Critical Thinking exam

Critical Thinking exam

The exam will be held on May 24th.

It is 80 minutes.

The exam is worth 30% of the total marks for this module.

The exam looks at five areas of critical thinking skills:

1/  analysing short arguments.

This means identifying the main conclusion and the reasons (or the premises), inferring the conclusion from the information given, and stating the implied overall conclusion of a short argument.

You also need to understand how syllogisms work, to judge whether or not the conclusions are valid.  

2/  Assumptions.  Underlying assumptions that are hidden, and necessary assumptions.

3/  Evaluating evidence.  Is the evidence relevant and sufficient?  Is the evidence credible?

4/  Logical fallacies.  You need to be able to identify the fallacy and explain why the reasoning does not support the conclusion.

5/  Text analysis.  You will be given a longer argument and a number of questions.  The questions will ask you about the conclusion, supporting reasons, use of evidence (relevance, sufficiency, neutrality/bias/credibility - the whole credibility issue).

Preparation work.

The orange book.

Implicit assumptions, p89.  Activity p90.

Premises, p42 and p91.  Activity p92

Evidence and credibility:  p129 - 131

reputable sources

authenticity and validity

currency and reliability

relevant and irrelevant evidence

Blue book

Evidence, credibility criteria p74

Evaluating the use of evidence, p147 - 151

Drawing conclusions (inferring conclusions) p126 - 128.