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• 1 media/Le_Penseur_at_Columbia_University_(6435262909).jpg 2016-12-07T14:03:02-08:00 Critical Thinking 27 image_header 359871 2017-02-16T17:06:20-08:00 As stated in Chapter I, in New Zealand we believe that knowledge is open to question, debate, and extension. As a student at Victoria, you will be required to show that you can think critically and independently. Let us tell you a story.

  One day a student named KC came to see a Learning Adviser at Student Learning. He was confused and disappointed. He said he had studied everything in his course. He said he had read the whole textbook and learnt all the lectures. He said he had worked all day and most of the night for the whole trimester. However, despite all his efforts, KC failed the course. He said he could not understand why. He told us he knew all the facts about the subject and he should have passed.

  
  You might be wondering why KC failed his course. Well, KC had done a lot of study, but unfortunately he hadn't practised applying the information he had studied. In New Zealand universities, it is not good enough just to understand and know the lecture material and the readings. You need to be able to:
  • think critically about the material.
  • evaluate the material.
  • show you can apply the material.
  KC’s exam included a short case study that he had never seen before. This case study was about a company and its problems. The exam asked KC to read the case study and then answer some questions relating to it. KC needed to give some advice to the company managers. He needed to apply all the knowledge he had learned in the course to this particular case. Unfortunately KC wasn’t expecting this kind of exam. He had learnt a lot of information but he hadn’t practised applying it.
  
  KC’s story tells us something about New Zealand teachers. Teachers in New Zealand expect students to read and think for themselves. KC’s teachers hadn’t given him this case study before. They certainly hadn’t given him the answers to his exam questions during class. They had taught a lot of theory and a lot of concepts. They expected KC to be able to:
  • understand this theory.
  • apply it in a new situation.
  This expectation doesn’t just apply to exams. It also applies to essays and other written assignments. Most assignments at Victoria require more than just facts. They require an argument. If you were writing an essay about alcoholism among teenagers, for example, you wouldn’t be asked for just the facts about this addiction. You would be asked to create an argument. You might have to argue about why teenagers become alcoholics. You would state your argument in the introduction like this:

  Critical thinking: knowledge, skills and attitudes