Extending and developing your

thinking skills
About this free course
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Contents
Introduction 4
Learning Outcomes 5
1 Overview 6
2 Understanding the importance of thinking skills 6
3 Different kinds of thinking 8
3.1 Thinking in a higher gear 9
3.2 Looking at the thinking a further education course involves 10
4 A thinking disposition and the process of development 11
5 Other people 14
6 Questions 15
7 Giving structure to thinking 18
7.1 Hierarchies of ideas 19
7.2 Other ways of structuring thought 20
7.3 Systematic approaches 20
7.4 Visual tools 21
7.5 Mind-maps 22
8 Analysis, argument and critical thinking 23
8.1 Balanced argument 27
8.2 Broadening perception 29
8.3 Academic arguments 32
9 Putting it all together 34
Conclusion 35
Keep on learning 35
References 36
Further reading 37
Acknowledgements 37

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Introduction

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 at why thinking skills are important in education, and what kinds of skills
are valued. You will then move on to some practical strategies and ideas for further
activities and reading.
Find out more about studying with The Open University by visiting our online prospectus.

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Learning Outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
l feel more confident about studying
l understand any grades received and how to improve them
l overcome problems with reading and writing
l make the most of the opportunities a higher education course provides for developing skills
1 Overview

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 this course and ways in
which you hope it will help you.
Perhaps you thought you would find it useful? Or maybe you have particular worries or
concerns about thinking that have made you want to look at this issue in more depth.
Looking at thinking skills is something that is not always easy to make the time to do or
realise is important. However, we hope that this course will help you to understand that
extending and developing your thinking skills is one of the most important and rewarding
challenges of higher education. We hope that it will help you to recognise that many of the
difficulties and frustrations of study are underpinned by problems with thinking. The
processes of growth and change in thinking that you will experience as you progress in
your studies can also be difficult, but are worth the effort. We particularly hope that you will
find ideas that will be of practical benefit.
This course has been designed to lead you on a journey of understanding. It begins with
seeing why thinking skills are important in education, and what kinds of skills are valued. It
then moves to some practical strategies and ideas for further activities and reading.
You may find the ideas presented here are useful preparation for more in-depth
development of your skills in other areas such as learning how to learn, and reading and
note taking.
You may want to work all the way through this course, or just dip in and out. It is a
resource for you to use in whatever way you find best helps your learning. As thinking and
learning is most effectively developed through active involvement, we have included lots
of activities. So, have a pencil and paper on hand and be prepared to think.

2 Understanding the importance of

thinking skills
We would like to start by asking you to consider some fundamental questions about
education.

Activity 1
Note down your responses to the following questions.

l Why do people become university students?

l What do you see as the purpose of higher education?

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2 Understanding the importance of thinking skills

l How do you think your answer(s) to the previous question would be different from
the answers that the government, employers or university teaching staff might
give?

There are, of course, no set answers to questions of this sort. People and
organisations have their own reasons and views. People give a range of reasons for
becoming Open University students. For example, to improve job prospects, to explore
and gain knowledge of a subject area for interest, to develop themselves generally, to
have contact with others. Perhaps your responses to the second question were the
same as to the first. Or maybe you mentioned more general skills and attributes that
can be gained such as confidence, communication or interpersonal skills.
Did you include extending or developing thinking skills in any of your responses? If you
did, how important was this in relation to other reasons you listed for study and higher
education? The ability to think, particularly the ability to think critically, is often cited as
one of the main purposes of education by those involved in delivering higher education
today. Look at the following quote and compare it with your answers.

Traditional aims of higher education

l adopting a distinctive way of thinking about concepts, evidence and

theories
l taking a distanced, critical stance towards subject matter, assumptions
and explanations
l tackling issues systematically, logically, and effectively
l examining the adequacy of evidence and checking alternative
interpretations of it
l demonstrating a thorough understanding of complex, abstract
concepts within the discipline
l writing clearly and cogently, following appropriate academic styles and
conventions
l being able to set and solve problems by applying concepts and
techniques appropriately

(Entwistle, 1994)

Activity 2
Can you suggest why thinking skills are considered to be so important in education
today?

Education can be seen as the main way of developing individuals and society. There
are a range of possible reasons you might have suggested for thinking being an
important area to develop. Perhaps your reasons were related to economic factors, or
perhaps social, cultural or educational factors. A strong argument these days is that
knowledge is central to our information age and movement towards a knowledge-
based economy. The creation and use of knowledge depends on our ability to think.
Good thinking could be viewed as empowering for individuals and society. Education
can be seen as a process of joining a community in a subject. So you may become, for

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3 Different kinds of thinking

example, a social scientist or mathematician by learning the thinking styles, language

and other characteristics of that community.

Your reasons for studying and what you see as the purpose of higher education will
influence your thinking, styles of study and other aspects of learning.

3 Different kinds of thinking

Thinking is something we do all of the time.

Activity 3
Briefly write the story of your day so far reflecting carefully on the amount and types of
thinking you have done.

Perhaps your day started like the following extract:

A day in the life of…

I started my day trying to decide whether to get up straight away when the
alarm went off. I thought about the consequences of having a 'lay in' for an
extra ten minutes. If I did this, would I have time to get my children ready
and off to school in time? No I wouldn't so I got up! I chose some clean
clothes and got dressed after having a wash. The letters were on the mat
when I went downstairs and I sorted them and made a pile for each member
of the family. I wondered whether to bother opening the letter claiming I was
the lucky winner of a grand prize. After everyone had breakfast and set off
for school and work I settled down to do some studying. I spent a few
minutes daydreaming then started to sort my notes out and group them into
related sections.

