Critical Thinking Skills for Postgraduate Study Essay

Critical thinking has recently gained increased importance as the skill that encourages personal, academic, and professional development. The ability to question the nature of an observed phenomenon, the feasibility of a particular statement, and credibility of a certain piece of information are instrumental to the efficacy of one’s communication.¹ However, to be able to explore a certain area and converse with others effectively, critical thinking is not enough, In addition to the ability to discern between the sensible and the nonsensical, one also needs the skill of providing a unique argument.² Put differently, the presence of creative thinking is inseparable from the phenomenon of critical thinking.

It could be argued that the ability to think critically is a separate skill that cannot serve as the starting point for acquiring other abilities, such as creativity. However, the specified assumption seems to be quite far from the truth.³ While there is no direct link between being critical and creative, the former helps develop a good understanding of how a good discourse is structured and worded.⁴ As a result, one can build a bare minimum of skills needed to produce a coherent and creative statement.

Nevertheless, critical thinking should not be regarded as the notion that is entirely inseparable from creativity. Creative thinking also implies that one is capable to transform a particular viewpoint and discover new ways of viewing a situation.⁵ Thus, critical thinking skills can be seen as an essential tool for a postgraduate student, yet it is only one constituent of a much larger entity.⁶ Creative thinking is also not to be dismissed as one of the essential elements of a postgraduate skill set. When combined, creativity and critical thinking become the pillars for creating a coherent approach toward locating available information and processing it to produce an innovative approach.

Bibliography

Bista, KKK., Exploring the Social and Academic Experiences of International Students in Higher Education Institutions, IGI Global, New York, NY, 2016.

Davies, M., and Barnett, R., The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Thinking in Higher Education, Springer, New York, NY, 2015.

Legg, M., et al., Academic English: Skills for Success, 2nd ed., Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, 2014.

National Academies of Sciences, Indicators for Monitoring Undergraduate STEM Education, National Academies Press, 2018.

Scheg, S. A., Implementation and Critical Assessment of the Flipped Classroom Experience, IGI Global, New York, NY, 2015.

Wisdom, S., Handbook of Research on Advancing Critical Thinking in Higher Education, IGI Global, New York, NY, 2015.

Footnotes

1. National Academies of Sciences, Indicators for Monitoring Undergraduate STEM Education, National Academies Press, 2018, p. 63.
2. S. Wisdom, Handbook of Research on Advancing Critical Thinking in Higher Education, IGI Global, New York, NY, 2015, p. 127.
3. S. A. Scheg, Implementation and Critical Assessment of the Flipped Classroom Experience, IGI Global, New York, NY, 2015, p. 26.
4. M. Legg et al., Academic English: Skills for Success, 2nd ed., Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, 2014, p. 22.
5. K. Bista, Exploring the Social and Academic Experiences of International Students in Higher Education Institutions, IGI Global, New York, NY, 2016, p. 293.
6. M. Davies and R. Barnett, The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Thinking in Higher Education, Springer, New York, NY, 2015, p. 292.