Critical Thinking in Practice: Key Skills for NEAs and EPQs

Syllabus

• Week 1

  Introducing independent research

  • Welcome to the course

    Welcome to this course on critical thinking and writing skills. Throughout this course you are going to work with members of the School of Media and Communication at the University of Westminster to learn a range of key skills.

  • What is research? And why does it matter?

    The term 'research' can describe a range of activities. In this section we will define what research means for you, and will ask why it is important.

  • Evidence, evidence, evidence

    Researchers spend much of their time looking for evidence or reviewing other people's evidence. In this section we will look at what evidence is and who produces it.

  • Wrapping things up

    We have already learned a lot on this course. Let's take a moment to review what we have looked at so far, and to check our understanding.

• Week 2

  What makes a good research project?

  • Your research interests

    Doing research about the things that you are interested in can make it much easier, but finding a topic that interests you and is suitable to research can be tricky. Here we look at how the have the best of both.

  • Developing research questions

    Once you have a research topic in mind, the next stage is to develop this into a research question. These are much more focused than the topic alone, and will guide the direction of your work.

  • Creating a proposal

    To formalise our research plans we produce a research proposal. Whether this is required by your assessment or not writing a proposal will really help you excel with your research project. Let's find out how to make one.

  • Wrapping things up

    We have now started to become a researcher, and have developed our research topic into a question and have started work on our proposal. Let's take a look back at what we have learned and check our understanding.

• Week 3

  Critical analysis and reading

  • What do we mean by criticality?

    Being asked to be more critical in your reading or writing can be very frustrating as it is not always clear what this means. In this learning unit we will define criticality and look at how you might use this skill.

  • Selecting sources

    A key part of critical reading happens before you even get to open your first book. Before you can do that you need to select your sources and ensure that you have used your critical skills in choosing what to read.

  • Reading critically

    The first step in becoming a critical thinker is learning how to undertake critical reading. In this section we will introduce you to some advanced reading techniques to help you in your work.

  • Wrapping things up

    You are now a high quality critical reader. Let's take a moment to reflect on what we have learned so far to check our understanding.

• Week 4

  Locating open access resources

  • What do we mean by open access?

    Find out about different publishing models and why you are able to access some resources, but not others.

  • Locating articles and books

    In this section we introduce you to a wide range of databases where you can find free to read articles and books to help with you research and projects.

  • Finding statistics and data

    Sometimes we need to find raw data to support our work, or perhaps to give us some inspiration. In this activity we will explore a range of free to access databases and find out how to use their data in our work.

  • Using images and videos

    Videos and images can be a really powerful research tool, helping us to see how stories and history have been documented. In this section we look at how to access a range of contemporary and historic videos and images.

  • Wrapping things up

    In this section we have looked at a very wide range of sources of information and how to access them. Let's reflect on what we have learned and how we can use this in our projects.

• Week 5

  Critical writing and reporting

  • Critical writing, an introduction

    Let's start by introducing you to what we mean by critical writing rather than descriptive writing. We will also look at what is expected from you in your assignments.

  • The process of writing

    Now we know what is expected of you, let's take a look at how the process of writing works.

  • Referencing and citations

    One final thing you need to learn to do is referencing and citations. This is how you show what you have read, and where your ideas come from.

  • Wrapping things up

    You should now be an expert critical writer. Let's take a look back on what we have learned and check our understanding.

• Week 6

  Bringing it all together

  • Organising and planning your work

    In this section we will look back over the course and see how we can bring together all the things we have learned along with good planning to make great research projects.

  • What next?

    You are now a full researcher with all the skills you need to complete your work. Well done! If you want to continue this kind of work, why not consider joining us at the University of Westminster.

  • Close

    Just before you leave, we would like to say goodbye, and give you the opportunity to share what you have learned.

Who will you learn with?