This person engaged in a lot of thinking - making decisions, considering

consequences, classifying and sorting, and daydreaming. Whatever your day was like,
this activity is likely to have illustrated that you can and do lots of thinking and that
there are many different kinds of thinking. How did you describe the types of thinking
that you did? Perhaps you included some of the words and terms in the box below?
These are all important thinking skills. Thinking is an active process, and the words
used to describe it are usually verbs.

Words to describe thinking

finding, deciding, solving, justifying, remembering, planning, arguing, identifying, spec-
ulating, calculating, comparing, deducing, presuming, analysing, summarising, hypothe-
sising, evaluating, sequencing, ordering, sorting, classifying, grouping, predicting,
concluding, distinguishing, creating, planning, testing, assessing
(Adapted from McGuinness, 1999)

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3 Different kinds of thinking

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 concept of higher and lower order thinking skills. Higher order skills are
considered to be more complex than lower order skills. The triangle model (Figure 1)
provides a useful way to visualise the relationships between some of the key intellectual
skills valued in education. The complexity of the skills increases from the base to the top
of the triangle.

Figure 1: Levels of intellectual skill — the thinking triangle

(Adapted from Bloom, 1956)

Although the skills in Figure 1 are arranged in a hierarchical way, they are all important.
Much of the thinking we do involves a mixture of skills at different levels. We develop and
use them simultaneously, for example, when we are solving problems and analysing case
studies. One of the key aims of education is to extend and develop higher order thinking
skills - to develop thinking at a qualitatively higher level, to move into a higher gear.
When you are studying, it can be helpful to recognise the words people use to describe
thinking at these different levels.

Activity 4
Try making a list of verbs that might describe or demonstrate thinking at each level of
the triangle shown in Figure 1.

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3 Different kinds of thinking

Here are some examples.

Evaluate judge, appraise, choose, rate, assess, estimate, value, measure, criticise
Synthesise formulate, teach, design, develop, re-define, propose, create
Analyse distinguish, differentiate, calculate, debate, relate, compare, experiment,
contrast, examine
Apply demonstrate, schedule, operate, sketch, employ, use, practice
Comprehend restate, identify, discuss, locate, recognise, review, explain, tell, clarify
Know recall, define, state, list, repeat, name, recount, present, find

(Adapted from Latimer and Noble, 1996)

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 self-assessment questions; listening to tapes; watching videos and TV
programmes; making notes; doing assignments and reflecting on assignment feedback;
doing exams; participating in tutorials; attending day schools, workshops and residential
schools; participating in self-help groups; talking to a tutor; planning studies.
Reflecting on the thinking of such a course involves can be useful in understanding which
skills it has been designed to help you acquire and what will be looked for in assessments.
As a starting point, take a look at some of the thinking skills in an assignment question or
activity from your course.
Look at the assignment questions in Activity 4. Look at the tasks they set and consider the
thinking skills involved. You may find it useful to highlight or underline relevant words or
phrases.

Activity 5
Example 1 - from an Open University Level 1 maths and computing course
Don't worry if you are not a mathematician - the point of this example is to understand
the idea of looking at a question to see what thinking skills are expected. You are not
expected to understand or be able to answer this question.
I have lent a member of my family £1500 and it is being repaid at the rate of £75 a
month. As this is a family loan, no interest is being charged.

(i) How many repayments will there be to clear the loan?

(ii) If bn is the balance still owing at the end of the nth month (assuming the
payment is made just before the end of the month) write down the recurrence
system for bn .

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4 A thinking disposition and the process of development

(iii) Find the closed form for bn and use it to calculate the number of payments
that will be needed to pay off the loan.

Example 2 - from an Open University Level 2 psychology course

Discuss the models of memory and consider their usefulness in real life situations.

To answer Example 1 successfully requires particular knowledge and understanding.

For example, how to work out repayments on loans, what special terms like 'b' and
'recurrence system' mean. The terms 'find' and 'calculate' indicate that the ability to
apply this knowledge to examples is being tested.
In Example 2, the process word 'discuss' suggests that you need to explain, give
different sides of an issue, consider implications and so on. To answer this question,
you need to know and understand the theories, and be able to apply and analyse
them. You also need to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.
These examples illustrate an important general point - that learning at university
(whatever the level of study) is not just about remembering and recalling information
and facts. More sophisticated thinking is expected. You will find that different courses
will make different intellectual demands depending on the nature of the subject and the
level of study. As you move up the levels of study, the intellectual demands will
increase. You will usually be required to engage in more higher order thinking.
As the meanings of words can be open to interpretation, it can be helpful to discuss
assignment titles with your tutor or fellow students, whatever your course.

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 6
The following checklist covers some of the important elements of a thinking
disposition.
How do you rate yourself?

Personal statements Always Sometimes Never

I see myself as open and fair minded.
I am curious to find out about things.
I am really interested in the content of my course.
I relate ideas to previous knowledge, experience and
wider contexts.
I look for patterns and relationships between things.

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4 A thinking disposition and the process of development

I like to ask questions and not accept things at face

value.
I don't rush to make judgements or have opinions on
things.
I like to look at all sides of an argument or issues
before coming to a conclusion.
I am persistent and like to get to the bottom of things.
I don't like situations where people just state opinions
without giving reasons or evidence.
I like to find things out for myself and come to my own
conclusions on things.
I like to be creative and innovative.
I take time to reflect on things/my own thinking.
I like clarity, order and precision.
I think strategically about things.

