oxford english dictionary critical thinking

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Meaning of critical thinking in English

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adjudication
analytically
interpretable
interpretive
interpretively
investigate
investigation
reinvestigation
risk assessment
run over/through something
run through something

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What is Critical Thinking?

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The Oxford English Dictionary defines critical thinking as "the objective, systematic, and rational analysis and evaluation of factual evidence in order to form a judgement on a subject, issue, etc."

Put simply, critical thinking is the ability to recognize and examine information to understand the evidence, arguments, and perspectives present in that information. Critical thinking means seeking answers and asking questions.

TED-Ed Can You Solve This Riddle? (playlist) Try out some of the classic riddles in this playlist from TED Ed. Each video established the riddle with narration and animation. Use your critical thinking skills to solve the riddles!

The following seven steps, developed by Kraus et al., are meant to illustrate the process of critical thinking. While true critical thinking may not follow these steps as written, they can serve as a guide or framework for individuals working on improving their critical thinking skills.

What am I being asked to believe or accept?
What evidence is available to support the claim?
What alternative ways are there to interpret the evidence?
Rate the evidence/alternatives on 0-10 scale based on validity/strength.
What assumptions or biases came up when doing the above steps? (e.g., using intuition/emotion, authority, or personal experience rather than science)
What additional evidence would help us evaluate the alternatives?
What conclusions are most reasonable or likely?

Kraus, S., Sears, S. R., & Burke, B. L. (2013). Is truthiness enough? Classroom activities for encouraging evidence-based critical thinking. The Journal of Effective Teaching, 13 (2), 83-93.

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Article contents

Critical thinking.

Derek Allen , Derek Allen University of Toronto
Sharon Bailin , Sharon Bailin Simon Fraser University
Mark Battersby Mark Battersby Capilano University
and James B. Freeman James B. Freeman Hunter College of the City University of New York, Emeritus
https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.1179
Published online: 27 October 2020

There are numerous definitions of critical thinking, but the core concept has been said to be careful, reasoned, goal-directed thinking. There are also many conceptualizations of critical thinking, which are generally more detailed than brief definitions, and there are different views about what the goal(s) of critical thinking instruction should be. Whether critical thinking is a good thing is a matter of debate. Approaches to teaching critical thinking vary, partly according to whether they focus on general principles of critical thinking or on subject-matter content or on a combination of both. A meta-analysis research report published in 2015 concluded that, subject to certain qualifications, a variety of critical thinking skills and dispositions can develop in students through instruction at all educational levels. Critical thinking instruction has been influenced by research in cognitive psychology that has suggested strategies for countering factors (e.g., biases) that the research has found to produce irrational beliefs. Methods of assessing critical thinking ability include teacher-designed tests and standardized tests. A research report published in 2014 on assessing critical thinking in higher education describes challenges involved in designing standardized critical thinking tests and proposes a framework for a “next-generation” assessment. The challenges include achieving a balance between the assessment's real-world relevance and its psychometric quality, and designing an assessment useful for instructional purposes and for comparisons of programs and institutions. The proposed framework is based partly on a review of existing frameworks of critical thinking in higher education. It has two analytical dimensions and two synthetic dimensions, and a dimension on understanding causation and explanation. Surveys show that employers value employees with strong critical thinking ability; this fact has significant implications for students, teachers, and administrators at all levels of education.

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critical thinking

[ krit -i-k uh l thing -king ]

The questions are intended to develop your critical thinking.

Discover More

Word history and origins.

Origin of critical thinking 1

Example Sentences

Being a pilot requires a particular reliance on critical thinking, preparing for a variety of situations and keeping calm and mission-focused, all of which are incredible skills to bring into a new business.

For one, our education system can equip people with critical thinking skills, media literacy and an understanding of the forces at work when people make truth judgments.

They need to be well-prepared and informed and capable of critical thinking.

It’s not possible to entirely shut out what they’re saying, but it’s best to do your own critical thinking.

What I worry about is that people aren’t learning critical thinking skills.

In court, labelers could argue that they were just trying to give students choices, while encouraging critical thinking.

For those in the movement, this means cultivating an attachment to Israel while fostering critical thinking.

