writing critical thinking

Writing to Think: Critical Thinking and the Writing Process

“Writing is thinking on paper.” (Zinsser, 1976, p. vii)

Google the term “critical thinking.” How many hits are there? On the day this tutorial was completed, Google found about 65,100,000 results in 0.56 seconds. That’s an impressive number, and it grows more impressively large every day. That’s because the nation’s educators, business leaders, and political representatives worry about the level of critical thinking skills among today’s students and workers.

What is Critical Thinking?

Simply put, critical thinking is sound thinking. Critical thinkers work to delve beneath the surface of sweeping generalizations, biases, clichés, and other quick observations that characterize ineffective thinking. They are willing to consider points of view different from their own, seek and study evidence and examples, root out sloppy and illogical argument, discern fact from opinion, embrace reason over emotion or preference, and change their minds when confronted with compelling reasons to do so. In sum, critical thinkers are flexible thinkers equipped to become active and effective spouses, parents, friends, consumers, employees, citizens, and leaders. Every area of life, in other words, can be positively affected by strong critical thinking.

Released in January 2011, an important study of college students over four years concluded that by graduation “large numbers [of American undergraduates] didn’t learn the critical thinking, complex reasoning and written communication skills that are widely assumed to be at the core of a college education” (Rimer, 2011, para. 1). The University designs curriculum, creates support programs, and hires faculty to help ensure you won’t be one of the students “[showing]no significant gains in . . . ‘higher order’ thinking skills” (Rimer, 2011, para. 4). One way the University works to help you build those skills is through writing projects.

Writing and Critical Thinking

Say the word “writing” and most people think of a completed publication. But say the word “writing” to writers, and they will likely think of the process of composing. Most writers would agree with novelist E. M. Forster, who wrote, “How can I know what I think until I see what I say?” (Forster, 1927, p. 99). Experienced writers know that the act of writing stimulates thinking.

Inexperienced and experienced writers have very different understandings of composition. Novice writers often make the mistake of believing they have to know what they’re going to write before they can begin writing. They often compose a thesis statement before asking questions or conducting research. In the course of their reading, they might even disregard material that counters their pre-formed ideas. This is not writing; it is recording.

In contrast, experienced writers begin with questions and work to discover many different answers before settling on those that are most convincing. They know that the act of putting words on paper or a computer screen helps them invent thought and content. Rather than trying to express what they already think, they express what the act of writing leads them to think as they put down words. More often than not, in other words, experienced writers write their way into ideas, which they then develop, revise, and refine as they go.

What has this notion of writing to do with critical thinking? Everything.

Consider the steps of the writing process: prewriting, outlining, drafting, revising, editing, seeking feedback, and publishing. These steps are not followed in a determined or strict order; instead, the effective writer knows that as they write, it may be necessary to return to an earlier step. In other words, in the process of revision, a writer may realize that the order of ideas is unclear. A new outline may help that writer re-order details. As they write, the writer considers and reconsiders the effectiveness of the work.

The writing process, then, is not just a mirror image of the thinking process: it is the thinking process. Confronted with a topic, an effective critical thinker/writer

• asks questions
• seeks answers
• evaluates evidence
• questions assumptions
• tests hypotheses
• makes inferences
• employs logic
• draws conclusions
• predicts readers’ responses
• creates order
• drafts content
• seeks others’ responses
• weighs feedback
• criticizes their own work
• revises content and structure
• seeks clarity and coherence

Example of Composition as Critical Thinking

“Good writing is fueled by unanswerable questions” (Lane, 1993, p. 15).

Imagine that you have been asked to write about a hero or heroine from history. You must explain what challenges that individual faced and how they conquered them. Now imagine that you decide to write about Rosa Parks and her role in the modern Civil Rights movement. Take a moment and survey what you already know. She refused to get up out of her seat on a bus so a White man could sit in it. She was arrested. As a result, Blacks in Montgomery protested, influencing the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Martin Luther King, Jr. took up leadership of the cause, and ultimately a movement was born.

Is that really all there is to Rosa Parks’s story? What questions might a thoughtful writer ask? Here a few:

• Why did Rosa Parks refuse to get up on that particular day?
• Was hers a spontaneous or planned act of defiance?
• Did she work? Where? Doing what?
• Had any other Black person refused to get up for a White person?
• What happened to that individual or those individuals?
• Why hadn’t that person or those persons received the publicity Parks did?
• Was Parks active in Civil Rights before that day?
• How did she learn about civil disobedience?

Even just these few questions could lead to potentially rich information.

Factual information would not be enough, however, to satisfy an assignment that asks for an interpretation of that information. The writer’s job for the assignment is to convince the reader that Parks was a heroine; in this way the writer must make an argument and support it. The writer must establish standards of heroic behavior. More questions arise:

• What is heroic action?
• What are the characteristics of someone who is heroic?
• What do heroes value and believe?
• What are the consequences of a hero’s actions?
• Why do they matter?

Now the writer has even more research and more thinking to do.

By the time they have raised questions and answered them, raised more questions and answered them, and so on, they are ready to begin writing. But even then, new ideas will arise in the course of planning and drafting, inevitably leading the writer to more research and thought, to more composition and refinement.

Ultimately, every step of the way over the course of composing a project, the writer is engaged in critical thinking because the effective writer examines the work as they develop it.

Why Writing to Think Matters

Writing practice builds critical thinking, which empowers people to “take charge of [their] own minds” so they “can take charge of [their] own lives . . . and improve them, bringing them under [their] self command and direction” (Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2020, para. 12). Writing is a way of coming to know and understand the self and the changing world, enabling individuals to make decisions that benefit themselves, others, and society at large. Your knowledge alone – of law, medicine, business, or education, for example – will not be enough to meet future challenges. You will be tested by new unexpected circumstances, and when they arise, the open-mindedness, flexibility, reasoning, discipline, and discernment you have learned through writing practice will help you meet those challenges successfully.

Forster, E.M. (1927).  Aspects of the novel . Harcourt, Brace & Company.

The Foundation for Critical Thinking. (2020, June 17).  Our concept and definition of critical thinking . https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/our-concept-of-critical-thinking/411

Lane, B. (1993).  After the end: Teaching and learning creative revision . Heinemann.

Rimer, S. (2011, January 18).  Study: Many college students not learning to think critically . The Hechinger Report. https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article24608056.html

Zinsser, W. (1976).  On writing well: The classic guide to writing nonfiction . HarperCollins.

Share this:

• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive email notifications of new posts.

Email Address

• RSS - Posts
• RSS - Comments
• COLLEGE WRITING
• USING SOURCES & APA STYLE
• EFFECTIVE WRITING PODCASTS
• LEARNING FOR SUCCESS
• PLAGIARISM INFORMATION
• FACULTY RESOURCES
• Student Webinar Calendar
• Academic Success Center
• Writing Center
• About the ASC Tutors
• DIVERSITY TRAINING
• PG Peer Tutors
• PG Student Access

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

• College Writing
• Using Sources & APA Style
• Learning for Success
• Effective Writing Podcasts
• Plagiarism Information
• Faculty Resources
• Tutor Training

Twitter feed

Academic Writing: Critical Thinking & Writing

• Academic Writing
• Planning your writing
• Structuring your assignment
• Critical Thinking & Writing
• Building an argument
• Reflective Writing
• Summarising, paraphrasing and quoting

Critical Thinking

One of the most important features of studying at university is the expectation that you will engage in thinking critically about your subject area. 

Critical thinking involves asking meaningful questions concerning the information, ideas, beliefs, and arguments that you will encounter. It requires you to approach your studies with a curious, open mind, discard preconceptions, and interrogate received knowledge and established practices.

Critical thinking is key to successfully expressing your individuality as an independent learner and thinker in an academic context. It is also a valuable life skill. 

Critical thinking enables you to:

• Evaluate information, its validity and significance in a particular context.
• Analyse and interpret evidence and data in response to a line of enquiry.
• Weigh-up alternative explanations and arguments.
• Develop your own evidence-based and well-reasoned arguments.
• Develop well-informed viewpoints.
• Formulate your own independent, justifiable ideas.
• Actively engage with the wider scholarship of your academic community.

Writing Critically

Being able to demonstrate and communicate critical thinking in your written assignments through critical writing is key to achieving academic success. 

Critical writing can be distinguished from descriptive writing which is concerned with conveying information rather than interrogating information. Understanding the difference between these two styles of academic writing and when to use them is important.

The balance between descriptive writing and critical writing will vary depending on the nature of the assignment and the level of your studies. Some level of descriptive writing is generally necessary to support critical writing. More sophisticated criticality is generally required at higher levels of study with less descriptive content. You will continue to develop your critical writing skills as you progress through your course.

Descriptive Writing and Critical Writing

• Descriptive Writing
• Critical Writing
• Examples of Critical Writing

Descriptive writing demonstrates the knowledge you have of a subject, and your knowledge of what other people say about that subject.  Descriptive writing often responds to questions framed as ‘what’ , ‘where’ , ‘who’ and ‘when’ .

Descriptive writing might include the following:

• Description of what something is or what it is about (an account, facts, observable features, details): a topic, problem, situation, or context of the subject under discussion.
• Description of where it takes place (setting and context), who is involved and when it occurs. 
• Re-statement or summary of what others say about the topic.
• Background facts and information for a discussion.

Description usually comes before critical content so that the reader can understand the topic you are critically engaging with.

Critical writing requires you to apply interpretation, analysis, and evaluation to the descriptions you have provided. Critical writing often responds to questions framed as ‘how’ or ‘why’ . Often, critical writing will require you to build an argument which is supported by evidence. 

Some indicators of critical writing are:

• Investigation of positive and negative perspectives on ideas
• Supporting ideas and arguments with evidence, which might include authoritative sources, data, statistics, research, theories, and quotations
• Balanced, unbiased appraisal of arguments and counterarguments/alternative viewpoints
• Honest recognition of the limitations of an argument and supporting evidence
• Plausible, rational, convincing, and well-reasoned conclusions 

Critical writing might include the following:

• Applying an idea or theory to different situations or relate theory to practice. Does the idea work/not work in practice? Is there a factor that makes it work/not work? For example: 'Smith's (2008) theory on teamwork is effective in the workplace because it allows a diverse group of people with different skills to work effectively'.
• Justifying why a process or policy exists. For example: 'It was necessary for the nurse to check the patient's handover notes because...'
• Proposing an alternative approach to view and act on situations. For example: 'By adopting a Freirian approach, we could view the student as a collaborator in our teaching and learning'. Or: 'If we had followed the NMC guidelines we could have made the patient feel calm and relaxed during the consultation'.
• Discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of an idea/theory/policy. Why does this idea/theory/policy work? Or why does this idea not work? For example: 'Although Smith's (2008) theory on teamwork is useful for large teams, there are challenges in applying this theory to teams who work remotely'. 
• Discussion of how the idea links to other ideas in the field (synthesis). For example: 'the user experience of parks can be greatly enhanced by examining Donnelly's (2009) customer service model used in retail’.
• Discussion of how the idea compares and contrasts with other ideas/theories. For example: ‘The approach advocated by the NMC differs in comparison because of factor A and factor C’.
• Discussion of the ‘’up-to-datedness” and relevance of an idea/theory/policy (its currency). For example: 'although this approach was successful in supporting the local community, Smith's model does not accommodate the needs of a modern global economy'. 
• Evaluating an idea/theory/policy by providing evidence-informed judgment. For example: 'Therefore, May's delivery model should be discontinued as it has created significant issues for both customers and staff (Ransom, 2018)'.
• Creating new perspectives or arguments based on knowledge. For example: 'to create strong and efficient buildings, we will look to the designs provided by nature. The designs of the Sydney Opera House are based on the segments of an orange (Cook, 2019)'. 

