Critical Thinking@Julia’s blog

It is getting towards the end of the semester and many students are busy writing assignments. There is, I hope, two parts to the process of writing an assignment. One part of the process is the ‘getting it done by the due date’ part; which may involve late nights, stress and quick grabs at various bits of half-done reading. Then there is the other part of the process which will be going on at the same time; thinking.

Yes, academics do set assignments so that they can check students have understood the material presented in the unit, that they have done the readings asked of them, attended lectures and labs and synthesised this information into some form of considered and well thought out approach called: knowledge. And in reading assignments this is what academics are looking for, a considered and well thought out approach.

Unfortunately,  thinking cannot be done in half bites, in late nights and in high stress conditions. Thinking is an activity that takes time. A period of time that may stretch beyond the due date of an assignment, that may stretch beyond the end of the semester and that may stretch on into the rest of your life. So, whilst you finish off the essay or report that is due next week, remember you may be thinking about those ideas that are currently forming and coalescing in your mind, for the rest of your life. So make them good ones!