We would not be surprised if you had a mixture of ratings in your responses. These
characteristics may not all be ones you have needed or wanted to develop for
everyday life. However, reflecting and working on the attitudes and behaviours of a
thinking disposition may be something you will find helpful to your studies. There are
ideas in this course that will help you in some of these areas.

All students in higher education are encouraged to develop courage and independence in
thinking. Starting to study is much like learning in other areas of life. Sometimes, we feel
like an outsider who knows nothing compared with the experts in the field. At this stage,
knowledge may be seen as something vast and complicated that comes from books and
experts, and learning as being about having some of this knowledge transferred to us. We
may feel that with all these experts and knowledge around there must be an answer to
everything - it is just a matter of finding it. At this stage, we may not have views on things,
or feel our views are not legitimate or of any value. Sometimes, we start out with a more
confident approach, the views we already have are the right ones and things are
straightforwardly right or wrong.
As we move on and become more involved in our subject, we realise that not everything is
known, even by experts. We realise that what counts as valid knowledge depends on the
context (because knowledge may change with time or culture). We also begin to realise
that there are different views, even if we treat them as equally valid because we do not
have the confidence or skills to judge them. Eventually, we may reach a point at which we
have engaged sufficiently with our subject and developed the skills and confidence to
have our own views based on careful consideration (reasoned judgement, evidence,
values). We realise that intellectual development never stops, and that we are part of the
process - thus, knowledge is created by us.
Like any change, the journey of intellectual growth can be challenging, risky and painful
but it is also extremely rewarding. Reflecting on critical incidents and turning points in our
thinking can be a valuable tool for development.

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4 A thinking disposition and the process of development

Activity 7
Think of an issue or topic from your everyday life about which your thinking has
changed and developed. Perhaps something practical like becoming computer-
literate, or your thinking on a topical or ethical issue such as fox-hunting, animal
experimentation or euthanasia. How did your views and thinking change? What
contributed to the change? What was the experience of change like?

It is common for people to change their thinking and views. Gaining more information
or a particular experience, incident or need can sometimes be a triggering factor. For
example, having (or being close to someone who has) a serious illness requiring drug
therapies that have been tested on animals may trigger more thinking on this issue and
perhaps shed a different light on it.
Having our established ideas and activities challenged can be uncomfortable. We may
feel angry, threatened and want to resist change; or perhaps shocked and sad.
Perhaps we experience guilty feelings about previous uninformed views. But,
ultimately we will move on and grow as a result of such changes. Like other aspects of
our lives and learning, it is important to remember that thinking is intimately connected
to our feelings, environment, experiences and other factors. To move on and grow, we
need challenge, change and new experiences. So, seek out opportunities to develop -
'Man's mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions' (Oliver
Wendell Holmes).

Remember that, like other skills, thinking improves with persistence, tenacity and practice.
Evidence shows that people who are high achievers in their field have strong foundations
in the basics, they practise a lot and have usually built up extensive experience over a
long period of time. Quotes and mottoes can be a useful tool to help you remember this
and keep going. Why not start a collection? Here are a few examples to start you off.

l Everything is difficult until it is easy.

l Achievement is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration (based on Winston Churchill).
l You may be a starter, but are you a finisher? (based on Margaret Thatcher).

It can also be useful to recognise that thinking also develops outside study time; it is
something you can work on all the time. Ideas often need a while to incubate. Taking a
break from study can be a good technique for coping with writers' block or getting the
creative juices flowing. Inspirations and good ideas sometimes come at unexpected
times. Many highly successful thinkers from a range of fields (including novelists,
scientists and inventors) have kept a notebook on hand all the time to reflect on and
capture thoughts before they are forgotten. Leonardo da Vinci is one famous example.

Activity 8
Obtain a handy-sized notebook that you can keep with you to note down ideas,
particularly those relevant to your study. You could use your notebook to keep a
thinking log or diary over the next week or so. You may find it helpful to note down the
particular times or places that are most productive for your thinking.

If you think this could fit in with your style of thinking, make a point of always keeping a
notebook with you. Remember that everyday life provides many occasions for

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5 Other people

development. Applying what you have gained in one setting to others is an excellent
way of really testing and developing your abilities.

Although developing thinking requires effort, it can bring rewards in all areas of your life.
Recent scientific studies have shown that 'people who keep their minds alert and engaged
age far more successfully than those who do not' (Rice, 1991). Good thinking is valuable
in every sphere of life.

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 develop our thinking and construct knowledge. This is why many
educational institutions encourages, for example:

l dialogue with a tutor in writing (through the assignments)

l participatory learning methods such as group activities in tutorials
l self-help groups.

We would encourage you to seek out and make use of opportunities to articulate your
thoughts and share thinking with others. You might include friends, family and workmates.
Brainstorming and bouncing ideas around with others can be really productive, especially
for creative thinking.

Activity 9
Brainstorm a topic with one or more other people. To do this, jot down anything
connected with the topic as it occurs to you. Don't stop to consider whether or not the
ideas are useful at this stage, just get them down.

When you have got the ideas down on paper, you can reflect on them and see how
they fit together.

As a student, it can be useful to think of yourself as an academic apprentice. You can

learn from others, particularly expert thinkers (those who have already developed the
skills you are seeking to acquire), by listening, observing, and engaging in dialogue. Like
an apprentice, you will develop most effectively if you recognise and accept the fact that
you are a novice and need direct support in developing your skills. Higher education, and
a course tutor in particular, could be seen as having a role in coaching you to develop the
skills you need. You may find it useful to have intellectual role models.

