CRITICAL THINKING

How can we help you learn?

Learning is an active process.

Your learning journey is about much more than just understanding and remembering new information as you come across it. 

The learning materials, activities, assessments and discussions you engage with on eCampus NZ are designed to help you develop your ability to think critically and apply what you’re learning to the real world.

Critical thinking refers to the ability to analyse and evaluate ideas and concepts. Developing your critical thinking skills will help you in both your learning and professional life. Critical thinking skills help us to analyse risk, predict the consequences of our decisions and actions, decide where our priorities lie, and come up with solutions to problems.

You’ll naturally evolve your critical thinking skills as you progress through your course, but if you’d like a head-start, try doing the following when you come across a new piece of information or idea:

Man holding question mark

Ask yourself a question beginning with DO:

  • Do I trust this information or idea?
  • Do I agree with it?
Woman holding question mark

Ask yourself a question beginning with WHO:

  • Who wrote this or came up with this idea?
  • Who will this have an impact on, either positively or negatively?
Man holding question mark

Ask yourself a question beginning with WHAT:

  • What’s the alternative?
  • What will happen if…?
Man holding question mark

Ask yourself a question beginning with WHY:

  • Why did this happen?
  • Why is this a good/bad idea?
Woman holding question mark

Ask yourself a question beginning with HOW:

  • How can I apply this to my life?
  • How could this be interpreted differently?
Man holding question mark

Ask yourself a question beginning with WHEN:

  • When was the information created, and is it still relevant?
  • When is the best time to put this idea into action?