Further Reading

• << Previous: Structuring your assignment
• Next: Building an argument >>
• Last Updated: Apr 12, 2024 3:27 PM
• URL: https://libguides.uos.ac.uk/academic-writing

➔ About the Library

➔ Meet the Team

➔ Customer Service Charter

➔ Library Policies & Regulations

➔ Privacy & Data Protection

Essential Links

➔ A-Z of eResources

➔ Frequently Asked Questions

➔Discover the Library

➔Referencing Help

➔ Print & Copy Services

➔ Service Updates

Library & Learning Services, University of Suffolk, Library Building, Long Street, Ipswich, IP4 1QJ

✉ Email Us: [email protected]

✆ Call Us: +44 (0)1473 3 38700

• Subject Guides

Academic writing: a practical guide

Criticality in academic writing.

• Academic writing
• The writing process
• Academic writing style
• Structure & cohesion
• Working with evidence
• Referencing
• Assessment & feedback
• Dissertations
• Reflective writing
• Examination writing
• Academic posters
• Feedback on Structure and Organisation
• Feedback on Argument, Analysis, and Critical Thinking
• Feedback on Writing Style and Clarity
• Feedback on Referencing and Research
• Feedback on Presentation and Proofreading

Being critical is at the heart of academic writing, but what is it and how can you incorporate it into your work?

What is criticality?

What is critical thinking.

Have you ever received feedback in a piece of work saying 'be more critical' or 'not enough critical analysis' but found yourself scratching your head, wondering what that means? Dive into this bitesize workshop to discover what it is and how to do it:

Critical Thinking: What it is and how to do it (bitesize workshop)[YouTube]

University-level work requires both descriptive and critical elements. But what's the difference?

Descriptive

Being descriptive shows what you know about a topic and provides the evidence to support your arguments. It uses simpler processes like  remembering , understanding and applying . You might summarise previous research, explain concepts or describe processes.

Being critical pulls evidence together to build your arguments; what does it all mean together? It uses more complex processes: analysing ,  evaluating and creating . You might make comparisons, consider reasons and implications, justify choices or consider strengths and weaknesses.

Bloom's Taxonomy  is a useful tool to consider descriptive and critical processes:

Bloom's Taxonomy [YouTube]  |  Bloom's Taxonomy [Google Doc]

Find out more about critical thinking:

What is critical writing?

Academic writing requires criticality; it's not enough to just describe or summarise evidence, you also need to analyse and evaluate information and use it to build your own arguments. This is where you show your own thoughts based on the evidence available, so critical writing is really important for higher grades.

Explore the key features of critical writing and see it in practice in some examples:

Introduction to critical writing [Google Slides]

While we need criticality in our writing, it's definitely possible to go further than needed. We’re aiming for that Goldilocks ‘just right’ point between not critical enough and too critical. Find out more:

Critical reading

Criticality isn't just for writing, it is also important to read critically. Reading critically helps you:

• evaluative whether sources are suitable for your assignments.
• know what you're looking for when reading.
• find the information you need quickly.

Critical reading [Interactive tutorial]  |  Critical reading [Google Doc]

Find out more on our dedicated guides:

Using evidence critically

Academic writing integrates evidence from sources to create your own critical arguments.

We're not looking for a list of summaries of individual sources; ideally, the important evidence should be integrated into a cohesive whole.  What does the evidence mean altogether?  Of course, a critical argument also needs some critical analysis of this evidence.  What does it all mean in terms of your argument?

Find out more about using evidence to build critical arguments in our guide to working with evidence:

Critical language

Critical writing is going to require critical language. Different terms will give different nuance to your argument. Others will just keep things interesting! In the document below we go through some examples to help you out:

Assignment titles: critical or descriptive?

Assignment titles contain various words that show where you need to be descriptive and where you need to be critical. Explore some of the most common instructional words: 

Descriptive instructional words

define : give the precise meaning

examine : look at carefully; consider different aspects

explain : clearly describe how a process works, why a decision was made, or give other information needed to understand the topic

illustrate : explain and describe using examples

outline : give an overview of the key information, leaving out minor details

Critical instructional words

analyse : break down the information into parts, consider how parts work together

discuss : explain a topic, make comparisons, consider strengths & weaknesses, give reasons, consider implications

evaluate : assess something's worth, value or suitability for a purpose - this often leads to making a choice afterwards

justify : show the reasoning behind a choice, argument or standpoint

synthesise : bring together evidence and information to create a cohesive whole, integrate ideas or issues

CC BY-NC-SA Learnhigher

More guidance on breaking down assignment titles:

• << Previous: Structure & cohesion
• Next: Working with evidence >>
• Last Updated: Apr 3, 2024 4:02 PM
• URL: https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/academic-writing

• USC Libraries
• Research Guides

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

• Applying Critical Thinking
• Purpose of Guide
• Design Flaws to Avoid
• Independent and Dependent Variables
• Glossary of Research Terms
• Reading Research Effectively
• Narrowing a Topic Idea
• Broadening a Topic Idea
• Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
• Academic Writing Style
• Choosing a Title
• Making an Outline
• Paragraph Development
• Research Process Video Series
• Executive Summary
• The C.A.R.S. Model
• Background Information
• The Research Problem/Question
• Theoretical Framework
• Citation Tracking
• Content Alert Services
• Evaluating Sources
• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Tiertiary Sources
• Scholarly vs. Popular Publications
• Qualitative Methods
• Quantitative Methods
• Insiderness
• Using Non-Textual Elements
• Limitations of the Study
• Common Grammar Mistakes
• Writing Concisely
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Footnotes or Endnotes?
• Further Readings
• Generative AI and Writing
• USC Libraries Tutorials and Other Guides
• Bibliography

Critical thinking refers to deliberately scrutinizing and evaluating theories, concepts, or ideas using reasoned reflection and analysis. The act of thinking critically involves moving beyond simply understanding information by questioning its source, its production, and its presentation in order to expose potential bias or researcher subjectivity [i.e., evidence of being influenced by personal opinions and feelings rather than by external determinants ] . Applying critical thinking to investigating a research problem involves actively challenging basic assumptions and questioning the choices and potential motives underpinning how a study was designed and executed and how the author arrived at particular conclusions or recommended courses of action. Applying critical thinking to writing involves effectively synthesizing information and generating compelling arguments.

Hanscomb, Stuart. Critical Thinking: The Basics . 2nd edition. London: Routledge, 2023; Mintz, Steven. "How the Word "Critical" Came to Signify the Leading Edge of Cultural Analysis." Higher Ed Gamma Blog , Inside Higher Ed, February 13, 2024; Van Merriënboer, Jeroen JG and Paul A. Kirschner. Ten Steps to Complex Learning: A Systematic Approach to Four-component Instructional Design . New York: Routledge, 2017.

Thinking Critically

Applying Critical Thinking to Research and Writing

Professors like to use the term critical thinking; in fact, the idea of being a critical thinker permeates much of higher education writ large. In the classroom, the idea of thinking critically is often mentioned by professors when students ask how they should approach writing a research paper [other approaches your professor might mention include interdisciplinarity, compare and contrast, gendered perspective, global, etc.]. However, critical thinking is more than just an approach to research and writing. It is an acquired skill associated with becoming a complex learner capable of discerning important relationships among the elements of, as well as integrating multiple ways of understanding applied to, the research problem. Critical thinking is a lens through which you holistically interrogate a topic.

Given this, critical thinking encompasses a variety of inter-related connotations applied to writing a college-level research paper:

• Integrated and Multi-Dimensional . Critical thinking is not focused on any one element of research, but instead, is applied holistically throughout the process of identifying the research problem, reviewing the literature, applying methods of analysis, describing the results, discussing their implications, and, if appropriate, offering recommendations for further research. It permeates the entire research endeavor from contemplating what to write about to proofreading the final product.
• Humanizes the Research . Thinking critically can help humanize what is being studied by extending the scope of your analysis beyond the traditional boundaries of prior research. The scope of prior research, for example, could have involved only sampling homogeneous populations, only considering certain factors related to the investigation of a phenomenon, or was limited by the way the study was framed or contextualized. Critical thinking supports opportunities to think about incorporating the experiences of others into the research, leading to a more inclusive and representative examination of the topic.
• Non-Linear . This refers to analyzing a research problem in ways that do not rely on sequential decision-making or rational forms of reasoning. Creative thinking relies on intuitive judgement, flexibility, and unconventional approaches to investigating complex phenomena in order to discover new insights, connections, and potential solutions . Thinking critically involves going back and modifying your thinking as new evidence emerges , perhaps multiple times throughout the research process, and then drawing conclusions from multiple perspectives.
• Normative . This refers to the idea that critical thinking can be used to challenge prior assumptions in ways that advocate for social justice, equity, and resilience that can lead to research having a more transformative and expansive impact. In this respect, critical thinking can be viewed as a method for breaking away from dominant culture norms so as to produce research outcomes that illuminate previously hidden aspects of exploitation and injustice.
• Power Dynamics . Research in the social sciences often includes examining aspects of power, focusing on how it operates, how it can be acquired, and how it can be maintained, thereby shaping social relations, organizations, institutions, and the production and maintenance of knowledge. Thinking critically can reveal how societal structures perpetuate power and influence in ways that marginalizes and oppresses specific groups or communities within the contexts of history , politics, economics, culture, and other factors.
• Reflection . A key component of critical thinking is practicing reflexivity; the act of turning ideas and concepts back onto yourself in order to reveal and clarify your own beliefs, assumptions, and perspectives. Being critically reflexive is important because it can reveal hidden biases you may have that could unintentionally influence how you interpret and validate information. The more reflexive you are, the better able and more comfortable you are in opening yourself up to new modes of understanding.
• Rigorous Questioning . Thinking critically is guided by asking questions that lead to addressing complex principles, theories, concepts, or problems more effectively, and in so doing, help distinguish what is known from from what is not known [or that may be hidden]. Critical thinking involves deliberately framing inquiries not only as hypotheses, but as a way to apply systematic, disciplined,  in-depth forms of questioning about the research problem and in relation to your positionality as a researcher.
• Social Change . An overarching goal of critical thinking applied to research and writing is to seek to identify and challenge sources of inequality, exploitation, oppression, and marinalization that contribute to maintaining the status quo within institutions of society. This can include, for example, schools, court system, businesses, government agencies, or religious organizations that have been created and maintained through certain ways of thinking within the dominant culture.