Activity 10
Next time you receive a marked piece of work take time to stop, think and review your
work and consider how you can make use of the feedback provided. Think about the
following points.

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6 Questions

l Your immediate reaction to the grading and comments - were you pleased or
disappointed? Was it what you were expecting?
l What points did your tutor make that relate to your thinking?
l Did your tutor provide comments that could stimulate and develop your thinking?
l Do you understand the feedback you have been given and the reasons for the
grade awarded? If not, ask your tutor for further explanation.
l What were the strengths and weaknesses of your work? Did you demonstrate
appropriate thinking skills (e.g. understanding, analysis, use of evidence)?

Make a note of the areas you want to improve on for next time and how you will go
about this.
Think about your last tutorial, consider the extent to which you engaged with others in
ways that developed your thinking. Here are some suggestions.

l Did you participate in discussion?

l Did you stop and think before making judgements and expressing views?
l Did you and others provide evidence to support points of view?
l Did you listen carefully to others?

Again you can make a note of areas you would like to develop in future.

Being proactive in seeking feedback on your thinking and making use of feedback that
is given (e.g. in tutorials and assignments) will help. Being able to accept guidance and
constructive criticism and learn from it are other skills to foster for developing thinking.

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 but be in awe when he contemplates the mystery of
eternity, of life, of the marvellous structure of reality. It is enough if one merely
tries to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy
curiosity.
(Albert Einstein)

University students are encouraged to be curious and ask questions. Asking and
answering questions is at the heart of high-quality thinking. Questions naturally arise from
the desire to know and learn about things. Questions may be the starting point for whole
areas of study. For example, 'Why does an apple fall to the ground?' or 'Why did the
Roman Empire fall?' are important questions leading to areas of study in science and
history. Formulating questions can be a valuable way of structuring thinking and finding a
way through learning resources. Questions provide ways to clarify issues, focus attention
and explore assumptions.

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6 Questions

You can use questions to develop your skills at the different levels of thinking described in
Section 3. Table 1 contains examples of questions for each level.

Table 1: Questions to develop skills at different levels of thinking

Level of thinking Examples of questions
Knowledge and What? Who? When?
understanding
What is an example of x?
What is meant by …..?
What is another way of explaining..?
Is this an example of …?
Can I describe x in my own words?
Application How is it used?
What does it relate to?
In what situations …?
Analysis Why? How?
What is the reason for ….. ?
What evidence is there to support the conclusion?
What are the causes of …?
How do … fit together?
Synthesis If x happens, then what next?
What does the theory predict will happen?
What are my own conclusions on the basis of the information
available?
How does x relate to y?
Evaluation Is this good or not and why?
Is this reasonable or not and why?

So, for example, if you were considering the Second World War, you might ask the
following questions.

l Knowledge - What was the Second World War? When was it? Where was it? Who
started it?
l Analysis - Why did it happen?
l Synthesis - How did the different decisions and events combine to produce this
historical event?
l Evaluation - How reasonable was the original decision to declare war? Was the
dropping of nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki an appropriate strategy for
ending conflict?

Activity 11
Select questions from Table 1 above to stimulate thinking on a topic of your choice.

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6 Questions

Six serving men (Kipling) is a popular rhyme for reminding us of some useful
questions.

l I once did meet six serving men

l They served me well and true.
l Their names were what and why and when
l And how and where and who!

One of the most useful of these questions is 'Why?'. Repeatedly asking why can be
helpful in probing an issue and getting to the root of a problem. As an example, let us
consider the issue of changes in weather patterns that have been occurring in recent
years.

l Why are we experiencing changes in weather patterns? Because of global warming

(the average Earth temperature is rising).
l Why is global warming happening? Because the amount of carbon dioxide (the main
'greenhouse gas') in the Earth's atmosphere is increasing and increasing the
'greenhouse effect' (i.e. heat is trapped by the atmosphere in the same way that heat
in a greenhouse is trapped by the glass).
l Why is the amount of carbon dioxide increasing? Because of human activity such as
burning fossil fuels, and also the destruction of rainforest areas.
l Why is this human activity increasing? Because of social, political and population
factors. There is a huge demand for energy from fossil fuels; deforestation is driven
by the demand for hardwoods, mined ores, and beef (for beefburgers) in developed
economies, along with slash-and-burn clearance activities by local farmers who have
little other economic choice.

And so on …

Activity 12
Think of a problem relevant to your life. Ask the question Why? repeatedly to explore
the issue you have chosen.

We hope you can see how this process moves the response from superficial
assumptions and explanations to a deeper level of response. It does, however, only
apply within the limits of the subject area. In some cases we do not have the tools to
find answers to all the questions.

Questions can be particularly useful as a tool to tackle writing tasks like essays. You can
set up a series of questions then address them in your writing.

Activity 13
Suggest questions you could raise in response to this essay title.
Discuss the problems caused by the development of out-of-town shopping centres and
the advantages of regenerating city centre shopping areas as an alternative.

Here are our ideas.

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7 Giving structure to thinking

l What are out-of-town shopping centres?

l Why, when and how have they developed?
l What are the problems caused by their development?
l What are city centre shopping areas?
l Why do they need regenerating?
l What would be the advantages of regenerating them?

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 and information in a conceptual and systematic way so that you have
ways to structure your thinking. This can involve:

l looking at the broader context

l developing mental models and frameworks to hang ideas and information on
l being able to distinguish relative importance and seeing patterns and relationships.

The following activity is designed to help you see the power of structuring information and
ideas.

