Quantcast
Channel: RSS feed for Extending and developing your thinking skills
Browsing latest articles
Browse All 69 View Live

Acknowledgements

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 LicenceCourse image:...

View Article



Further reading

de Bono's Thinking Course by Edward de Bono, published by BBC Books, 1999; An interesting general consideration of thinking skills with tools and techniques for developing thinking in a general way.Use...

View Article

References

de Bono, E. (1999) de Bono's Thinking Course. London, BBC BooksEntwistle, N. (1994) quoted in Supporting Open Learners Reader (1996) Milton Keynes, The Open UniversityHolmes, O. W. quoted in Robbins,...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Keep on learning

 Study another free courseThere are more than 800 courses on OpenLearn for you to choose from on a range of subjects. Find out more about all our free courses. Take your studies furtherFind out more...

View Article

Conclusion

This free course provided an introduction to thinking skills. It took you through a series of exercises designed to develop your approach to study and learning at a distance, and helped to improve your...

View Article


9 Putting it all together

We have covered a wide range of aspects of thinking, particularly those concerned with clear and critical thinking. At this stage, you may find it useful to consider how ideas like these can be put...

View Article

8.3 Academic arguments

You have looked at some examples of everyday arguments, now look at a short example of an academic argument.Activity 26Read the argument below. Compare and contrast it to the previous examples of...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

8.2 Broadening perception

Particular perspectives and points of view underpin speaking and writing. Being successful at many academic tasks, including balanced argument, often requires us to be conscious of and to try to break...

View Article


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

8.1 Balanced argument

In many instances, we are not just concerned with arguing a particular case or taking a particular point of view, we are interested in looking at all sides of an issue and producing a balanced...

View Article


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

8 Analysis, argument and critical thinking

In this section, we are going to look in detail at analysis and argument. Analytical thinking is a particular type of higher order thinking central to much academic activity. It is concerned with...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

7.5 Mind-maps

Mind-mapping can be a particularly powerful visual tool for shaping thought. The basic principle here is to note down the central topic or idea in the centre of a piece of paper and work outwards...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

7.4 Visual tools

Organising thought can be assisted greatly by the use of visual tools. These can include diagrams, mind-maps, tables, graphs, time lines, flow charts, sequence diagrams, decision trees or other visual...

View Article

7.3 Systematic approaches

Having a systematic step-by-step process for thinking about certain academic tasks can be particularly useful so that everything is done as efficiently as possible.For example, the DANCE system (Rose...

View Article


7.2 Other ways of structuring thought

Distinguishing between generals and particulars can help you in reading, note taking and writing for your course. But, looking at things in a hierarchical general-particular way is only one approach to...

View Article

7.1 Hierarchies of ideas

A useful way of giving sense and structure to ideas can sometimes be to see them in the form of a hierarchy. At one end is the ‘big picture’ (e.g. general context, principles, theories, ideas,...

View Article


Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

7 Giving structure to thinking

Two common thinking problems are: a feeling of not being able to 'see the wood for the trees', and difficulty in being logical and orderly. The key to solving them is being able to think about ideas...

View Article

6 Questions

Thinking itself is nothing but the process of asking and answering questions.(Anthony Robbins)The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help...

View Article


5 Other people

Other people can be one of the best tools for developing your thinking. Engaging with others, for example in debate and discussion (either face-to-face or at a distance) is how we most effectively...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

4 A thinking disposition and the process of development

In order to make effective use of opportunities for developing your thinking, you need to develop a thinking disposition as well as thinking skills.Activity 6The following checklist covers some of the...

View Article

3.2 Looking at the thinking a further education course involves

A further education course will provide many practical opportunities for developing thinking. These will be integrated into activities such as: reading texts; doing in-text activities and...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

3.1 Thinking in a higher gear

While we can all think, it is important to recognize that the thinking skills we have looked at so far are not all required or equally valued in academic work. Common to all subjects and levels is the...

View Article


3 Different kinds of thinking

Thinking is something we do all of the time.Activity 3Briefly write the story of your day so far reflecting carefully on the amount and types of thinking you have done.DiscussionPerhaps your day...

View Article


2 Understanding the importance of thinking skills

We would like to start by asking you to consider some fundamental questions about education.Activity 1Note down your responses to the following questions.Why do people become university students?What...

View Article

1 Overview

This course provides an introduction to thinking skills and ways of extending and developing your thinking.But why do you need to do this?Take a few moments to reflect on your reasons for looking at...

View Article

Learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:feel more confident about studyingunderstand any grades received and how to improve themovercome problems with reading and writingmake the most of the...

View Article


Introduction

This course is designed to take you on a journey of understanding. You will be introduced to a variety of thinking skills and ways of extending and developing your thinking. You will begin by looking...

View Article
Browsing latest articles
Browse All 69 View Live




Latest Images