Critical thinking permeates the entire research and writing process. However, it applies in particular to the literature review and discussion sections of your paper. These two sections of a research paper most clearly reflect the external/internal duality of critical thinking.

In reviewing the literature, it is important to reflect upon specific aspects of a study, such as, 1) determining if the research design effectively establishes cause and effect relationships or provides insight into explaining why certain phenomena do or do not occur, 2) assessing whether the method of gathering data or information supports the objectives of your study, and 3) evaluating if the assumptions used t o arrive at a specific conclusion are evidence-based and relevant to addressing the topic. Critically thinking applies to these elements of reviewing prior research by assessing how each source might perpetuate inequalities or hides the voices of others, thereby, limiting its applicability for understanding the scope of the research problem.

Critical thinking applies to the discussion section of your paper because this is where you contemplate the results of your study and explain its significance in relation to addressing the research problem. Discussion involves more than just summarizing findings and describing outcomes. It includes deliberately considering their importance and providing reasoned explanations why your paper helps to fill a gap in the literature or expand knowledge and understanding in ways that inform practice. Critical thinking uses reflection to examine your own beliefs concerning the significance of the results in ways that avoid using biased judgment and decision making.

Using Questions to Enable Critical Thinking

In essence, critical thinking is thinking about thinking in ways that improves the effectiveness of your ability to reason, analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and report information and, as a result, advance deeper explorations of the topic*. From a practical standpoint, critical thinking is an act of introspective self-examination that involves formulating open-ended questions that inspire higher levels of reasoning about a research problem. The purpose of asking questions during the research process is to create a framework of inquiry that facilitates challenging conventional assumptions, scrutinizing the evidence presented, determining how effectively arguments have been supported by that evidence, discerning patterns or trends in the findings, and imagining alternative outcomes if new or different factors were introduced.

Below are examples of questions that can stimulate critical thinking:

• Why is this a problem?
• Why does this research problem matter? Does it matter to everyone or just certain groups?
• How might your perspective change if you were on the other side of the argument?
• What patterns or connections can you see in the results?
• What key factors could have altered the outcomes described in the results?
• What evidence would be needed to support any alternative outcomes?
• Should there be any additional or alternative interpretations of the research outcomes?
• What is the explanation for the cause of an event?
• Why has a given situation or condition arisen?
• Who will be impacted by the recommendations posed by the author?
• Who might be excluded from the author’s recommendations?
• When and how will you know that the recommendations have worked?
• In what ways can you apply knowledge from this study to new situations?
• What is another way to look at how the study was designed?
• How does the study contradict or confirm your understanding of the research problem?
• Do the study’s outcomes inform your own lived experiences?
• What do you think is the significance of this study and why?
• What are the overall strengths and weakness of this study?

* Kharbach, Med. “Examples of Critical Thinking Questions for Students.” Educational Technology and Mobile Learning blog , Last Update: November 10, 2023.

Behar-Horenstein, Linda S., and Lian Niu. “Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in Higher Education: A Review of the Literature.” Journal of College Teaching and Learning 8 (February 2011): 25-41; Bayou, Yemeserach and Tamene Kitila. "Exploring Instructors’ Beliefs about and Practices in Promoting Students’ Critical Thinking Skills in Writing Classes." GIST–Education and Learning Research Journal 26 (2023): 123-154; “Bloom's Taxonomy.” Centre for Teaching Excellence. University of Waterloo; “Higher Order Thinking: Bloom’s Taxonomy.” The Learning Center. University of North Carolina; Butcher, Charity. "Using In-class Writing to Promote Critical Thinking and Application of Course Concepts." Journal of Political Science Education 18 (2022): 3-21; Krathwohl, David R. “A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy: An Overview.” Theory into Practice 41 (Autumn 2002): 212-218; Loseke, Donileen R. Methodological Thinking: Basic Principles of Social Research Design. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2012; Mintz, Steven. "How the Word "Critical" Came to Signify the Leading Edge of Cultural Analysis." Higher Ed Gamma Blog , Inside Higher Ed, February 13, 2024; Hart, Claire et al. “Exploring Higher Education Students’ Critical Thinking Skills through Content Analysis.” Thinking Skills and Creativity 41 (September 2021): 100877; Lewis, Arthur and David Smith. "Defining Higher Order Thinking." Theory into Practice 32 (Summer 1993): 131-137; Sabrina, R., Emilda Sulasmi, and Mandra Saragih. "Student Critical Thinking Skills and Student Writing Ability: The Role of Teachers' Intellectual Skills and Student Learning." Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences 17 (2022): 2493-2510. Suter, W. Newton. Introduction to Educational Research: A Critical Thinking Approach. 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2012; Van Merriënboer, Jeroen JG and Paul A. Kirschner. Ten Steps to Complex Learning: A Systematic Approach to Four-component Instructional Design. New York: Routledge, 2017; Vance, Charles M., et al. "Understanding and Measuring Linear–Nonlinear Thinking Style for Enhanced Management Education and Professional Practice." Academy of Management Learning and Education 6 (2007): 167-185; Yeh, Hui-Chin, Shih-hsien Yang, Jo Shan Fu, and Yen-Chen Shih. "Developing College Students’ Critical Thinking through Reflective Writing." Higher Education Research & Development 42 (2023): 244-259.

• << Previous: Academic Writing Style
• Next: Choosing a Title >>
• Last Updated: May 2, 2024 4:39 PM
• URL: https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide

Library Guides

Critical thinking and writing: critical writing.

• Critical Thinking
• Problem Solving
• Critical Reading
• Critical Writing
• Presenting your Sources

Common feedback from lecturers is that students' writing is too descriptive, not showing enough criticality: "too descriptive", "not supported by enough evidence", "unbalanced", "not enough critical analysis". This guide provides the foundations of critical writing along with some useful techniques to assist you in strengthening this skill. 

Key features of critical writing

Key features in critical writing include:

• Presenting strong supporting evidence and a clear argument that leads to a reasonable conclusion. 
• Presenting a balanced argument that indicates an unbiased view by evaluating both the evidence that supports your argument as well as the counter-arguments that may show an alternative perspective on the subject.
• Refusing to simply accept and agree with other writers - you should show criticality towards other's works and evaluate their arguments, questioning if their supporting evidence holds up, if they show any biases, whether they have considered alternative perspectives, and how their arguments fit into the wider dialogue/debate taking place in their field. 
• Recognizing the limitations of your evidence, argument and conclusion and therefore indicating where further research is needed.

Structuring Your Writing to Express Criticality

In order to be considered critical, academic writing must go beyond being merely descriptive. Whilst you may have some descriptive writing in your assignments to clarify terms or provide background information, it is important for the majority of your assignment to provide analysis and evaluation. 

Description :

Define clearly what you are talking about, introduce a topic.

Analysis literally means to break down an issue into small components to better understand the structure of the problem. However, there is much more to analysis: you may at times need to examine and explain how parts fit into a whole; give reasons; compare and contrast different elements; show your understanding of relationships. Analysis is to much extent context and subject specific.

Here are some possible analytical questions:

• What are the constituent elements of something?
• How do the elements interact?
• What can be grouped together? What does grouping reveal?
• How does this compare and contrast with something else?
• What are the causes (factors) of something?
• What are the implications of something?
• How is this influenced by different external areas, such as the economy, society etc (e.g. SWOT, PESTEL analysis)?
• Does it happen all the time? When? Where?
• What other factors play a role? What is absent/missing?
• What other perspectives should we consider?
• What if? What are the alternatives?
• With analysis you challenge the “received knowledge” and your own your assumptions.

Analysis is different within different disciplines:

• Data analysis (filter, cluster…)
• Compound analysis (chemistry)
• Financial statements analysis
• Market analysis (SWOT analysis)
• Program analysis (computer science) - the process of automatically analysing the behaviour of computer programs
• Policy Analysis (public policy) – The use of statistical data to predict the effects of policy decisions made by governments and agencies
• Content analysis (linguistics, literature)
• Psychoanalysis – study of the unconscious mind.

Evaluation : 

• Identify strengths and weaknesses. 
• Assess the evidence, methodology, argument etc. presented in a source. 
• Judge the success or failure of something, its implications and/or value.
• Draw conclusions from your material, make judgments about it, and relate it to the question asked. 
• Express "mini-arguments" on the issues your raise and analyse throughout your work. (See box Your Argument.)
• Express an overarching argument on the topic of your research. (See Your Argument .)

Tip: Try to include a bit of description, analysis and evaluation in every paragraph. Writing strong paragraphs can help, as it reminds you to conclude each paragraph drawing a conclusion. However, you may also intersperse the analysis with evaluation, within the development of the paragraph. 

Your Argument

What is an argument?

Essentially, the aim of an essay (and other forms of academic writing, including dissertations) is to present and defend, with reasons and evidence, an argument relating to a given topic. In the academic context argument means something specific. It is the main claim/view/position/conclusion on a matter, which can be the  answer to the essay (or research) question . The development of an argument is closely related to criticality , as in your academic writing you are not supposed to merely describe things; you also need to analyse and draw conclusions.

Tips on devising an argument

• Try to think of a clear statement. It may be as simple as trying to prove that a statement in the essay title is right or wrong. 
• Identify rigorous evidence and logical reasons to back up your argument. 
• Consider different perspectives and viewpoints, but show why your argument prevails. 
• Structure your writing in light of your argument: the argument will shape the whole text, which will present a logical and well-structured account of background information, evidence, reasons and discussion to support your argument.
• Link and signpost to your argument throughout your work. 

Argument or arguments?

Both! Ideally, in your essay you will have an overarching argument (claim) and several mini-arguments, which make points and take positions on the issues you discuss within the paragraphs. 

• ACADEMIC ARGUMENTATION This help-sheet highlights the differences between everyday and academic argumentation
• Argument A useful guide developed by The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Useful resources

Learning Development, University of Plymouth (2010). Critical Thinking. University of Plymouth . Available from  https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/uploads/production/document/path/1/1710/Critical_Thinking.pdf  [Accessed 16 January 2020].

Student Learning Development, University of Leicester (no date). Questions to ask about your level of critical writing. University of Leicester . Available from  https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/writing/questions-to-ask/questions-to-ask-about-your-level-of-critical-writing  [Accessed 16 January 2020].

Workshop recording

• Critical thinking and writing online workshop Recording of a 45-minute online workshop on critical thinking and writing, delivered by one of our Learning Advisers, Dr Laura Niada.

Workshop Slides

• Critical Thinking and Writing
• << Previous: Critical Reading
• Next: Presenting your Sources >>
• Last Updated: May 5, 2023 10:54 AM
• URL: https://libguides.westminster.ac.uk/critical-thinking-and-writing

CONNECT WITH US

• Library Catalogue

Critical thinking for critical writing

On this page, non-critical vs. critical reading, modes of critical analysis, steps to writing critically, implications for writing.

Critical writing depends on critical thinking. Your writing will involve reflection on written texts: that is, critical reading.

Your critical reading of a text and thinking about a text enables you to use it to make your own arguments. As a critical thinker and writer, you make judgments and interpretations of the ideas, arguments, and claims of others presented in the texts you read.