Activity 14
1 Read through the following list of words one at a time, then cover it up and see
how many words you can remember:
leaf, animals, Dalmatian, dogs, tree, living things, plants, mammals, oak
2 Now look at the words again and see if you can link them together in an order or
structure. When you have done this, see how many you can remember now
without looking.
3 Reflect on the difference this makes to understanding and making sense of the
information.

Were you able to recall many of the words? Did you find a way to link the words
together? Did having a structure make the list easier to remember?
This is the structure we thought of:

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7 Giving structure to thinking

Mind Map
The process of looking for a way of structuring the concepts should certainly have
made you think. It is through processes like this that information is retained and
recalled, and knowledge and understanding develop. Knowledge, understanding and
meaning are not just there for the taking. You have to create them through your own
structured thinking. In fact, knowledge is often acquired in the process of doing
structured thinking for tasks such as solving problems, making decisions and
evaluating arguments. There are many tools and techniques for structuring thinking.
What is appropriate will depend on the purpose of your thinking and what works best
for you.

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, concepts) and at the other end are particular facts, examples and other
details. For example, the concept of living things contains the category of animals and
plants. Animals contains the category of mammals, which contains the category of dogs,
which contains the specific type of dog called Dalmatian. Each thing is connected to the
thing before. Looking for patterns, ways to connect things (even if they may sometimes
seem apparently unconnected) and contextualising is at the heart of making sense of
information and ideas.
General and particular levels of thought often give shape to written communication.

Activity 15
Look at this sample text and see if you can identify and distinguish between general
ideas and specific details.

Humans as primates
Humans are primates, a distinctive group of mammals that first appeared
more than 60 million years ago and which includes monkeys, apes, lemurs,
lorises, and many less familiar species. Most primates live in tropical
forests, where they eat leaves, flowers, fruit, soft seeds and small animals
such as insects. They have unspecialized teeth and guts and relatively long,
flexible limbs that enable them to alternate between several different
postures and modes of locomotion, including climbing and leaping. The five
toes and finger on each limb are relatively long and flexible, and are tipped
with blunt, flat 'fingernails' in place of claws. Primates grip branches and
grasp food between the fingers and toes rather than use claws for climbing
and manipulating things.
(Open University course, U205)

The central general idea here is that humans are primates. The title of the section and
the use of bold type for the word ‘primate’ are clues to this. The text adds further
particular detail and facts to tell us more about the characteristics of primates. So,

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7 Giving structure to thinking

primates are mammals, they include monkeys, apes, lemurs and lorises. We are told
about how they move in various ways which include climbing and leaping. We are then
given further details and facts about this - that they have long and flexible toes and
fingers with blunt fingernails instead of claws.
Ideas in your course work on a similar principle at all levels. There might be
overarching course themes, learning outcomes for specific units, blocks or modules,
outcomes for chapters and so on. Your course will provide helpful clues. These may be
in the form of summaries (e.g. on and in books), lists of course themes, lists of learning
outcomes, assignment questions, in text questions, different sized fonts, use of bold or
italic type.

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 giving structure to ideas and information.

Activity 16
Make a note of some other ways in which ideas and information could be structured.

Discussion
Other ways might be based on chronology, complexity, spatial organisation, positive
and negative aspects, pros and cons, familiar and unfamiliar, from top to bottom of an
organisational structure. In some cases, the component parts of something work
together to form a system, for example arteries, veins and capillaries work together to
form the blood circulatory system in the body.

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 and Nicholl, 1997) is one of many tools for
solving problems.

D - Define and clarify what the problem really is (sometimes it is not initially clear).
What are your goals?
A - Think of a range of alternative ways of solving the problem.
N - Narrow down the range of possible solutions to leave the best.
C - Choose the ideal solution and check what the consequences might be.
E - Effect action using the best solution.

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7 Giving structure to thinking

Activity 17
Try using the DANCE technique on a problem from your course. Or perhaps a problem
from everyday life (e.g. you cannot get to work because you car will not start).

Here is the way we worked through the work-and-car example.

Definition of the problem - The car won't start and we want it to. What is the real
problem? After checking things in sequence (most obvious reasons first), the answer
is that there is no petrol in the tank.
Alternative solutions - See if a neighbour has some petrol; go and buy a containerful
from the nearest garage; call an automobile rescue service.
Narrow down solutions - The neighbour is out; either go to the garage or call the
rescue service.
Choose the best solution - Going to the garage will be quicker and cheaper as our
policy does not have home-start cover.
Effect action - Go to the garage and buy the petrol.

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 representations. The process of making visual represen-
tations can itself involve using and developing a range of thinking skills, particularly higher
order skills. So, whether you need the resulting product or not they can be worth doing.
However, the resulting product can also provide an effective way of communicating your
thinking to others. In fact, sometimes it can be very hard not to use a diagram - drawing or
referring to a map, for example, makes it much easier to give directions.

Activity 18
Find a visual way of presenting one of the examples below or an everyday example.
As you do this, reflect on your thoughts and how you feel about the resulting
representation.

l The process of preparing an assignment.

l Preparing for an examination.

Discussion
Here is a flow chart for preparing an assignment:

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7 Giving structure to thinking

Flowchart

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

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8 Analysis, argument and critical thinking

work outwards adding the points which flow from and connect to it. It is particularly helpful
for seeing the different levels of thought discussed above. Figure 2 is a mind-map drawn
by someone planning to write an essay on memory.

Figure 2: Mind-map for memory essay

(Based on a mind-map by C. Barrett)

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 examining 'methodically and in detail the constitution or structure of
something' (Oxford English Dictionary). This includes looking at variables, factors, and
relationships between things, as well as examining ideas and problems, and detecting
and analysing arguments. Many essay questions require argument. Skills in manipulating
content to make a good argument can make the difference between higher and lower
assignment grades.
You can start to explore the ideas of analysis and argument by using an everyday
example.

