A lot of the feedback you get on your essays and other assignments asks you to be ‘more critical’ or ‘more analytical’. As tutors don’t always have the time or space to explain what they mean by this and because students have told us that they would like more guidance on the issue of critical thinking and how to become more critical, here are a couple of websites to help you get your head around what this means:
- Critical and analytical thinking (Jamie Wood): http://www.netvibes.com/woodjamie#Criticality_and_Analysis (collates and links to a lot of different resources and includes a definition of ‘critical thinking’)
- Reading critically in History (Catherine Feeley): http://misplacedhabits.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/reading-historical-literature-critically-tips-for-success/
- The Art of Criticism (George Campbell Gosling): https://gcgosling.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/the-art-of-criticism/ (advice on how to write a critical review such as a book review; includes suggestions on presentation, structure, how and what to read, and the definition of ‘criticism’)
- How to criticize with kindness (Maria Popova): http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/03/28/daniel-dennett-rapoport-rules-criticism/ (Being critical: How to argue intelligently; based on Daniel Dennett, “Intuition Pumps and other tools for thinking)
- How to write critically (Monash University Library): http://librarymonash.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/how-to-write-critically.html (Some useful advice for students on being more critical in their writing)
- Deep in Thought (Daisy Christodoulou):
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storyCode=6423772 (How to teach critical thinking; includes links to other resources) - Developing Historical Thinking (Edgehill University):
http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/histlearn/resources/ (Sources for teaching historical thinking) - An Introduction to Historical Thinking (Peter Seixas):
http://inquiryinhistory.weebly.com/historical-thinking.html (Enhancing Historical Thinking Through Discipline-based Inquiry; includes viedeo and links to other resources) - What kind of Historian are you?:
https://sites.google.com/site/whathistorianquiz/ (Historical Enquiry Quiz on different perspectives in historical thinking: ‘top-down’ historian, postmodernist, historian from below, or empiricist)