The key is this: don’t read looking only or primarily for information . Instead, read to determine ways of thinking about the subject matter.

Non-critical   reading is focused on learning the information provided by a source. In this mode, a reader focuses on understanding the information, ideas, and opinions stated within the text. 

Sometimes non-critical reading is a part of our day-to-day lives. For example, we may consult a weather report to help us decide whether or not we need to pack an umbrella when we leave the house. Often, we don't need to be critical readers to get the information we need about the weather. However, if the weather report states that it will be a "sunny, cloudless day" and we can see that it is pouring outside our window, we will likely bring our critical reading abilities back into play! 

How to read critically

1. Determine the central claims or purpose of the text (its thesis). A critical reading attempts to identify and assess how these central claims are developed and argued.

2. Begin to make some judgments about context .

• What audience is the text written for?
• Who is it in dialogue with?
• In what historical context is it written?

3. Distinguish the kinds of reasoning the text employs.

• What concepts are defined and used?
• Does the text appeal to a theory or theories?
• Is any specific methodology laid out?
• If there is an appeal to a particular concept, theory, or method, how is that concept, theory, or method then used to organize and interpret the data?
• How has the author analyzed (broken down) the material?

4. Examine the evidence (the supporting facts, examples, etc.) the text employs. Supporting evidence is indispensable to an argument, so consider the kinds of evidence used: Statistical? Literary? Historical? From what sources is the evidence taken? Are these sources primary or secondary?

5. Critical reading may involve evaluation . Your reading of a text is already critical if it accounts for and makes a series of judgments about how a text is argued. Some assignments may also require you to assess the strengths and weaknesses of an argument.

Why to read critically

Critical reading is an important step for many academic assignments. Critically engaging with the work of others is often a first step in developing our own arguments, interpretations, and analysis. 

Critical reading often involves re-reading a text multiple times, putting our focus on different aspects of the text. The first time we read a text, we may be focused on getting an overall sense of the information the author is presenting - in other words, simply understanding what they are trying to say. On subsequent readings, however, we can focus on how the author presents that information, the kinds of evidence they provide to support their arguments (and how convincing we find that evidence), the connection between their evidence and their conclusions, etc. etc. 

Example:  A non-critical thinker/reader might read a history book to learn the facts of the situation or to discover an accepted interpretation of those events.

A critical thinker/reader might read the same work to appreciate how a particular perspective on the events and a particular selection of facts can lead to a particular understanding. A critical thinker/reader will likely also think about the perspectives of that event that are NOT being considered or presented in the text. 

What a text says  – restatement . Talks about the same topic as the original text. What a text does – description . Focuses on aspects of the discussion itself. What a text means – interpretation . Analyzes the text and asserts a meaning for the text as a whole.

TIP: An interpretation includes references to the content (the specific actions referred to), the language (the specific terms used), and the structure (such as the relationship between characters).

1. Take a critical stance:  recognize that every text, author, and argument comes from a perspective and is subject to interpretation and analysis.

2. Pay close attention : read texts not just for  what they say  but also for  how they say it . Notice examples, evidence, word choice, structure, etc. Consider the "fit" between the information a text provides and the way it provides that information. 

3. Think big picture : read texts in their context. This can sometimes also involve doing some research about your sources to learn more about the author, the time in which the text was written, the sources that funded the research, etc. 

4. Bring yourself in : critical writing also involves developing your own understandings, interpretations, analysis, and arguments in response to the texts you are reading. Sometimes this is accomplished by considering the connections/points of divergence between several texts you are reading. It can also involve bringing in your own perspectives and experiences to support or challenge evidence, examples, and/or conclusions. 

Writing critically involves:

• Providing appropriate and sufficient arguments and examples
• Choosing terms that are precise, appropriate, and persuasive
• Making clear the transitions from one thought to another to ensure the overall logic of the presentation
• Editing for content, structure, and language

An increased awareness of the impact of choices of content, language, and structure can help you as a writer to develop habits of rewriting and revision.

Reference: this resource was adapted from Dan Kurland's Critical Reading, at its Core, Plain and Simple

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

4 – Critical Writing

Critical writing depends on critical thinking. Your writing will involve reflection on written texts: that is, critical reading.

[Source: Lane, 2021, Critical Thinking for Critical Writing ]

Critical writing entails the skills of critical thinking and reading. At college, the three skills are interdependent, reflected in the kinds of assignments you have to do.

Now let’s look at some real university-level assignments across different majors. Pay attention to the highlighted words used in the assignment descriptions.

As you can tell, all the assignments have both critical reading and writing components. You have to read a lot (e.g., “Use at least 5 current Economics research articles,” “refer to 2 other documents,” and “Select 4-5 secondary sources”) and critically before you form your own opinions and then start to write. Sometimes reading is for ideas and evidence (i.e., reasons, examples, and information from sources), and other times reading is to provide an evaluation of information accuracy (e.g., research designs, statistics). Without critical thinking and reading, critical writing will have no ground. Critical thinking and reading are the prerequisites for critical writing. A clear definition of critical writing is provided below.

What is Critical Writing?

Critical writing is writing which analyses and evaluates information, usually from multiple sources, in order to develop an argument. A mistake many beginning writers make is to assume that everything they read is true and that they should agree with it, since it has been published in an academic text or journal. Being part of the academic community, however, means that you should be critical of (i.e. question) what you read, looking for reasons why it should be accepted or rejected, for example by comparing it with what other writers say about the topic, or evaluating the research methods to see if they are adequate or whether they could be improved.

[Source: Critical Writing ]

If you are used to accepting the ideas and opinions stated in a text, you have to relearn how to be critical in evaluating the reliability of the sources, particularly in the online space as a large amount of online information is not screened. In addition, critical writing is different from the types of writing (e.g., descriptive writing) you might have practiced in primary and secondary education.

The following table gives some examples to show the difference between descriptive and critical writing (adapted from the website ). Pay attention to the different verbs used in the Table for the comparisons.

You might feel familiar with the verbs used in the column describing critical writing. If you still remember, those words are also used to depict the characteristics of critical thinking and reading.

ACTIVITY #1:

Read the two writing samples, identify which one is descriptive writing and which one is critical writing, and explain your judgment.

Sample 1: Recently, President Jacob Zuma made the decision to reshuffle the parliamentary cabinet, including the firing of finance minister, Pravin Gordhan. This decision was not well received by many South Africans.

Sample 2: President Zuma’s firing of popular finance minister, Gordhan drastically impacted investor confidence. This led to a sharp decrease in the value of the Rand. Such devaluation means that all USD-based imports (including petrol) will rise in cost, thereby raising the cost of living for South Africans, and reducing disposable income. This puts both cost and price pressure on Organisation X as an importer of USD-based goods Y, requiring it to consider doing Z. Furthermore, political instability has the added impact of encouraging immigration, particularly amongst skilled workers whose expertise is valued abroad (brain drain).

[Source: Jansen, 2017, Analytical Writing vs Descriptive Writing ]

Further, to write critically, you also have to pay attention to the rhetorical and logical aspects of writing:

Writing critically involves:

• Providing appropriate and sufficient arguments and examples
• Choosing terms that are precise, appropriate, and persuasive
• Making clear the transitions from one thought to another to ensure the overall logic of the presentation
• Editing for content, structure, and language

An increased awareness of the impact of choices of content, language, and structure can help you as a writer to develop habits of rewriting and revision.

Regarding the content, when writing critically, you cannot just rely on your own ideas, experiences, and/or one source. You have to read a wide range of sources on the specific topic you are exploring to get a holistic picture of what others have discussed on the topic, from which you further make your own judgment. Through reading other sources, you not only form your own judgment and opinions but also collect evidence to support your arguments. Evidence is so important in critical writing. In addition to the collection of evidence, you also need to use different ways (e.g., quoting, paraphrasing, and synthesizing) to integrate the evidence into your writing to increase your critical analysis.

Using quotes is always an issue. Some students like to quote a lot and/or too long throughout their papers, and others do not know why they quote. Remember that when you use direct quotations, you are using others’ ideas, not yours. You should limit the use of quotes to the minimum because readers are always interested in your opinions. In other words, you need to use quotes critically.

When you quote directly from a source, use the quotation critically. This means that you should not substitute the quotation for your own articulation of a point. Rather, introduce the quotation by laying out the judgments you are making about it, and the reasons why you are using it. Often a quotation is followed by some further analysis.

[Source: Knott , n.d., Critical Reading Towards Critical Writing ]

Barna (2017) stated that “A good rule of thumb is that the evidence should only be about 5-10% of the piece.” Further, according to the EAP Foundation.org , you need to avoid doing a laundry list in critical writing:

You cannot just string quotes together (A says this, B says that, C says something else), without looking more deeply at the information and building on it to support your own argument.

This means you need to break down the information from other sources to determine how the parts relate to one another or to an overall structure or purpose [analysing], and then make judgements about it, identifying its strengths and weaknesses, and possibly ‘grey areas’ in between, which are neither strengths nor weaknesses [evaluating]. Critical reading skills will help you with this, as you consider whether the source is reliable, relevant, up-to-date, and accurate.

When and Why do you quote?

When should you use quotes?

Using quotations is the easiest way to include source material, but quotations should be used carefully and sparingly. While paraphrasing and summarizing provide the opportunity to show your understanding of the source material, quoting may only show your ability to type it.

Having said that, there are a few very good reasons that you might want to use a quote rather than a paraphrase or summary:

• Accuracy: You are unable to paraphrase or summarize the source material without changing the author’s intent.
• Authority: You may want to use a quote to lend expert authority for your assertion or to provide source material for analysis.
• Conciseness: Your attempts to paraphrase or summarize are awkward or much longer than the source material.
• Unforgettable language: You believe that the words of the author are memorable or remarkable because of their effectiveness or historical flavor. Additionally, the author may have used a unique phrase or sentence, and you want to comment on words or phrases themselves.

When you decide to quote, be careful of relying too much upon one source or quoting too much of a source and make sure that your use of the quote demonstrates an understanding of the source material. Essentially, you want to avoid having a paper that is a string of quotes with occasional input from you.

[Source: Decide when to Quote, Paraphrase and Summarize ]

How do you quote?

• With a complete sentence
• With “according to”
• With a reporting verb
• With a “that” clause
• As part of your sentence

Citing the islands of Fiji as a case in point, Bordo notes that “until television was introduced in 1995, the islands had no reported cases of eating disorders. In 1998, three years after programs from the United States and Britain began broadcasting there, 62 percent of the girls surveyed reported dieting” (149-50). Bordo’s point is that the Western cult of dieting is spreading even to remote places across the globe.

[Source: Lane, 2020, Quoting: When and How to Use Quotations ]

The firm belief which has been widely advertised is that “international students should be given equal rights and respect while studying abroad” (Lane, 2020, p. 19).

Smith, an agent working at an international company, put forward the seriousness of economic recession brought by the COVID-19 pandemic: “our economy will soon collapse, followed by business failures, elevated unemployment, and social turbulence ” (2021, p. 87).

Dominguez (2002) suggested, “teachers should reflect on their teaching constantly and proactively” to avoid teacher burnout and attrition (pp. 76-79).