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8 Analysis, argument and critical thinking

Figure 3: Sainsbury's cornflakes

(Reproduced by permission of J. Sainsbury plc, 2000)

Activity 19
Carefully read and consider Figure 3 - the back of a cereal packet. On a sheet of paper
note down the thoughts that you have about this together with your answers to the
following questions.

l What was your reaction to doing this activity?

l What do you think the text was aiming to do?
l Do you feel the writer was successful in achieving what she or he set out to do?
l What worked and what did not work?

How did you feel about this activity? Perhaps your first reaction is that under normal
circumstances you would not read the back of a cereal packet. Perhaps you would

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8 Analysis, argument and critical thinking

normally be too busy to read this sort of thing, or would not bother because it is not
relevant or of interest. The attention we give to something is dependent on the context.
You probably do not have to read and think about cereal packets, but do need to read
and think carefully about academic texts.
Did you accept what was written or did the text prompt you to ask questions such as
'What is the purpose of this text?' The initial question 'Why breakfast is the most
important meal of the day?' seems to suggest that the aim of the text might to be to
provide answers, perhaps to convince us that breakfast is the most important meal of
the day. You might reasonably have expected the text to provide some good reasons
for us to be convinced of this. But perhaps after reading it, you decided that the writer's
aim was simply to convince you that eating cereals for breakfast is a good thing.
If the aim was to show that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, was the
text a convincing argument? The writer certainly tells us that 'breakfast refuels the
body and helps get the day off to a good start', which could be a reason to support the
view that breakfast is important, but is not really one to convince us that breakfast is
the most important meal. The writer has not told us why breakfast is more important
than lunch, tea, dinner or supper. He or she seems to unquestioningly accept or
assume that breakfast is the most important meal. Telling us about hectic lifestyles or
the nutritional benefits of breakfast cereals does not tell us why breakfast is the most
important meal. The relevance of these points is not clear at all. All in all, this is not a
very convincing case for breakfast being the most important meal of the day. If the aim
were really to persuade us to eat cereals, would we be convinced? It is hard to know if
the information given as facts is correct and relevant to a healthy diet unless you have
some knowledge of nutritional science.
Although this is a simple everyday text, it provides an opportunity to exercise analytical
thinking skills. The process of looking at the structure and parts of something in the
way we have done here is what we mean by analysis. The text also illustrates the
ideas of having a point or a case you wish to prove, and providing evidence and
reasons to support it - together these form what the academic world calls an argument.
This is very different from the everyday sense of the word, 'having a disagreement'.
Here, we have been analysing an argument.

Activity 20
l What do you think is needed to make an argument a really good one (i.e. for the
case to be convincing)?
l What could be done to improve (make more convincing) the argument analysed
in Activity 19?

When arguing a case, it needs to be clear what the case is. Perhaps, in the example
above, the title should have been 'Why breakfast cereal is worth eating'. A good
argument will have a clear and logical flow (line of reasoning). The sequence of
thinking in the example was not clear or logical. For example, starting from the original
question, a logical path might lead to discussion of reasons why breakfast is more
important than other meals, and perhaps include information on demands on the body
and physiological perspectives on the timing and types of food eaten. To be convinced,
we need good reasons or evidence which is relevant. It is not immediately clear how
the information about the nutritional value of breakfast cereals is relevant to the case

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8 Analysis, argument and critical thinking

for breakfast being the most important meal of the day. Moreover, how do we know the
information is correct?

Activity 21
Having appropriate evidence to support arguments is important.

Which of the following statements might be most convincing and why?

▪ There is life on other planets in the universe.

▪ There is life on other planets in the universe because Mike Edwards
says so.
▪ There is life on other planets in the universe because an eminent
Cambridge Professor of Astronomy says so.
▪ There is a high probability of life on other planets in the universe
because we know from studies by experts that there are in the order of
100 billion stars in our galaxy and there are 100 billion galaxies. This
gives 1022stars. Some of these stars are likely to have planets
associated with them. While the conditions conducive to life are rare,
such a large number of planets gives a high probability that life will exist
on a planet somewhere in the universe.
▪ Samples of surface material from other planets in the universe have
been taken by space missions and found to contain life forms.

(Adapted from Collier and Twomey, 1997)

It would be reasonable to feel somewhat unconvinced by the first statement; it is an

unsupported assertion. It may well just be an opinion, there is no reason or evidence
provided. Being able to distinguish fact from opinion is important. In the second case,
the statement is apparently given authority by being attributed to Mike Edwards. The
question is - who is Mike Edwards? What reason is there for believing him rather than
anyone else? We do not know on what basis he has made such a statement. We might
feel a bit more convinced by the eminent Cambridge Professor of Astronomy. After all
she or he may have spent many years in relevant study and be making a statement
based on this wealth of experience. But, what if the professor had not been a professor
of astronomy? What credence would we give to someone's views if they were an
expert in another area? For example, a pop star or celebrity chef making a statement
on a political issue? We need to take care in transferring authority in one area to
another. Maybe someone's skills are transferable to another situation - but maybe not.
The penultimate case is more convincing, because we are presented with a logical line
of reasoning. In the final statement, we appear to have factual evidence that there are
life forms on other planets. Even then, we need to think about the certainty of 'facts'.
Knowledge changes and depends on context. It is only as good as the methods used
to obtain it. Instances of 'facts' turning out to be artefacts of methods are common.
Perhaps in this case the life forms found in the samples were contaminants on the
equipment (acquired from Earth before or after the sampling journey). Sometimes,
general conclusions are drawn from insufficient data or information. Does the evidence
provide sufficient information to prove something or only suggest something is
probable?

