1 Overview

This course provides an introduction to thinking skills and ways of extending and developing your thinking.

But why do you need to do this?

Take a few moments to reflect on your reasons for looking at this course and ways in which you hope it will help you.

Perhaps you thought you would find it useful? Or maybe you have particular worries or concerns about thinking that have made you want to look at this issue in more depth. Looking at thinking skills is something that is not always easy to make the time to do or realise is important. However, we hope that this course will help you to understand that extending and developing your thinking skills is one of the most important and rewarding challenges of higher education. We hope that it will help you to recognise that many of the difficulties and frustrations of study are underpinned by problems with thinking. The processes of growth and change in thinking that you will experience as you progress in your studies can also be difficult, but are worth the effort. We particularly hope that you will find ideas that will be of practical benefit.

This course has been designed to lead you on a journey of understanding. It begins with seeing why thinking skills are important in education, and what kinds of skills are valued. It then moves to some practical strategies and ideas for further activities and reading.

You may find the ideas presented here are useful preparation for more in-depth development of your skills in other areas such as learning how to learn, and reading and note taking.

You may want to work all the way through this course, or just dip in and out. It is a resource for you to use in whatever way you find best helps your learning. As thinking and learning is most effectively developed through active involvement, we have included lots of activities. So, have a pencil and paper on hand and be prepared to think.