According to the IEP student manual, “To study in the IEP you must be 18 years old and your English level must be ‘high beginner’ or higher” (p. 6).

[Source: Five Ways to Introduce Quotations ]

Now move on to the language aspect of critical writing, you should pay attention to the analytical verbs used in critical writing.

Analytical verbs are verbs that indicate critical thinking. They’re used in essays to dissect a text and make interpretive points, helping you to form a strong argument and remain analytical. If you don’t use analytical verbs, you may find yourself simply repeating plot points, and describing a text, rather than evaluating and exploring core themes and ideas.

[Source: What are Analytical Verbs? ]

The use of analytical verbs is also important to show your precision and appropriateness in language use. For example, instead of using says and talks, replace those verbs with states, discusses, or claims. Not only does it enhance the formality of the language, but also it helps to create the tone of writing. This further means that you have to understand the specific meaning, purpose, and function of each verb in a specific context as shown in the table below.

[Source: Impressive Verbs to use in your Research Paper ]

The verbs listed under each category are NOT synonyms and are different based on context. Please ensure that the selected verb conveys your intended meaning.

It is recommended that you check out Academic Phrasebank for more advanced and critical language use.

The accuracy of language use that is important for critical writing is also reflected in the use of hedges .

Hedging is the use of linguistic devices to express hesitation or uncertainty as well as to demonstrate politeness and indirectness.

People use hedged language for several different purposes but perhaps the most fundamental are the following:

• to minimize the possibility of another academic opposing the claims that are being made
• to conform to the currently accepted style of academic writing
• to enable the author to devise a politeness strategy where they are able to acknowledge that there may be flaws in their claims

[Source: What Is Hedging in Academic Writing?]

There are different types of hedges used in writing to make your claim less certain but more convincing. For example, what is the difference between the two sentences as shown below?

No hedging: We already know all the animals in the world.

With hedging: It’s possible that we may already know most animals in the world.

[Source: Hedges and Boosters ]

Check this table for different types of hedges.

[Source: Features of academic writing]

Practice how to tone down the arguments.

ACTIVITY #2

Add hedges to the following arguments.

Except for the content and language aspects of critical writing, the last aspect is the organization, including both the overall structure and the paragraph level.

Here is one example of a critical writing outline.

One easy-to-follow outline format is alphanumeric, which means it uses letters of the alphabet and numbers to organize text.

For example:

• Hook: _____________________
• Transition to thesis: _____________________
• Thesis statement with three supporting points:_____________________
• Topic sentence: _____________________
• Evidence (data, facts, examples, logical reasoning): _____________________
• Connect evidence to thesis: _____________________
• Restate thesis: _____________________
• Summarize points: _____________________
• Closure (prediction, comment, call to action): _____________________

[Source: Academic Writing Tip: Making an Outline ]

1. Introduction

• Thesis statement

2. Topic one

• First piece of evidence
• Second piece of evidence

3. Topic two

4. Topic three

5. Conclusion

• Summary/synthesis
• Importance of topic
• Strong closing statement

[Source: Caulfield, 2021, How to Write an Essay Outline]

ACTIVITY #3:

The following essay was adapted from a student’s writing. Please identify the components of each paragraph.

Artificial Intelligence: An Irreplaceable Assistant in Policy-making

Do you understand artificial intelligence (AI)? Are you excited that humans can create these machines that think like us? Do you ever worry that they develop too advanced to replace humans? If you have thought about these questions, you are already in the debate of the century. AI is a term used to describe machine artifacts with digital algorithms that have the ability to perceive contexts for action and the capacity to associate contexts to actions (Bryson & Winfield, 2017). The 21st century has witnessed a great number of changes in AI. As AI shows its great abilities in decision-making, humans are relying more on AI to make policies. Despite some concerns about the overuse of AI, AI is no longer to be replaced in policy-making because it has the capabilities that humans cannot achieve, such as transparent decision-making and powerful data processing.

AI has the capacity to use algorithms or systems to make the decision-making process more transparent (Walport & Sedwill, 2016). Many decisions made by humans are based upon their intuition rather than the direct result of the deliberate collection and processing of information (Dane et al., 2012). Intuition is useful in business when considering the outcome of an investment or a new product. However, in politics, the public would often question whether the policy is biased, so a transparent decision-making process should be used instead of intuition. AI can make political decisions more transparent by visualizing digital records (Calo, 2017). AI can make decisions without any discrimination and can have the public better understand of the policies.

In addition, AI can process a large amount of information at a speed faster than the cognitive ability of the most intelligent human policymakers (Jarrahi, 2018). A qualified policy must be based on facts reflected by data, so researching data is an essential part of policy-making. There are two main challenges for the human decision-makers in this area: (1) The amount of data is too large and (2) the relationship between data is too complex. Handling these two problems is where AI is superior. The high computing power of AI makes it an effective tool for retrieving and analyzing large amounts of data, thus reducing the complexity of the logic between problems (Jarrahi, 2018). Without AI, the policymakers would be overwhelmed by tons of data in this modern information age. It is almost impossible for them to convert those data into useful information. For example, data provided to the politician who is responsible for health care is mostly from the electronic health record (HER). HER is just the digital record transported from paper-based forms (Bennett et al., 2012). AI can analyze the data to generate clinical assessments, symptoms, and patient behavior and then link that information with social factors such as education level and economic status. According to the information from AI, the policy maker can make policies for healthcare improvement (Bennett et al., 2012). With the assistance of AI, the government can not only collect data easier but also utilize those data as operable Information.

However, while AI shows its great abilities in policy-making, it also brings considerable risks to contemporary society, and the most significant one is privacy. The only source for AI systems to learn human behavior is data, so AI needs to collect enormous quantities of information about users in order to perform better. Some scholars claim that the main problem with AI data collection is the use of data for unintended purposes. The data is likely to be processed, used, or even sold without the users’ permission (Bartneck et al, 2021). The 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal showed how private data collected through Facebook can be used to manipulate elections (Bartneck et al, 2021). While privacy is a crucial problem, this is a handleable problem and we cannot deny the benefits brought by using AI. The most appropriate way to solve this problem is to establish a complete regulatory system. In fact, many policies have been made to protect user privacy in AI data collection. One of safeguard in this area is to restrict the centralized processing of data. Researchers are also conducting a lot of research in this area and have achieved some technological breakthroughs. For example, open-source code and open data formats will allow a more transparent distinction between private and transferable information, blockchain-based technologies will allow data to be reviewed and tracked, and “smart contracts” will provide transparent control over how data is used without the need for centralized authority (Yuste & Goering, 2017).

In conclusion, although there may be some privacy-related issues with AI policies, the powerful data collection capabilities and transparent decision-making process of AI will bring many benefits to humans. In the future, AI is more likely to continue to serve as an assistant to humans when making policies under a complete and strict regulatory system.

Bartneck, Christoph. Lütge, Christoph. Wagner, Alan. Welsh, Sean. (2021). Privacy Issues of AI, pp.61-70. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-51110-4_8.

Bennett C, Doub T, Selove R (2012) EHRs Connect Research and Practice: Where Predictive Modeling, Artificial Intelligence, and Clinical Decision Support Intersect https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1204/1204.4927.pdf. Accessed 1 April 2021.

Bryson J and Winfield A (2017) Standardizing Ethical Design Considerations for Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems. http://www.cs.bath.ac.uk/~jjb/ftp/BrysonWinfield17-oa.pdf. Accessed 1 April 2021.

Calo, R (1993) Artificial Intelligence Policy: A Primer and Roadmap. https://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/issues/51/2/Symposium/51-2_Calo.pdf , Accessed 1 April 2021.

Dane, Erik., Rockmann, Kevin. W., & Pratt, Michael G. (2012). When should I trust my gut? Linking domain expertise to intuitive decision-making effectiveness. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 119(2), 187—194.

Jarrahi, M. (2018). Artificial intelligence and the future of work: Human-AI symbiosis in organizational decision making, Business Horizons, Volume 61, Issue 4, Pages 577-586, ISSN 0007-6813, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2018.03.007.

Walport M, & Sedwill M. (2016). Artificial intelligence: opportunities and implications for the future of decision making. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attach ment_data/file/566075/gs-16-19-artificial-intelligence-ai-report.pdf, Accessed 1 April 2021.

Rafael, Y., & Sara, G. (2017). Four ethical priorities for neurotechnologies an AI https://www.nature.com/news/four-ethical-priorities-for-neurotechnologies-and-ai 1.22960. Accessed 1 April 2022.

Apart from the overall structure of critical writing, it is also important to pay attention to the paragraph-level structure. There are different paragraph models for critical writing.

Model 1: TED model for writing critical paragraphs

Paragraph model for critical writing

Often in assignments, you are expected to critically evaluate – this means to assess the relevance and significance of concepts relating to a specific topic or assignment question. Introduce your point. Give examples from reading. Is there support for your argument or can you identify weaknesses? Are there different perspectives to compare and contrast? Build your explanation and create your objective, reasoned argument (case or thesis) based on the evaluation from different perspectives. You will include your conclusion and point of view, communicating your stance, having made a judgment on research you have found and its significance in contributing to answering your assignment question.

Use the TED model to integrate critical thinking into your writing:

Each example of evidence in your writing should have a clear purpose or function. Be explicit and tell the reader what it contributes to your reasoning.

Professional practice is more complex than simply applying theory to practice, since it involves a professional juggling of situational demands, intuition, experiences and knowledge (Schön, 1991). Practitioners do not apply research findings in a simple deductive process; they need time to think, translate and relate the research findings to their particular setting. The extent to which a given piece of evidence is utilised by an individual in practice depends on their sense of the situation and this inevitably involves professional judgement.

Topic (in red); Evidence (in orange); Further explanation (in blue); Discussion (in green)

Model 2: WEED model for writing critical paragraphs

This is a model for writing critical paragraphs. It’s taken from Godwin’s book called ‘Planning your Essay’. Each paragraph should be on a single topic, making a single point. A paragraph is usually around a third of a page.

W is for What

You should begin your paragraph with the topic or point that you’re making so that it’s clear to your lecturer. Everything in the paragraph should fit in with this opening sentence.

E is for Evidence

The middle of your paragraph should be full of evidence – this is where all your references should be incorporated. Make sure that your evidence fits in with your topic.

E is for Examples

Sometimes it’s useful to expand on your evidence. If you’re talking about a case study, the example might be how your point relates to the particular scenario being discussed.

D is for Do

You should conclude your paragraph with the implications of your discussion. This gives you the opportunity to add your commentary, which is very important in assignments that require you to use critical analysis. So, in effect, each paragraph is like a mini-essay, with an introduction, main body, and conclusion.