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8 Analysis, argument and critical thinking

We hope this example illustrates the importance of using appropriate evidence or

reasoning to support an argument, and the importance of being cautious in what you
use and accept as evidence. You should certainly avoid unsupported assertions in
academic work and strive to provide the most appropriate and convincing evidence
you can.

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 argument. This can be helpful in drawing conclusions on an issue.

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8 Analysis, argument and critical thinking

Figure 4: Caffeine arguments

(Reproduced from Woman, October 2000)

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8 Analysis, argument and critical thinking

Activity 22
Look at Figure 4. Make a note of what strikes you about this article. How helpful do you
think this article would be to someone who wanted to decide whether or not they
should cut out caffeine?

The article presents both good and bad information about caffeine. The caffeine article
provides evidence in the form of facts and figures. There is a general conclusion,
which might be helpful to someone trying to decide what to do about his or her caffeine
intake.

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 away from our usual perspectives and ways of thinking,
and to attend to things we might not normally notice. The challenge is often to be more
open-minded and broad in our thinking, to consider more than one point of view in the way
that the caffeine article did. It can be useful to have strategies for helping us to examine
and change our perceptions. Activity 23 will start you off on this road.

Activity 23
Print out or copy the figure below then, without taking your pen off the paper draw four
straight lines so that all the dots in Figure 5 are joined.

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8 Analysis, argument and critical thinking

Figure 5: A challenge

How did you get on? In order to complete this task, you needed to 'think outside the
box' (that is, to perceive the task in a way that might not have been immediately
obvious. The solution to this puzzle is given below.

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8 Analysis, argument and critical thinking

Solution

There are many useful thinking tools for helping you to 'think outside the box'. Playing
'devil's advocate' is one - that is, what would somebody with an opposite view or someone
who disagrees say?

Activity 24
Think of as many ways as you can to finish the following sentence.
People should be encouraged to smoke because …

Did you find this difficult? Perhaps you have particular principles or feelings that
influenced your ability to respond to the task? Here are some reasons you could have
given: many people find smoking enjoyable; smoking helps people to cope with life;
smokers generate employment in the tobacco industry; smoking raises taxes; smoking
lowers the cost of geriatric care because smokers tend to die younger than non-
smokers; smoking reduces the level of chronic illness in the elderly population
because smokers tend to die younger than non-smokers; smoking saves on pension
payments because smokers tend to die younger than non-smokers; young people

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8 Analysis, argument and critical thinking

think smoking is cool - it makes them feel they belong (adapted from Seed-
house, 1997). Looking at this list were you itching to argue against some of them? If
so, you can see how valuable this is in stimulating thinking! We hope that this activity
will help you appreciate that we can consider other points of view (even if we do not
agree with them).

The PMI technique (de Bono, 1999) is another tool to help you think outside the box and
make a balanced argument. The idea is to look at the plus (good) points, minus (bad)
points and the interesting points.

Activity 25
Use the PMI technique to look at the case for promoting smoking or another subject of
your choice.

If you chose smoking, you could put the points noted above on the plus side. On the
minus side, some possibilities might include: smoking causes sickness and shortens
lives; smoking makes people unfit; treating smoking related diseases is a drain on
NHS resources; smoking leads to absenteeism and loss of productivity; smoking
damages non-smokers through passive smoking; smoking is dirty and smelly; smoking
causes accidents such as fires and other damage to property (adapted from
Seedhouse, 1997). On the interesting side, some suggestions might include: if we
promoted it, would smoking become less fashionable among the young, would the
price of cigarettes go down, and would a cure for cancer be found more quickly?

8.3 Academic arguments

You have looked at some examples of everyday arguments, now look at a short example
of an academic argument.

Activity 26
Read the argument below. Compare and contrast it to the previous examples of
arguments you have looked at ('Why breakfast is the most important meal of the day'
and 'The truth about caffeine'). Consider issues such as the style, whether or not more
than one point of view is presented, and what evidence is provided to support points
made. Make a note of your responses.

Can primates acquire language?

Communication is an important part of animal behaviour. For example,
primates use a variety of sounds and gestures in social interaction to portray
threat, intention, alarm, and so on - and highly sophisticated forms of
communication are found in other species as well (whales and dolphins
provide a fascinating example). But, for many researchers this is not the
same as human language which is essentially infinite in its meaning (largely
due to its grammar), and which is able to associate specific (and abstract)
meanings with arbitrary sound and symbols. Indeed, language is the thing
that makes us uniquely human (or so the argument goes), and no other