A little debate and critical thinking are good for everyone.

But his timid foray into critical thinking brings swift and severe punishment.

The shift is most evident in our schools, where critical thinking has replaced rote learning as the central goal of education.

Ordinary propaganda, for instance, is quite ineffective on people trained in critical thinking.

So far as we conduct each of these processes in the light of the other, we get valid discovery or verified critical thinking.

Course details

An introduction to critical thinking.

This is an In-person course which requires your attendance to the weekly meetings which take place in Oxford.

In print, online and in conversation, we frequently encounter conflicting views on important issues: from climate change, vaccinations and current political events to economic policy, healthy lifestyles and parenting. It can be difficult to know how to make up one’s own mind when confronted with such diverse viewpoints.

This course teaches you how to critically engage with different points of view. You are given some guidelines that will help you decide to what extent to trust the person, organisation, website or publication defending a certain position. You are also shown how to assess others’ views and arrive at your own point of view through reasoning. We discuss examples of both reasoning about facts and the reasoning required in making practical decisions. We distinguish risky inferences with probable conclusions from risk-free inferences with certain conclusions. You are shown how to spot and avoid common mistakes in reasoning.

No previous knowledge of critical thinking or logic is needed. This course will be enjoyed by those who relish the challenge of thinking rationally and learning new skills. The skills and concepts taught will also be useful when studying other areas of philosophy.

Programme details

Term Starts: 23rd April 2024

Week 1: What is critical thinking? What is the difference between reasoning and other ways of forming beliefs?

Week 2: What is a logical argument? How do arguments differ from conditionals, explanations and rhetoric?

Week 3: Certainty versus probability: the distinction between deductive and inductive reasoning.

Week 4: Deductive validity and logical form.

Week 5: When do arguments rely on hidden premises? A closer look at probability.

Week 6: Inductive generalisations: Reasoning from samples.

Week 7: Reasoning about causes and inference to the best explanation.

Week 8: Practical reasoning: Reasoning about what to do.

Week 9: When is it appropriate to believe what others tell you? What is the significance of expertise?

Week 10: Putting it all together: We analyse and assess longer passages of reasoning.

Digital Certification

To complete the course and receive a certificate, you will be required to attend at least 80% of the classes on the course and pass your final assignment. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so.

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Dr Andrea Lechler

Andrea Lechler holds a degree in Computational Linguistics, an MSc in Artificial Intelligence, and an MA and PhD in Philosophy. She has extensive experience of teaching philosophy for OUDCE and other institutions. Her website is www.andrealechler.com.

Course aims

To help students improve their critical thinking skills.

Course Objectives:

To help students reflect on how people reason and how they try to persuade others of their views.
To make students familiar with the principles underlying different types of good reasoning as well as common mistakes in reasoning.
To present some guidelines for identifying trustworthy sources of information.

Teaching methods

The tutor will present the course content in an interactive way using plenty of examples and exercises. Students are encouraged to ask questions and participate in class discussions and group work. To consolidate their understanding of the subject they will be assigned further exercises as homework.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will be expected to:

be able to pick out and analyse passages of reasoning in texts and conversations
understand the most important ways of assessing the cogency of such reasoning
know how to assess the trustworthiness of possible sources of information.

Assessment methods

Assessment is based on a set of exercises similar to those discussed in class. One set of homework exercises can be submitted as a practice assignment.

Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form

Application

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form (Word) or enrolment form (Pdf) .

Level and demands

Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.

To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard.

Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.

Most of the Department's weekly classes have 10 or 20 CATS points assigned to them. 10 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of ten 2-hour sessions. 20 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of twenty 2-hour sessions. It is expected that, for every 2 hours of tuition you are given, you will engage in eight hours of private study.

Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support

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Critical Thinking in the Oxford Tutorial

Rush Cosgrove

Critical thinking is widely lauded as one of the most vital educational goals today. Oxford’s tutorial system, in turn, is a historically celebrated and influential approach to teaching. Yet, to date, little is known with regards to which critical thinking skills and traits, if any, are being systematically fostered by teachers and learned or developed by students in the tutorial. The primary purpose of this study is to break ground in this important and under-researched area. It is a small scale exploratory study based on qualitative interviews with three tutors and seven students, including four tutorial observations within the Department of Politics.

