Acknowledgements
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View ArticleFurther 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 ArticleReferences
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,...
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View ArticleConclusion
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 Article9 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 Article8.3 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 Article8.2 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 Article8.1 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 Article8 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 Article7.5 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 Article7.4 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 Article7.3 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 Article7.2 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 Article7.1 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 Article7 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 Article6 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 Article5 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 Article4 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 Article3.2 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 Article3.1 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 Article3 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 Article2 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 Article1 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 ArticleLearning 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 ArticleIntroduction
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...
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