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8 Analysis, argument and critical thinking

species comes close to emulating our ability to comprehend, use, and

produce language.
But is language really unique to human beings? One problem with this
theory is that other animals (including primates) cannot make our sounds.
For example, they do not have the same fine control over their tongues, lips,
and vocal chords, and are therefore unable to talk. Thus, if animals were to
learn or understand language they would not be able to tell us. With this
possibility in mind, Beatrice and Roger Gardner during the 1960s set about
teaching a female chimpanzee (called Washoe) a version of American sign
language used by deaf people. The Gardners began when Washoe was
about one year old - and within three years she had developed a vocabulary
of over 130 signs (or 'words'). Moreover, she learned to combine the signs to
make simple sentences, and to use 'words' in creative and novel ways
(e.g. after learning the verb 'to open' she would ask the investigators to
'open' the tap whenever she wanted a drink). Other researchers have
confirmed these findings, and similar work has been undertaken with
gorillas and orangutans.(Paterson and Linden 1981; Miles 1983)
However, the interpretation of these findings remains highly controversial.
For example, some researchers have argued that these animals are not
learning sign language per se, but rather they are only imitating the gestures
made by their trainers. In support of this idea, they point out that primates
often combine signs in illogical sequences and only occasionally join signs
together in a meaningful way (which the trainer will inevitably then choose to
reinforce). Others have argued that although primates might be able to
communicate with language, there is little evidence to indicate that they can
also use it as a vehicle for thought. But there are those who disagree. For
example, some of the most compelling evidence for language in primates
has come from Susan Savage-Rumbaugh and her colleagues who worked
with a male pigmy chimpanzee called Kanzi. Apparently, this primate can
understand about 150 English spoken words and can respond to complex
and unfamiliar spoken commands such as 'throw your ball in the river' and
'go to the refrigerator and get out a tomato' (Savage-Rumbaugh 1990).
Moreover, Kanzi can even use symbols to communicate past events,
e.g. she pressed the symbols on a special keyboard to represent 'Matata
bite' (Matata is a fellow monkey) to explain a cut that was on her hand.
These findings imply that language may not be unique human ability after all
- although to put this work into its correct perspective, it needs to be borne in
mind that Kanzi's language skills are only equivalent to that of a two-year-
old human (Greenfield and Savage-Rumbaugh 1990). Thus, it still remains
the case that no other species comes close to matching our ability to use
and understand language. In other words, language is our natural medium
of communication, although the same can clearly not be said of other
animals.
(Wickens, 2000)

You may have noted that both the style and language of this argument are different.
Different perspectives on the issue are presented and there is evidence to back up the
points made. References are included to give the points weight and to show the
sources used. The author has demonstrated higher order skills and independent

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9 Putting it all together

thinking. For example, ideas are put together (synthesis), their worth evaluated, a
conclusion on the issue reached (independent thinking).
Debates over issues can be complex as a result of the many points of view and
arguments. One way to make sense of all this might be to produce a visual map in
which you summarise the key arguments and how they are linked to each other.

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 together in ways that will help you when you engage in activities such as
reading, writing, speaking and listening. Here is a checklist to use when making
judgements about things that you hear, see and experience.

l Who is speaking or writing?

l What is their point of view or perspective?
l What ideas and information are presented and how were they obtained?
l Are there unsupported assertions?
l Are reasons or evidence provided?
l Are the reasons and evidence given relevant?
l Is the method used to find the evidence sound?
l Is the evidence correct or valid?
l What assumptions have been made?
l What is fact and what is opinion?
l What are the implicit and explicit values?
l Are there unreasonable generalisations?
l What has been omitted?
l How was the conclusion reached?
l Is the conclusion reasonable?
l What other perspectives or points of view could there be?

You may be able to think of more points to add to this list.

Activity 27
Find an opportunity in your daily life today for exercising your thinking skills using the
checklist above. For example, you could consider an advertising claim, a problem, or
what party to vote for in an election.

An example might be an advertising claim such as 'speak French in only three hours'.
You might ask who has made the claim and what is the evidence that you can achieve
any mastery of French in three hours? What does speaking French mean? Do they
mean fluent French? Would it seem realistic to have a useful working knowledge in this
time? The reality is that you might learn some French but probably not enough to get
around on holiday.

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Conclusion

You can look out for material to stimulate thought in this way in newspapers,
magazines and on the television and radio.

These last two activities will help you to continue developing your thinking skills.

Activity 28
Make an action plan outlining the actions you are going to take to develop your thinking
skills … what you are going to do … how … by when?

Activity 29
Try keeping a study log with a focus on thinking skills. As you do this, make time to
pause and reflect on what you have written. Consider what new skills you have
developed, what has improved, what was really difficult and what you might focus on in
the future.

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 confidence as an independent learner.

Keep on learning

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References

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References
de Bono, E. (1999) de Bono's Thinking Course. London, BBC Books
Entwistle, N. (1994) quoted in Supporting Open Learners Reader (1996) Milton Keynes,
The Open University
Holmes, O. W. quoted in Robbins, A. (1991) Awaken the giant within. New York, Simon &
Schuster
Rice, M. (1999) Observer Magazine, 7 November, p. 61
Rose, C. and Nicholl, M. (1997) Accelerated Learning for the 21st Century. London,
Piatkus
Seedhouse, D. (1997) Health Promotion. Philosophy, Prejudice and Practice. Sussex,
John Wiley and Sons Ltd.
Wickens, A. (2000) Foundations of Biopsychology. Harlow, Prentice Hall

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Further reading

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 Your Head by Tony Buzan, published by BBC Books, 1995; Lots of useful information
on how to make the most of your brainpower.
The Mindmap Book by Tony Buzan, published by BBC Books, 1997; A whole text
specifically on the technique of mind-mapping and its applications.
Reading, Writing and Reasoning. A Guide for Students by J. Fairbairn and C. Winch,
published by Open University Press, 1998; Contains good material on academic
reasoning and argument.
Clear Thinking by J. Inglis and R. Lewis, published by National Extension College/
CollinsEducational, 1993; Contains some excellent material on academic argument.
The Scientific Endeavour a Primer on Scientific Principles and Practice by J. A. Lee,
published by Adison Wesley Longman, Inc., 2000; A book about science that contains an
excellent section on critical thinking in a scientific context.

Acknowledgements
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