Critical Thinking & Reflection

Learning Area Co-ordinator

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Learning Development, University of Plymouth Tel: 01752 587750

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it LearnHigher Researcher, University of Plymouth Tel: 01752 587753

Introduction

The University of Plymouth coordinates the work of LearnHigher in Critical Thinking and Reflection. Critical thinking and reflection are at the heart of higher education and university learning and are fundamental for all disciplines. The widening of participation in HE calls for new approaches which enable students to develop these abilities for academic purposes.   They are also seen as ‘key skills’ which employers expect graduates to bring to the workplace from university.  Critical thinking and reflection are often referred to in descriptions of the characteristics of both higher education itself (Barnett, 1997) and of graduates (Dearing, 1997).

Why critical thinking and reflection

Thinking critically helps students to develop as autonomous learners who can engage more confidently in debate within their subject area at a high level. A well known writer on critical thinking, Jenny Moon, gives the following definition:

Critical thinking is a capacity to work with complex ideas whereby a person can
make effective provision of evidence to justify a reasonable judgement.  The
evidence, and therefore the judgement, will pay appropriate attention to context.    Moon J. (2005)

However disciplines have different interpretations of and uses for critical thinking, as illustrated in the following quotes from staff at the University of Plymouth:

Educational Development: ‘Critical thinking is the intellectual process of analysing, evaluating and synthesising observations or assertions’

Tourism:  ‘Critical thinking is the ability to not just describe something or accept perceived wisdom, but develop a conceptual understanding of what happens and transfer that to different situations’

Engineering:  ‘Critical thinking gives problem-solving wings!’

Education:  ‘It means not just accepting what you are told but a willingness to question it, to think it through for yourself’

Reflection is a complex set of processes which can empower students to recognise their learning opportunities and make the most of them. In its simplest form, reflection is the ability to look back over one’s experiences and identify significant aspects, such as reasons for success and failure.  The important thing, of course, is to then learn from these reflections, by using them to inform practice.

“Reflection is a process of recalling an event with a view to analysing and evaluating that experience” (lecturer quote)

Critical thinking and reflection are both developmental and particular to the individual, at the same time they can be specific to cultural and discipline related factors. 

Critical thinking and reflection was the LearnHigher learning area of the month in March-April 2008.

Resources

For materials, study guides and links.