The tentative results show that, with regards to critical thinking, tutors are primarily concerned with students’ ability to clarify central questions, define key terms, and question important assumptions within the writing of their tutorial essays. Participating tutors seem less focused on students’ approach to evaluating important intellectual treatises or constructs, with the manner in which they understand and learn new ideas, or with their development of intellectual traits of mind, all of which tutors seemed to believe would develop naturally.

Students, for their part, articulated their approach to writing essays, including clarifying central questions, defining key terms, and questioning important assumptions. They expressed no clear approach to intellectual evaluation or the understanding of new ideas, nor did they appear to have deeply considered the intellectual traits they considered most important. The main provisional hypothesis is that students appear to internalize that which is explicit and required, and to largely miss those aspects which are more implicit and optional. This suggestion, if justified, has implications for tutorial pedagogy.

To read the full article, click here

Critical Thinking in the ELT Classroom

The enquiring mind

Critical thinking is innate – it comes from inside us – and as humans we have survived and developed by approaching things critically. Children naturally try to check what they have been told, and are ‘programmed’ to piece together the information they encounter. For example, a six year-old child I know was told that diamonds are the strongest and hardest thing on earth and could cut through other stones and even metal. He then visited a rock on the English Jurassic Coast that had been ‘carved’ into an arch, and after listening to an explanation of how it had happened asked, ‘Which is more powerful, diamonds or the sea?’ This child could not yet read and write, but like other children, he was developing his critical mind.

Critical thinking essentially means having a questioning, challenging, analytical state of mind. A critical mind is comfortable with a degree of scepticism and doubt; it is a mind that is open to reinterpreting and refining its knowledge, and accepting that what we know may change in the light of new knowledge. A critical thinker questions whether something is believable, evaluates how strong is the basis of an assumption, and makes new connections between what they know and learn.

Multiple intelligences are involved in critical thinking. The conductor of an orchestra critically interprets the written score, even if it is as familiar as Beethoven’s Ninth. They aim to add something new, and communicate their interpretation to the musicians through movement. A surgeon has to work out the wider picture from the detail they can see, and act quickly. Someone working in business accesses the information relevant to their sector, assesses its significance, and looks for a new opportunity. These people are all thinking critically. Our students will do jobs like these when they have completed their education.

Critical thinking in the classroom

Part of our job as language teachers – and more broadly as educators – is to develop our students’ critical thinking competence. In reality, different students may have experienced varying degrees of nurture and discouragement at the hands of their parents, previous education, and wider culture. Our students’ level of critical thinking may not be related to their language level.

We can start by introducing tasks which ask students to question what they read and listen to, investigating the deeper – more implicit, meanings in texts – and identify assumptions and weaknesses. We can ask students to respond to statements that emerge from the materials we are already using. For example, my class were shown a slide in a lecture which stated ‘China will soon become the number one English speaking country in the world’. I elicited critical questions which included: ‘When? – How soon is ‘soon’?’; ‘Why not India?’; ‘How do you know? – What are your sources?’; and ‘How well will they speak English?’ We can start by asking the simple question ‘So what?’ Our classes, and all our lives, will be richer for our students’ responses.

Critical Thinking in EAP (oupeltglobalblog.com)
Critical Thinking – Teaching Tips from Around the World (oupeltglobalblog.com)

Example sentences critical thinking

Definition of 'critical' critical.

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Cobuild collocations critical thinking.

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critical adjective & noun

Hide all quotations

What does the word critical mean?

There are 15 meanings listed in OED's entry for the word critical , one of which is labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

critical has developed meanings and uses in subjects including

How common is the word critical ?

How is the word critical pronounced, british english, u.s. english, where does the word critical come from.

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the word critical is in the mid 1500s.

OED's earliest evidence for critical is from 1556, in the writing of Robert Recorde, mathematician and physician.

critical is a borrowing from Latin, combined with an English element.

Etymons: Latin criticus , ‑al suffix 1 .

