AS and A2 level Critical Thinking

A Level

In Farnborough

Price on request

Description

  • Type

    A Level

  • Location

    Farnborough

  • Duration

    2 Years

Critical Thinking is about arguments: recognising them, analysing them, evaluating them and creating them. Everyday you are bombarded with people giving you their point of view, your friends, politicians, newspapers, advertisers and many more, but are they right? By assessing their arguments you can find out which points of view are based on good reasons rather than on speculation, half-truths.

Important information

Government funding available

Facilities

Location

Start date

Farnborough (Hampshire)
See map
Prospect Avenue, GU14 8JX

Start date

On request

About this course

Critical Thinking is an excellent subject to complement the rest of your studies. To this end we recommend that first year students should take Critical Thinking
as a fifth subject only
and not choose it as one of your four main subjects.
As a second year, Critical Thinking can be taken by any student who might benefit from the support it gives to subjects that require reasoning skills.

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Course programme

AS and A2 level Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking is about arguments: recognising them, analysing them, evaluating them and creating them. Everyday you are bombarded with people giving you their point of view, your friends, politicians, newspapers, advertisers and many more, but are they right? By assessing their arguments you can find out which points of view are based on good reasons rather than on speculation, half-truths or false assumptions. You don't need to be an expert in a given field to avoid being fooled by bad reasoning. You just need to learn how to question what people tell you.

The Critical Thinking course will help you to ask the right questions. You'll become more confident when faced with conflicting claims. You'll also learn to become better at responding to objections in a logical and coherent way. A significant part of the course will involve learning how to analyse texts and assess the arguments given in them. These skills are highly prized by universities and employers and will also boost your exam grades in your other A level subjects.

WHAT WILL I BE STUDYING ON THE COURSE?
Critical Thinking teaches you how to recognise good and bad arguments. It gets you to pay much closer attention to the structure and detail of other people†s arguments so that you can spot their strengths and also uncover any weaknesses.
You will also learn to assess the credibility of different sources and use this to make your own judgements about real and hypothetical situations.
As you practice these basic critical thinking skills you will begin to see how you can present your own arguments clearly and you will learn to respond to objections in a logical and coherent way.
If you continue to A2, as well as acquiring more advanced critical thinking skills, you will learn how to identify and evaluate ethical arguments and resolve real life dilemmas such as how to respond appropriately to terrorism.
Basically, Critical Thinking takes thinking apart so that you can see how good thinking works.

WHAT WILL I BE DOING IN LESSONS?
Critical Thinking is a skills based course, and as such is quite different from any other course you may do because it doesn†t involve learning any facts. Lessons are very much activity based; you will work from a variety of materials, including newspaper articles and current affairs programmes. You will be expected to respond to this material, take part in discussions, make presentations, and produce written work of a high standard. You will also be encouraged to evaluate examples of your own use of argument.

HOW IS THE COURSE ASSESSED?
The AS units are:

·Introduction to Critical Thinking
(50% of AS, 25% of A2)

·Assessing and Developing Arguments
(50% of AS, 25% of A2)


The A2 units are:

·Ethical Reasoning
(50% of A2, 25% of A level)

·Decision Making and Critical Reasoning
(50% of A2, 25% of A Level)

Both AS and A2 are assessed by examinations with a variety of questions on stimulus material and multiple choice questions.

WHAT OTHER SUBJECTS COULD I DO WITH CRITICAL THINKING?
Students frequently tell us that the skills they develop in this course can be applied to all other subjects. Consequently, Critical Thinking would be an excellent course to take alongside any programme of study.

AND AFTER THE COURSE?
Critical Thinking is especially useful for students planning to study law, medicine, veterinary science or dentistry as these require entrance exams that directly test critical thinking skills. Also, careers in journalism, politics, business or any humanities discipline will be aided by the rigorous approach. Employers and universities are keen to take people on who listen keenly, think clearly, and express themselves well. Critical Thinking develops your confidence in all these areas.

AS and A2 level Critical Thinking

Price on request