacies. Includes exercises with answers.

The Open University. (2018, November 22). Extending and developing your thinking skills. https://www.open.edu/openlearn/education-development/extending-and-developing-your-thinking-skills

Annotation: Free self-paced course covering a range of thinking skills including analysis, argumentation, and critical thinking. Topics include different kinds of thinking, structuring thought using visual tools and mind maps, and developing a thinking disposition. Includes activities and quizzes.

Peer Review: None

Table of contents:

3.1. Critical Thinking
3.1.1. Introductions to Critical Thinking

3.1.2. Developing Thinking Skills

3.2. Critical Reading and Analysis

3.3. Analysis and Argumentation

3.4. Critical Reasoning

3.5. Synthesis

3.6. Problem-Solving and Design Thinking
3.6.1. Problem-Solving
3.6.2. Design Thinking

3.7. Research Methods
3.7.1. Research Design
3.7.2. Research Ethics

3.8. Data Literacy
3.8.1. Understanding Data
3.8.2. Computational Thinking
3.8.3. Statistical and Numerical Analysis

3.9. Curiosity and Creative Thinking
3.9.1. Creative Exercises
3.9.2. Understanding Curiosity

 

Author: Leeanne Irwin

Peer Reviewer(s): None