Nearby entries

criterion-referenced, adj. 1963–
criterion-referencing, n. 1971–
criterium, n. a1631–
crith, n. 1865–
crithology, n. 1656
crithomancy, n. 1652–
critic, n. 1587–
critic, adj. ?c1400–1889
critic, v. 1607–
criticable, adj. 1874–
critical, adj. & n. 1556–
critical access, adj. 1989–
critical angle, n. 1829–
critical care, n. 1956–
critical damping, n. 1898–
critical edition, n. 1721–
critical flicker frequency, n. 1909–
critical idealism, n. 1797–
critical illness, adj. 1986–
criticality, n. 1758–
critical list, n. 1898–

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Meaning & use

Pronunciation, compounds & derived words, entry history for critical, adj. & n..

critical, adj. & n. was revised in March 2022.

critical, adj. & n. was last modified in September 2023.

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Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into critical, adj. & n. in September 2023.

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Citation details

Factsheet for critical, adj. & n., browse entry.

Sandi Connelly

1. How Do You Teach Applied Critical Thinking?

It has always been a struggle for me to really define how I “teach” critical thinking. I believe for the students, they have the same stumbling block … “How do I learn critical thinking?” We all know that it is an important skill, but it is not something that you can pick up from reading a textbook, or watching a training video. The first step in teaching and learning critical thinking in my opinion has to be a strong belief that critical thinking matters, and regardless of what you call it … everyone is doing some type of critical thinking, teaching, and learning every day. If we take the literal Oxford English Dictionary definition of critical thinking (“the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment”) I would argue that the times during the day when you are thinking critical outweigh the times you are not – especially in academia – and especially in science. With my students I do not start with “in this class you are going to learn how to be a critical thinker”, but rather I start with “in this class, you are going to learn how to think like a rigorous and ethical scientist – whether you are a science major or not”. Critical analysis of journal articles – what did they do, why did they do it, and what could be done better – is an everyday thought process in science, but we have to learn to be good at it. That is what takes training through practice. Empowering students to constantly step back and say “I know how that thing / experiment / result can be improved” and have the backing to support that knowledge gives them an opportunity to become a critical thinker – and perhaps most importantly in science, a critical doer.

2. Why Do You Think Applied Critical Thinking is Important in Your Domain?

We talk a lot about silos in education. In my work as a molecular ecologist, I cannot afford to stay in my silo. My expertise is limited in fields that I need in my work. I am not an engineer, I am not an expert in hydrology, and I am certainly not a statistician or mathematical modeler. But in my research to understand the impacts of anthropogenic and natural stressors on freshwater ecosystems, I need this expertise, and I need the insights of others to drive the work forward. By this, critical thinking must become a “team sport”. In order to answer the big questions in the world – and in my opinion the most interesting questions – we have to work together, and we have to push ourselves to be analyzers and evaluators of the problems / questions at hand. To do this, we need one another, and we need to work together to be the critical thinkers that the world needs to be a better place tomorrow.

3. Can You Share a Story Where Quality Applied Critical Thinking Was Key to Your Success?

I was never the smartest in the class. I was never the prettiest or the most popular or the most athletic (Lord knows!). I never had the best hair, the best fashion sense, or the best shoes. I was never the most talented, the best clarinet player, or the shining star on the stage. I was never the best cook, baker, and to this day I hate cleaning windows, probably because I am not the best at it. I was not the best student, the best teacher, or the best researcher. I was not the best colleague, the best employee, or the best boss. I was not always the best daughter, the best friend or the best wife. But, what I can bring to this world is passion. Passion for every one of those things at which I am not perfect. Passion for trying to do better every time. And the way I pick myself up and try to better is by analyzing what has gone wrong, what could be better, and another way to try. Life and being better at life every day is about problem solving. There is nothing that I can do to better myself that does not involve analyzing, evaluating, and thinking critically about myself, my world, and everything in my world. I stopped doing things in my life because I was not the best at those things. I gave up clarinet after high school. I stopped drawing and painting because I just was not that good at it. But the one thing that I cannot give up is teaching. Not because some days I don’t want to (we all have those days). But because every day – good at it or not – I need to be there for my students who are not the best at something. I need to be there because they need to know that being the best does not make you happy. They need to know that sometimes just showing up and playing the game of life – playing the way you have decided is the best way for you to play – is the best gift that they can give to themselves and to the world. This is applied critical thinking to me. And this is why I may not be the perfect teacher – but I believe that I am a successful teacher. I show up and together we play the game – the best we can that day.