Example: a good critical paragraph

Exposure to nature and green spaces has been found to increase health, happiness, and wellbeing. Whilst trees and greenery improve air quality by reducing air pollutants, green spaces facilitate physical activity, reduce stress, and provide opportunities for social interaction (Kaplan, 1995; Lachowycz,and Jones, 2011; Ward Thompson et al., 2012; Hartig et al., 2014; Anderson et al., 2016). Older adults have described increased feelings of wellbeing while spending time in green spaces and walking past street greenery (Finaly et al., 2015; Orr et al., 2016). They are more likely to walk on streets which are aesthetically pleasing (Lockett, Willis and Edwards, 2005) while greenery such as flowers and trees play an important role in improving the aesthetics of the environment (Day, 2008). Therefore, greater integration of urban green spaces and street greenery in cities may have the potential to increase physical activity and wellbeing in older adults.

What (in red), Evidence (in orange), Do (in blue).

[Source: Learning Hub, 2021 ]

Please identify the paragraph-level components in the following paragraphs. You can use different colors to indicate different components.

Social Media plays a key role in slowing the spread of vaccine misinformation. According to Nikos-Rose (2021) from the University of California, individuals’ attitudes towards vaccination can negatively be influenced by social media. They can simply post a piece of misleading information to the public, and the deceived ones will share it with their families and friends. The role of media can also help boost the public’s confidence in the vaccination. The media can provide valuable information for the public to know that the vaccine is safe. Almost everyone in the modern era lives with a cell phone now. People on social media can also share their experiences after getting vaccinated. Influences can help boost the public’s confidence. Just as voters would receive “I voted” after casting their ballots, vaccination distribution sites can provide “I got vaccinated” stickers. This can encourage individuals to post on the media that they have received the vaccine (Milkman, 2020). Furthermore, those who spread misleading information should be fined by the authorities. This punishment would be sufficient for them to learn their lesson. People who oversee data and information in social media should be concerned about the spread of misleading information on social media. After deleting the false information, they should put up a notice stating that is fake. This will help the public to understand which information should be trusted or not. Moreover, people who find misleading information online should report it to the administration. This could help prevent false info from circulating on the internet.

Recent studies showed that the contamination of land and water can also negatively affect the production of crops and the food systems as the safety of products can be compromised by the chemicals used by fracking. In addition, the amount of freshwater required for the mixture of the fracking fluids can generate a lack of water supply to the local agricultural industries. The fresh water is the 90-97 % of the fracking fluids, and the water deployed is not possible to recycle efficiently. In fact, the wastewater became a further challenge to the agricultural sector as it can make the soil dry and unusable for crops (Pothukuchi et al. 2018). The challenges faced by the agricultural sector are reflected in the farmlands and livestocks as well. For example, in Pennsylvania, the Dairy farming is one of the major agricultural sectors. This particular sector requires unpolluted water and pasturelands to enable the cows to produce milk. Since 1996 this sector began to fail, but the largest decrease in cows that produce milk took place between 2007 and 2011. It was the exact same period when the fracking industries reached their peak in this area (Pothukuchi et al. 2018). Another piece of evidence is related to the air pollution caused by fracking, specifically, the pollution of agricultural pollinators such as bees. The population of air caused by fracking has led to a huge degradation of that volatiles endangering the local and global food production. Those outcomes are closely related to the low level of planning abilities in rural areas, where fracking usually takes place. Particularly, the gap between fracking industry actors and local officials didn’t allow the development of a proper level of policies and regulations.

References:

Academic writing tip: Making an outline. (2020, December 8). The International Language Institute of Massachusetts. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://ili.edu/2020/12/08/academic-writing-tip-making-an-outline/

Caulfield, J. (2021, December 6). How to Write an Essay Outline | Guidelines & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/essay-outline/

Choudhary, A. (n.d.). Impressive Verbs to use in your Research Paper. Editage. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://www.editage.com/all-about-publication/research/impressive-Verbs-to-use-in-your-Research-Paper.html

Critical reading towards critical writing. (n.d.). University of Toronto. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/researching/critical-reading/

Critical writing. (n.d.). Teesside University. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://libguides.tees.ac.uk/ld.php?content_id=33286287

Critical writing. (n.d.-b). EAP FOUNDATION.COM. Https://www.eapfoundation.com/writing/critical/

Decide when to quote, paraphrase and summarize. (n.d.). University of Houston-Victoria. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://www.uhv.edu/curriculum-and-student-achievement/student-success/tutoring/student-resources/a-d/decide-when-to-quote-paraphrase-and-summarize/

Features of academic writing. (n.d.). UEFAP. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from http://www.uefap.com/writing/feature/hedge.htm

Five ways to introduce quotations. (n.d.). University of Georgia. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://dae.uga.edu/iep/handouts/Five-Ways-to-Introduce-Quotations.pdf

Jansen, D. (2017, April). Analytical writing vs descriptive writing. GRADCOACH. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://gradcoach.com/analytical-vs-descriptive-writing/

Hedges and Boosters. (n.d.). The Nature of Writing. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://natureofwriting.com/courses/introduction-to-rhetoric/lessons/hedges-and-boosters/topic/hedges-and-boosters

How to write critically. (n.d.). Teesside University. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://libguides.tees.ac.uk/ld.php?content_id=31275168

Lane, J. (2021, July 9). Critical thinking for critical writing. Simon Fraser University. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://www.lib.sfu.ca/about/branches-depts/slc/writing/argumentation/critical-thinking-writing

LibGuides: Critical Writing: Online study guide. (n.d.). Sheffield Hallam University. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://libguides.shu.ac.uk/criticalwriting

What are analytical verbs? (n.d.). Twinkl. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://www.twinkl.com/teaching-wiki/analytical-verbs

What is hedging in academic writing? (2022, May 3). Enago Academy. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://www.enago.com/academy/hedging-in-academic-writing/

Critical Reading, Writing, and Thinking Copyright © 2022 by Zhenjie Weng, Josh Burlile, Karen Macbeth is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

A Guide to English: Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing

• An Introduction to Rhetoric

Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing

• The Writing Process
• Formatting and Citations
• The Reference Collection
• Searching for Books
• Searching for Articles
• Bibliographic Trace
• Citation Management
• Scholarly Associations
• The English Language
• Literary Form
• Peoples and Identities
• Periods and Movements in American Literature
• Periods and Movements in Commonwealth Literatures
• Thematic Genres and "Genre Fiction"
• Award Winners (indexed)
• Criticism & Theory
• Creative Writing
• Multimodal Composition
• Text Analysis / Distant Reading
• Digital Stewardship
• Data Visualization
• GIS and Geospatial Data
• Statistical Analysis
• Programming
• Digital Scholarly Editing

In this Section

• Academic Writing: How It's Different
• Critical Thinking, Reading, and Composing

On this Page

• Critical thinking
• Critical reading

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is one of the key goals and expectations of academic learning. Scholars in a range of fields (but especially philosophy, psychology, and education) have attempted to define what qualities make up what we call critical thinking, but one key aspect is the expectation that that we will master existing knowledge so that we are as well-positioned as we can be to revise existing understandings and create new knowledge. 1

One of the more influential models of critical thinking in the field of education is Bloom's Taxonomy, originally published in 1956 by educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom and a group of collaborators as A Taxonomy of Educational Objectives and later revised in 2001 by "A group of cognitive psychologists, curriculum theorists and instructional researchers, and testing and assessment specialists" as A Taxonomy for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment . 2

This model of learning emphasizes that we need to come to grips with the existing state of knowledge in a field -- recalling facts and basic concepts -- in order to build up to higher order tasks like understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating knowledge ourselves.

Some students come into college believing that if they simply memorize a bunch of facts about a topic, use impressive words, and repeat them accurately and in the correct format, that will lead to a high grade. However academic culture comes with a different set of expectations. We are expected to go beyond remembering and understanding facts.

In academic writing, we aim to become full participants in an ongoing scholarly discourse , the discussion about our topic that is already taking place among experts in our field. This requires us to understand, apply, analyze, and evaluate the existing scholarly discussion about our topic, and engage with the evidence to contribute our own findings ( They Say, I Say ).

1 Lai, Emily R. "Critical thinking: A literature review." Pearson Assessments, 2011. URL: http://images.pearsonassessments.com/images/tmrs/CriticalThinkingReviewFINAL.pdf

2 Armstrong, P. (2010). Bloom’s Taxonomy. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved October 9, 2022 from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/.

Critical Reading

In chapter 2 of his book, Writing in Response on "Active Reading," Matthew Parfitt discusses the following strategies for critically reading a text:

• Read from Beginning to End (45)
• Mark up the text (46)
• Note the Knowledge Problem, Thesis Statement, and Key Claims (49)
• Note Divisions, Turning Points, and Signposts (50)
• Note Things That Puzzle You (51)
• Gloss Unfamiliar References (51)

Parfitt also explains how to keep a Reading Journal to keep track of your own thoughts, and offers a number of further strategies for analyzing and evaluating the author's arguments, mapping the text, and ensuring that we represent the author's ideas fairly and accurately when we cite and respond to them in our papers.

• << Previous: An Introduction to Rhetoric
• Next: The Writing Process >>
• Last Updated: Apr 2, 2024 10:54 AM
• URL: https://libguides.gustavus.edu/english

- News, tips, inspiration you can trust to thrive in today’s digital age.

Search form

The importance of critical thinking in writing (and how to apply it).

Developing unique ideas for writing and writing a story worth reading can be challenging. Even when the ideas for writing are already in your head, writing requires research, organization, and a great deal of creativity. But, you already knew that, right?

What many people don’t know or don't realize, however, is that all those processes for effective writing depend on how well you’ve developed your critical thinking skills.

According to the Texas A&M University Writing Center, critical thinking is "the ability to view any object of study from multiple perspectives, to recognize the cultural, ideological, and cognitive frames (or schemata) we bring to understanding."

You can learn everything about story structure and all the rules that come with it such as formatting, language and grammar rules , but applying your ideas effectively in an actual piece of writing requires critical thinking.

Critical thinking is what glues all of the writing processes together and defines your writing style . 

Critical Thinking Informs All Good Writing

The best writers are those who think critically and may have even undergone some form of critical thinking training . The value of critical thinking is clear thought-processing, which results in well-developed plots and writings. When you need to write a story that reads well and avoids plot holes and inconsistencies , honing your critical thinking is necessary.

You can perform the research necessary for a story and plan to finish with a strong conclusion. But, when you don’t apply critical thinking in your story, your ideas risk coming across as ambiguous or not well thought out. This is because you can’t really plan out your arguments or provide the story’s premises effectively without critical thinking.

Critical thinking in writing is related to research in the way you deliberately search, analyze and evaluate ideas that you'll put on paper. However, critical thinking discriminates information and ideas to ensure you pick and use only the most appropriate, concise words and paragraphs that deliver messages powerfully and with great impact on readers.

Reserchers have also come to understand that critical thinking is in itself a habit and a skill, something which you can practice, polish, and develop.

Hone Your Critical Thinking Skills

To consciously direct and hone your critical thinking skills, you’ll need to answer some basic questions before writing your story: 

• How good is my argument or story idea?
• Is my argument or idea defensible and valid?
• Am I using a rational, reasonable position on the idea or issue?
• What should I use to best present this idea and deal with its complexity?
• Should I go deep into the topic or only touch upon the key issues lightly?
• Should I address any other points of view, and which ones?
• What are my goals with the story?
• What sources of information should I consult?
• What's the best way to present the information?

