MASTERCLASS: being critical in your work
Critcal thinking models
Study Skills
Why being critical is important
What markers look for
(some) examples of critical questions...
- Why is this significant or necessary?
- How does this impact your topic?
- What does the evidence say?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence?
- Are there any alternative approaches - why not use these?
- Are there any gaps in the knowledge?
- What are you trying to do? How are you going to do it?
- What evidence are you basing your choices on? Why?
- What assumptions are you making?
- What makes your position stronger - what are the strengths and weaknesses
of your argument?
- Are there any similar situations you can compare?
- What can you conclude - are there any other possible outcomes?
Checklist
MASTERCLASS: being critical in your work
Active learning
Keeping it critical
Have you covered the learning outcomes and assessment criteria?
Final tweaks
Have you answered the question?
Is the content appropriate, accurate and cohesive?
What is your argument?
Does your conclusion draw together the points you’ve made?
Are your citations and references complete and correct?
Learning actively
Reading and re-reading material is not an effective way to understand or learn. You need to learn actively - it’s the total opposite of passive learning! Challenge what you’ve been given, It’s better for your understanding of the topic and your ability to retain information. Active learning simply means engaging with the learning materials – rather than just sitting reading and/or listening, take the material you’ve been given and ‘play’ with it!
The importance of being critical
Critical thinking is a fundamental skill, helping you to analyse, evaluate and interpret information. Going beyond simply accepting information at face value, critical thinkers delve deeper, questioning assumptions and exploring alternative perspectives before arriving at well-informed conclusions. This ability is highly-valued in education, business and everyday life.
Challenge your sources
You need to use of a range of sources in your work but it’s important not to just list a lot of individual studies. Identify and discuss the debates raised within the topic by referring to multiple sources rather than just one.
Try to pull together what different authors and sources say rather than describing what individual articles say one after the other…then you can compare and contrast the different approaches and perspectives.
What your marker looks for
Every assignment has an aim - check the learning outcomes in your course handbook. The point of the assessment is to see whether or not you have learned it!
Study Skills
Online resources: available 24/7 Drop-in: Gotta quick question? Ask us Monday - Friday via LiveChat on our home page 1-2-1s: Need something more in-depth? Book a one to one!
Critical thinking models
Watch the video here!
MASTERCLASS: being critical in your work
Dru Haynes
Created on January 30, 2026
Start designing with a free template
Discover more than 1500 professional designs like these:
View
Wall and Neon Infographic
View
Movies List
View
Hand-Drawn Infographic
View
Food Infographic
View
Neighborhood List
View
Volcano list
View
Pc mockup infographic
Explore all templates
Transcript
MASTERCLASS: being critical in your work
Critcal thinking models
Study Skills
Why being critical is important
What markers look for
(some) examples of critical questions...
Checklist
MASTERCLASS: being critical in your work
Active learning
Keeping it critical
Have you covered the learning outcomes and assessment criteria?
Final tweaks
Have you answered the question?
Is the content appropriate, accurate and cohesive?
What is your argument?
Does your conclusion draw together the points you’ve made?
Are your citations and references complete and correct?
Learning actively
Reading and re-reading material is not an effective way to understand or learn. You need to learn actively - it’s the total opposite of passive learning! Challenge what you’ve been given, It’s better for your understanding of the topic and your ability to retain information. Active learning simply means engaging with the learning materials – rather than just sitting reading and/or listening, take the material you’ve been given and ‘play’ with it!
The importance of being critical
Critical thinking is a fundamental skill, helping you to analyse, evaluate and interpret information. Going beyond simply accepting information at face value, critical thinkers delve deeper, questioning assumptions and exploring alternative perspectives before arriving at well-informed conclusions. This ability is highly-valued in education, business and everyday life.
Challenge your sources
You need to use of a range of sources in your work but it’s important not to just list a lot of individual studies. Identify and discuss the debates raised within the topic by referring to multiple sources rather than just one.
Try to pull together what different authors and sources say rather than describing what individual articles say one after the other…then you can compare and contrast the different approaches and perspectives.
What your marker looks for
Every assignment has an aim - check the learning outcomes in your course handbook. The point of the assessment is to see whether or not you have learned it!
Study Skills
Online resources: available 24/7 Drop-in: Gotta quick question? Ask us Monday - Friday via LiveChat on our home page 1-2-1s: Need something more in-depth? Book a one to one!
Critical thinking models
Watch the video here!