Critical Thinking Skills
Written by Caroline Hopkinson-Woolley
Thinking AllowedâŚ
Youâre applying for a place at a top-rated university because you want to ⌠what? To learn as much as possible about your chosen subject? To be taught by world-class experts in their field? To achieve a degree which will improve your job prospects and future satisfaction? To mature and develop in the company of like-minded fellow students while enjoying some of the best years of your life?
If youâve answered yes to all these questions, or have already asked yourself even some of them, then youâre demonstrating some of the habits of mind now known, and prized, as âcritical thinkingâ. Call it wisdom, call it insight, itâs really nothing new. It was Socrates, the so-called father of Greek philosophy, who first advocated the virtues of an enquiring mind and the value of what he termed âthe examined lifeâ. That was 2500 years ago and almost all subsequent human progress can be attributed to the so-called Socratic method by which problems are met, and best tackled, via a collaborative method of asking and answering.
Pause for a moment. Doesnât everyone think, youâre thinking? Wasnât there that French philosopher, only around 500 years ago this time, who declared âI think therefore I am?â Descartes did, and he was right. Up to a point. But top universities, and Oxford and Cambridge in particular, place critical thinking, the ability to reason and evaluate, to analyse and assess, at the heart of their teaching and research, in recognition of the fact that knowledge and understanding are only the foundations of what it means to truly learn. Students at these institutions share the natural ability to think âoutside the boxâ, to study objectively and to express themselves freely and clearly, making these skills fundamental to intellectual advancement.
Just after World War II, journalist and writer George Orwell - revered as âthe conscience of a generationâ - satirised the way in which authoritarian regimes deny individual critical thinking in favour of âgroupthinkâ. His seminal novel, 1984, seems to foretell the current world in which fake news and misinformation fight against nuance and free speech. It makes clear that only reasoned argument can hope to trump repressive orthodoxies and the perils of censorship. His vision still resonates, now more than ever, but as well as promising personal fulfilment and protecting both individual and collective liberties, the type of critical thinking he championed is also increasingly recognised as necessary (global management consultants McKinsey deem it essential) to future-proof peopleâs ability to work. To put it another way, only critical thinking will be able to meet the challenge of jobs which may not yet have been invented.
To world-class universities such as Oxford and Cambridge, a candidateâs ability to think critically and demonstrate intellectual rigour, is key to making a successful application and central to getting the most out of any degree course once there. So itâs not what you know but whether you possess the capacity to be proved wrong and, therefore, the potential to learn without limits. Most school curriculums have small, if any, space for critical thinking and although many people are naturally open-minded with some aptitude for analytical thought, this facility does not correlate precisely with other measures of intelligence such as verbal reasoning or numeracy. In essence, some people are better critical thinkers than others but critical thinking can certainly be taught and enhanced. The trick is to look, to think, to critique and then to verify. Practice wonât make perfect - thatâs not the point - but it will help.
Oxford pre-tests the critical thinking skills of applicants for certain courses using the Thinking Skills Assessment (âTSAâ). Scores from the TSA contribute to shortlisting decisions and are a significant, though not the only, factor. Likewise, TSA performance will be considered as part of a range of data when individual offers are made post-interview. Taken in early November (after applications close on 15 October) alongside any other subject-specific pre-test, the TSA consists of a 90 minute, computer-based multiple-choice test followed by a 30-minute writing test.
If youâre applying for one of the following courses, youâll be required to take both sections of the TSA: Experimental Psychology, Geography, Human Sciences, PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) and PPL (Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics). If youâre applying for Economics and Management or History and Economics youâll be required to take only the first section which consists of 25 problem solving (including numerical and spatial reasoning) questions plus 25 critical thinking (essentially understanding argument) questions. The second section requires candidates to answer one question from a choice of 4, none of which is subject-specific. It is certainly possible to improve performance on the first section by revising GCSE-level mathematics and practising analysis of non-fiction prose (typically newspaper articles) to identify assumptions, posit alternative assumptions that might strengthen or weaken the thread of an argument and then, crucially, summarise particular paragraphs in a single sentence. For the second section, the skill is to identify, define and explain the problem posed by reference, typically, to three illustrative points. Sample TSAs and previous yearsâ results are available online.
Cambridge no longer uses the TSA but sets its own entrance tests which, according to subject, include a measure of critical thinking. Unlike Oxford, these tests are taken after the shortlisting stage as part of the interview process. Like the TSA, however, the critical thinking element of these various tests is generic and aims to assess intellectual potential under pressure.
As Martin Luther King so wisely put it âRarely do we find men [people] who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.â Keep this in mind throughout your application and you can consider it challenge accepted!