When asking (and answering) these questions, your analytical skills and quality of answers will depend greatly on the clarity of your thoughts, sources, and intentions. Once that's done sufficiently, you can apply it all to your writing.

8 Ways to Apply Critical Thinking in Your Writing

To make sure you write your story based on sound critical thinking, use these handy tips:

1. Research by questioning everything

Not all of the sources you will be using for your story, research, and critical analysis will be accurate or even relevant. Thinking critically means that you should question all your sources and be careful about the acquisition of data you’ll use in your story.

To write critically, you must examine every little piece of information before using it; validate and parse as part of your research . Basically, you need a rather active, critical and detailed approach throughout the accumulation of information.

2. Scrutinize your method of gathering information

Before you use any of the evidence or information you have found during the research for your story , look at the method for its gathering.

Think of sources you plan to use and places where you can find them. But, most importantly, think of the sources’ credibility and whether or not you can ascertain this.

Only use information that is reliable in your stories.

3. Stay true to the evidence

Before you jump into any conclusions, examine the evidence and the unbiased direction it is pointing towards.

Carefully examining the evidence for your ideas will help you find information that is valid, and any other information you might have missed out on an argument of big importance.

To avoid turning your story into a poorly written one, stay true to the evidence you’ve collected. Also consider the evidence itself in detail.

Is the evidence too broad? Does it have too many details? Are there any other explanations you can provide for it? Do you have enough evidence to support your arguments? Use only the most appropriate and accurate evidence.

4. Eliminate truisms and tautologies

Truism is a truth that is self-evident, while tautology is a statement that repeats the same thing. Both create redundancy that in most cases, doesn’t add directly to your story.

Even though truism and tautology used masterfully could give a story a certain artistic quality, you should generally try to avoid them in your writing.

Critically look for statements in your writing that repeat themselves or are self-evident. These are unnecessary features of your writing that should be removed to improve precision and clarity in your story.

5. Avoid oversimplification

There is a fine line between improving clarity and oversimplification. Try to achieve the former, while eradicating the latter as much as possible.

We are talking about using short, concise, easy to understand and simple explanations, and avoiding dumbed down explanations that insult the intelligence of the reader and demonstrate a lack of breadth and depth.

That certainly calls for high critical thinking and judgment when writing or crafting a story.

6. Plan ahead

When selecting a topic for your story, brainstorm ideas for it beforehand. Make sure the topic you chose is right for the specific purpose. Think of your objectives and goals, and also what you represent.

By brainstorming and planning ahead, you’ll be better equipped to write a story that is concise, relevant, and properly organized.

One grand factor of planning is organization. To plan ahead and do it well, you need to prioritize and reorganize your concepts, ideas, and arguments well.

In other words, you need a chronology of ideas and arguments. Use careful discretion and judgment to create a plan that makes sense and demonstrates your critical thinking abilities.

7. Define your approaches

In writing, you need arguments and ideas. But, you cannot just toss them around anyhow and expect them to make sense.

Instead, you’ll not only need good organization and planning skills, but also a strategy or an approach for presenting them in the most effective way possible.

As soon as you have all the evidence and material ready for use in your story, analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your sources and the arguments they raise. This will help you define the best possible approach for using the evidence and material in your story.

While you take care of this part, remember that each and every argument and evidence used in your story should be as reasonable as it is valid.

8. Break down your arguments

To better present the relationships between arguments in your story, and to find the best writing approach, break down arguments into smaller, easy to understand parts. For this purpose, you can use priority ranking, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, making inferences, and drawing conclusions.

Cons of Not Using Critical Thinking in Your Writing

If you are thinking applying critical thinking in writing is too much of a hassle, then understand that not incorporating critical thinking leads to poor writing.

And it’s easy to detect the effects of not using critical thinking in writing. Some of the obvious signs of not applying critical thinking is a piece of writing include:

• Relationships between concepts aren’t clearly described, but only summarized or alluded to.
• The arguments or thesis are repetitive and don’t relate to the rest of the story.
• Poor or no order whatsoever in the presentation of arguments, summaries, and evidence.
• No chronology or sequel in sentences, arguments, and or paragraphs.
• Weak summaries or summaries with no order.
• Relationships between arguments aren’t fully developed.
• Heavy use of truisms, tautologies, and or abstractions.

If you want to write powerfully and ensure your stories (be they blogs, essays, or reports) yield results and impact readers , you have to improve clarity and add informational value. The only way to do this is by employing critical thinking in your writing.

Critical thinking is an essential skill and practice not just for good writing, but also for effective storytelling within your writings.

Alexandra Reay is a journalist, writer, and editor. She is also a professional content writer who enjoys researching and writing on the topics of self-improvement, technology innovations, and global education development. Follow her on Twitter .  

Related stories

Things Successful Writers Do Differently to Write More Fluidly

Quirky Things Top Creative Minds Did to Generate Brilliant Ideas

Types of Music for Inspiration While Writing

Practical Tips for Beating Writers' Block

Why Writing Longhand Is Still So Important

View the discussion thread.

Share this article

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER  

Get our best content, news, tips, and inspiration in your inbox free.

Join Over 20,000 Subscribers!

Get our best content, tips, and inspiration free in your inbox.  Subscribe ››

Most read this week

Got a story or tip for us?

Here's how to submit it →

Latest posts

How a business immigration lawyer can help you set up shop in the us.

A good lawyer can guide you through the often complex immigration programs and policies so you can set up your business smoothly.

3 Daily Habits to Become More Productive

Do you dream of productive days with no distractions, and checking off every item on your to-do list? It's possible to become more productive every day.

Allergies Got You Down? Try These Remedies

You shouldn't have to dread the changing seasons due to allergies that might occur. With natural remedies, you can appreciate all of what nature has to offer.

How Product Differentiation Can Help Your Business Unlock Its Full Potential

Each brand, product, or service has a unique story behind it. It is a company's responsibility to communicate what differentiates them from competitors to win. Here's how...

App Store Optimization (ASO): What It Is  and Why You Need It

App Store optimization is essential to boost your app's rankings on app stores and marketplaces like Google Play Store.

• Load 5 More Stories ▽

Contributors blogs

Blog here »

Why You Need to Improve Your Home Office Air Quality (And How to Do It)

Online Insurance 101: About Application, Renewal, Coverage, & Claims

How Content Writers Can Balance Creativity and Marketing Techniques

How to Build Customer Trust with Video Stories and Testimonials

What Happens to a House in Probate?

Is Node.js Killing Python and PHP? (Must Read for Developers)

Employer Branding: How to Improve and Leave a Mark During COVID-19

Like this content subscribe for updates.

EXPLORE MORE ...

News & Features   ›

Ras Al Khaimah Launches Multi-Million Dollar Investment in Over 20 Sustainable Tourism Development Initiatives

AI-Driven Tool Fights Child Sexual Abuse Cases Online

13 Statements Happy, Positive People Say All the Time You Should Say Too

Tech & Trends   ›

MacBook Pro vs MacBook Air: 7 Exceptional Features & Distinctions

How to Choose Software Developers to Hire: Essential Tips

Business Trends Set to Take Off This Year

Arts & culture   ›.

Why You Should Read With the Kids This Holiday Season

Most Instagrammable Christmas Destinations Worldwide

Millennials and Marriage: How They’re Changing the Game

Business & Economy   ›

Best Careers to Earn a Living Helping Children

How to Use Google My Business to Grow Your Customers and Business

5 Proven Tips for Effective PPC Advertising for Your Business

Health & Style   ›

Why Wearable Fitness Is Only Growing Post-Pandemic

Upgrade Your Property: Bathroom Remodeling Ideas You Should Consider

How to Enhance Your Property with Stamped Concrete that Look Like Stone

Critical writing: What is critical writing?

• Managing your reading
• Source reliability
• Critical reading
• Descriptive vs critical
• Deciding your position
• The overall argument
• Individual arguments
• Signposting
• Alternative viewpoints
• Critical thinking videos

Jump to content on this page:

“If we are uncritical we shall always find what we want: we shall look for, and find confirmations” Karl Popper, cited in:  Critical Thinking  (Tom Chatfield)

Critical writing needs critical thinking. While most of this guide focuses on critical writing, it is first important to consider what we mean by criticality at university. This is because critical writing is primarily a process of evidencing and articulating your critical thinking. As such, it is really important to get the 'thinking bit' of your studies right! If you are able to demonstrate criticality in your thinking, it will make critical writing easier. 

Williams’ (2009:viii) introduces criticality at university as:

“being thoughtful, asking questions, not taking things you read (or hear) at face value. It means finding information and understanding different approaches and using them in your writing.

What is critical thinking?

Critical thinking requires you to carefully evaluate not just sources of information, but also the ideas within them and the arguments they develop. This is an essential part of being a student at university. You cannot simply believe everything you read or are told. For some people, this can feel uncomfortable as this requires you to critique published authors and notable academics. While this may feel inappropriate, it is one of the foundations of academic debate. Indeed, for any given topic or issue, there are many equally valid academic positions. To be effective in your critical thinking, you need to use both scepticism and objectivity :

Scepticism requires you to bring doubt and a questioning attitude to your academic work. In essence, you must ensure you do not automatically accept everything you hear, read or see as true (Chatfield, 2018). This requires you to  question everything you hear, read or see . This is the first step towards developing a critical approach.

Objectivity

Objectivity requires you to approach your work with a more neutral perspective . While it is not possible to take yourself out of your work, when you are engaging in critical thinking you need to acknowledge anything that influences your perspective. This is very important as without this level of self-awareness you can focus more on your opinion than developing a reasoned argument. 

Remember, you CAN criticise the experts - the University of Sussex make this point well here: Critical Thinking: Criticising the experts .

A short introduction to critical writing

Making your thinking more critical with questions

This page has so far demonstrated the importance of asking questions in all of your academic work and learning. Questions are the root of criticality. Questions engage you in active thought, requiring you to process what you are hearing, reading, seeing or experiencing against what you already know. All questions, however, are not as equally probing. Questions like 'what', 'when' and 'who' tend to be more descriptive in contrast to  questions like 'how' or 'so what' which are much more critical .

When engaging in critical thinking, you need to use a range of questions to fully consider the topic or issue you are trying to understand. Descriptive questions are great for developing your initial understanding, but you also need to consider more analytical and evaluatory questions to fully engage in critical thinking . The diagram below introduces some of the core critical questions: 

Based on: University of Plymouth

Critical questions when reading

Most of your critical thinking should be directed towards your reading of the literature. This is because the literature forms the basis of all academic writing, serving as the evidence for whatever point(s) you are trying to make. Our  Reading at University SkillsGuide  contains some useful sections which apply criticality to determining source reliability and identifying an argument. Direct links to these can be found below:

• << Previous: Home
• Next: Managing your reading >>
• Last Updated: Feb 13, 2024 10:53 AM
• URL: https://libguides.hull.ac.uk/criticalwriting
• Login to LibApps
• Library websites Privacy Policy
• University of Hull privacy policy & cookies
• Website terms and conditions
• Accessibility
• Report a problem

Critical thinking definition

Critical thinking, as described by Oxford Languages, is the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgement.