4. How Do You Use Critical Thinking in Other Areas of Your Life Outside of RIT?

The world of online instruction is not new. And online teaching / learning is not new at RIT. However, we are finding ourselves in a time when higher education is becoming a burden (financially, and other) for many. Historically, higher education has gone through ebbs and flows. We have seen times when only the richest and most elite were formally educated. We have seen times where more individuals are being formally educated – post WWII through the 1990’s/early 2000’s – but the world is changing too fast to keep up. While the system is not perfect by any means, and many will argue that it is still only the most privileged that are formally educated, we are beginning a swing away from formal higher education as a fixed path following high school in the United States. What does this mean? Yes, the population of 18-22 year old’s is decreasing, but we also have done a poor job of justifying the purpose of formal education to many. That is our bad. But maybe it is also our savior. How will we think about formal education 20 years from now? Many of us are not close enough to retirement to say “it is the next generations problem!”. We have to figure out what it is about formal education that can help others – and not just 18-22 year old’s.

The world is changing, our need for particular skill sets is changing. We have to embrace this change to help those around us – and help ourselves. What role can online learning play to open up education, critical thinking, and problem solving to the world? I believe that it can have an enormous role in making the world a better place – not only for professional growth, but also for personal growth and well-being. What a time we live in that you can take a Master Class online in Cooking Techniques from Gordon Ramsey or Thomas Keller … or a writing class from Margaret Atwood (author of The Handmaid's Tale if you have forgotten!) … or the fundamentals of gymnastics from Simone Biles (the most decorated World Gymnast with 25 Olympic and World Championship medals!)!! Seriously?! While we may not all be coordinated enough to learn a balance beam routine in our living room while being instructed by Ms. Biles … we are all creative enough, smart enough, and worthy enough to critically think about what these kinds of engagements and interactions mean for our personal well-being and the world around us. We need to open our intellect and our hearts to learn every day … not just in a formal classroom. And we need to embrace what that means for the betterment of the world. Everyone should be learning something new – big or small is all relative – every day. THAT is how you think critically about life, about your contribution to life, and your impact on life. And THAT is how you become the best that you can be. Being a critical thinker … scratch that … being an evaluator and an analyzer … scratch that … being filled with the wonderment of a child seeing anything for the first time every time we look around us … is something that we all deserve. I wish that for all of you.

5. And Any Last Critical Thoughts?

Look at the world around not as you know it to be – but as you want it to be – for you and for all life, human or not. Now take the steps you can to make it THAT world.

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A Dictionary of Critical Theory (1 ed.)

Ian buchanan.

This is the most wide-ranging and up-to-date dictionary of critical theory available, covering the whole range of critical theory, including the Frankfurt school, cultural materialism, gender studies, literary theory, hermeneutics, historical materialism, and sociopolitical critical theory. Entries clearly explain even the most complex of theoretical discourses, such as Marxism, psychoanalysis, structuralism, deconstruction, and postmodernism. There are also biographies of important figures in the field, with feature entries for those who have heavily influenced areas of the discipline.

Covering all aspects of the subject from globalization and race studies, to queer theory and feminism, this multidisciplinary A-Z is essential for students of literary and cultural studies and is useful for anyone studying a humanity subject requiring a knowledge of theory.

Bibliographic Information

Affiliations are at time of print publication..

Ian Buchanan is Director of the Institute for Social Transformation Research at the University of Wollongong. He has authored or edited over a dozen books as well as special issues of journals, as well as founding the journal Deleuze Studies .

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aboriginality

Absent cause, abstractionism, active and reactive, actor-network theory, actual and virtual, adorno, theodor, affective fallacy, agamben, giorgio, alienation-effect, alternate modernity, front matter, publishing information, general links for this work, introduction.

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