1. Thinking & Writing from a
Critical Perspective

2. ~ Henry Sidgwick
 We think so because other people all
think so; or because – or because –
after all we do think so; or because we
were told so, and think we must think
so; or because we once thought so,
and think we still think so; or because,
having thought so, we think we will
think so…

3. Learning to think for
ourselves..

4. Overview
 What is critical thinking?
 3 Minute Pause & Read
 CAMPER – a tool for posing critical
questions to help facilitate critical
thinking
 Research Cycle – sifting through all
the information
 Essay Structure

5. What is Critical Thinking?
 Health and Physical Education in the New
Zealand Curriculum defines critical thinking
as "examining, questioning, evaluating, and
challenging taken-for-granted assumptions
about issues and practices" and critical action
as "action based on critical thinking" (page 56).

6. 3 Minute Pause & Read
 3 minute pause (developed by Ralph Tyler)
How does it work:
3. Read for 3 minutes
4. Summarize key ideas so far
5. Add your own thoughts
6. Pose clarifying questions

7. Add your own thoughts
 Prior knowledge connections you can make
with the new information
 What does this remind you of?
 What would round out your understanding of
this?
 What can you add?

8. Pose Clarifying Questions
 Are there things that are still not clear?
 Are there confusing parts?
 Are you having trouble making connections?
 Can you anticipate where this is headed?
 Can you probe for deeper insights?

9. ~ Malcolm S. Forbes
 “Educations purpose is to replace an empty
mind with an open one”.

10. CAMPER
 This is a tool used to help facilitate critical
thinking.
 Context used in example (press release) found
on the SPARC website
 Have a go yourself using the ‘Green Funding’
Press release.

11. ~ Alexander Solzhenitsyn
 Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic
diseases of the twentieth century, and more
than anywhere else this disease is reflected in
the press.

12. Research Cycle
 This tool is important when you want to
research a topic (in a structured way)
 You need to:
- Question
- Plan
- Gather
- Sort, Sift, and Analyse
- Evaluate
 The evaluation can take place after the
critical action has occurred (AS 3.6)

13. Essay structure
 Many different forms/views.
 Essential elements include:
- Introduction
- Body
- Conclusion
- Reference List
 Tips on how to approach the exam PMIS
esssay structure.

14. The end..