Active and skillful approach, evaluation, assessment, synthesis, and/or evaluation of information obtained from, or made by, observation, knowledge, reflection, acumen or conversation, as a guide to belief and action, requires the critical thinking process, which is why it's often used in education and academics.

Some even may view it as a backbone of modern thought.

However, it's a skill, and skills must be trained and encouraged to be used at its full potential.

People turn up to various approaches in improving their critical thinking, like:

• Developing technical and problem-solving skills
• Engaging in more active listening
• Actively questioning their assumptions and beliefs
• Seeking out more diversity of thought
• Opening up their curiosity in an intellectual way etc.

Is critical thinking useful in writing?

Critical thinking can help in planning your paper and making it more concise, but it's not obvious at first. We carefully pinpointed some the questions you should ask yourself when boosting critical thinking in writing:

• What information should be included?
• Which information resources should the author look to?
• What degree of technical knowledge should the report assume its audience has?
• What is the most effective way to show information?
• How should the report be organized?
• How should it be designed?
• What tone and level of language difficulty should the document have?

Usage of critical thinking comes down not only to the outline of your paper, it also begs the question: How can we use critical thinking solving problems in our writing's topic?

Let's say, you have a Powerpoint on how critical thinking can reduce poverty in the United States. You'll primarily have to define critical thinking for the viewers, as well as use a lot of critical thinking questions and synonyms to get them to be familiar with your methods and start the thinking process behind it.

Are there any services that can help me use more critical thinking?

We understand that it's difficult to learn how to use critical thinking more effectively in just one article, but our service is here to help.

We are a team specializing in writing essays and other assignments for college students and all other types of customers who need a helping hand in its making. We cover a great range of topics, offer perfect quality work, always deliver on time and aim to leave our customers completely satisfied with what they ordered.

The ordering process is fully online, and it goes as follows:

• Select the topic and the deadline of your essay.
• Provide us with any details, requirements, statements that should be emphasized or particular parts of the essay writing process you struggle with.
• Leave the email address, where your completed order will be sent to.
• Select your prefered payment type, sit back and relax!

With lots of experience on the market, professionally degreed essay writers , online 24/7 customer support and incredibly low prices, you won't find a service offering a better deal than ours.

Module 1: Success Skills

Critical thinking, introduction, learning objectives.

• define critical thinking
• identify the role that logic plays in critical thinking
• apply critical thinking skills to problem-solving scenarios
• apply critical thinking skills to evaluation of information

Consider these thoughts about the critical thinking process, and how it applies not just to our school lives but also our personal and professional lives.

“Thinking Critically and Creatively”

Critical thinking skills are perhaps the most fundamental skills involved in making judgments and solving problems. You use them every day, and you can continue improving them.

The ability to think critically about a matter—to analyze a question, situation, or problem down to its most basic parts—is what helps us evaluate the accuracy and truthfulness of statements, claims, and information we read and hear. It is the sharp knife that, when honed, separates fact from fiction, honesty from lies, and the accurate from the misleading. We all use this skill to one degree or another almost every day. For example, we use critical thinking every day as we consider the latest consumer products and why one particular product is the best among its peers. Is it a quality product because a celebrity endorses it? Because a lot of other people may have used it? Because it is made by one company versus another? Or perhaps because it is made in one country or another? These are questions representative of critical thinking.

The academic setting demands more of us in terms of critical thinking than everyday life. It demands that we evaluate information and analyze myriad issues. It is the environment where our critical thinking skills can be the difference between success and failure. In this environment we must consider information in an analytical, critical manner. We must ask questions—What is the source of this information? Is this source an expert one and what makes it so? Are there multiple perspectives to consider on an issue? Do multiple sources agree or disagree on an issue? Does quality research substantiate information or opinion? Do I have any personal biases that may affect my consideration of this information?

It is only through purposeful, frequent, intentional questioning such as this that we can sharpen our critical thinking skills and improve as students, learners and researchers.

—Dr. Andrew Robert Baker,  Foundations of Academic Success: Words of Wisdom

Defining Critical Thinking

Thinking comes naturally. You don’t have to make it happen—it just does. But you can make it happen in different ways. For example, you can think positively or negatively. You can think with “heart” and you can think with rational judgment. You can also think strategically and analytically, and mathematically and scientifically. These are a few of multiple ways in which the mind can process thought.

What are some forms of thinking you use? When do you use them, and why?

As a college student, you are tasked with engaging and expanding your thinking skills. One of the most important of these skills is critical thinking. Critical thinking is important because it relates to nearly all tasks, situations, topics, careers, environments, challenges, and opportunities. It’s not restricted to a particular subject area.

Critical thinking is clear, reasonable, reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do. It means asking probing questions like, “How do we know?” or “Is this true in every case or just in this instance?” It involves being skeptical and challenging assumptions, rather than simply memorizing facts or blindly accepting what you hear or read.

Imagine, for example, that you’re reading a history textbook. You wonder who wrote it and why, because you detect certain assumptions in the writing. You find that the author has a limited scope of research focused only on a particular group within a population. In this case, your critical thinking reveals that there are “other sides to the story.”

Who are critical thinkers, and what characteristics do they have in common? Critical thinkers are usually curious and reflective people. They like to explore and probe new areas and seek knowledge, clarification, and new solutions. They ask pertinent questions, evaluate statements and arguments, and they distinguish between facts and opinion. They are also willing to examine their own beliefs, possessing a manner of humility that allows them to admit lack of knowledge or understanding when needed. They are open to changing their mind. Perhaps most of all, they actively enjoy learning, and seeking new knowledge is a lifelong pursuit.

This may well be you!

No matter where you are on the road to being a critical thinker, you can always more fully develop your skills. Doing so will help you develop more balanced arguments, express yourself clearly, read critically, and absorb important information efficiently. Critical thinking skills will help you in any profession or any circumstance of life, from science to art to business to teaching.

Critical Thinking in Action

The following video, from Lawrence Bland, presents the major concepts and benefits of critical thinking.

Critical Thinking and Logic

Critical thinking is fundamentally a process of questioning information and data. You may question the information you read in a textbook, or you may question what a politician or a professor or a classmate says. You can also question a commonly-held belief or a new idea. With critical thinking, anything and everything is subject to question and examination.

Logic’s Relationship to Critical Thinking

The word logic comes from the Ancient Greek logike , referring to the science or art of reasoning. Using logic, a person evaluates arguments and strives to distinguish between good and bad reasoning, or between truth and falsehood. Using logic, you can evaluate ideas or claims people make, make good decisions, and form sound beliefs about the world. [1]

Questions of Logic in Critical Thinking

Let’s use a simple example of applying logic to a critical-thinking situation. In this hypothetical scenario, a man has a PhD in political science, and he works as a professor at a local college. His wife works at the college, too. They have three young children in the local school system, and their family is well known in the community.

The man is now running for political office. Are his credentials and experience sufficient for entering public office? Will he be effective in the political office? Some voters might believe that his personal life and current job, on the surface, suggest he will do well in the position, and they will vote for him.

In truth, the characteristics described don’t guarantee that the man will do a good job. The information is somewhat irrelevant. What else might you want to know? How about whether the man had already held a political office and done a good job? In this case, we want to ask, How much information is adequate in order to make a decision based on logic instead of assumptions?

The following questions, presented in Figure 1, below, are ones you may apply to formulating a logical, reasoned perspective in the above scenario or any other situation:

• What’s happening? Gather the basic information and begin to think of questions.
• Why is it important? Ask yourself why it’s significant and whether or not you agree.
• What don’t I see? Is there anything important missing?
• How do I know? Ask yourself where the information came from and how it was constructed.
• Who is saying it? What’s the position of the speaker and what is influencing them?
• What else? What if? What other ideas exist and are there other possibilities?

Problem-Solving With Critical Thinking

For most people, a typical day is filled with critical thinking and problem-solving challenges. In fact, critical thinking and problem-solving go hand-in-hand. They both refer to using knowledge, facts, and data to solve problems effectively. But with problem-solving, you are specifically identifying, selecting, and defending your solution. Below are some examples of using critical thinking to problem-solve:

• Your roommate was upset and said some unkind words to you, which put a crimp in your relationship. You try to see through the angry behaviors to determine how you might best support your roommate and help bring your relationship back to a comfortable spot.

• Your final art class project challenges you to conceptualize form in new ways. On the last day of class when students present their projects, you describe the techniques you used to fulfill the assignment. You explain why and how you selected that approach.
• Your math teacher sees that the class is not quite grasping a concept. She uses clever questioning to dispel anxiety and guide you to new understanding of the concept.
• You have a job interview for a position that you feel you are only partially qualified for, although you really want the job and you are excited about the prospects. You analyze how you will explain your skills and experiences in a way to show that you are a good match for the prospective employer.
• You are doing well in college, and most of your college and living expenses are covered. But there are some gaps between what you want and what you feel you can afford. You analyze your income, savings, and budget to better calculate what you will need to stay in college and maintain your desired level of spending.

Problem-Solving Action Checklist

Problem-solving can be an efficient and rewarding process, especially if you are organized and mindful of critical steps and strategies. Remember, too, to assume the attributes of a good critical thinker. If you are curious, reflective, knowledge-seeking, open to change, probing, organized, and ethical, your challenge or problem will be less of a hurdle, and you’ll be in a good position to find intelligent solutions.

Evaluating Information With Critical Thinking

Evaluating information can be one of the most complex tasks you will be faced with in college. But if you utilize the following four strategies, you will be well on your way to success:

• Read for understanding by using text coding
• Examine arguments
• Clarify thinking

1. Read for Understanding Using Text Coding

When you read and take notes, use the text coding strategy . Text coding is a way of tracking your thinking while reading. It entails marking the text and recording what you are thinking either in the margins or perhaps on Post-it notes. As you make connections and ask questions in response to what you read,  you monitor your comprehension and enhance your long-term understanding of the material.

With text coding, mark important arguments and key facts. Indicate where you agree and disagree or have further questions. You don’t necessarily need to read every word, but make sure you understand the concepts or the intentions behind what is written. Feel free to develop your own shorthand style when reading or taking notes. The following are a few options to consider using while coding text.

See more text coding from PBWorks and Collaborative for Teaching and Learning .

2. Examine Arguments

When you examine arguments or claims that an author, speaker, or other source is making, your goal is to identify and examine the hard facts. You can use the spectrum of authority strategy for this purpose. The spectrum of authority strategy assists you in identifying the “hot” end of an argument—feelings, beliefs, cultural influences, and societal influences—and the “cold” end of an argument—scientific influences. The following video explains this strategy.

3. Clarify Thinking

When you use critical thinking to evaluate information, you need to clarify your thinking to yourself and likely to others. Doing this well is mainly a process of asking and answering probing questions, such as the logic questions discussed earlier. Design your questions to fit your needs, but be sure to cover adequate ground. What is the purpose? What question are we trying to answer? What point of view is being expressed? What assumptions are we or others making? What are the facts and data we know, and how do we know them? What are the concepts we’re working with? What are the conclusions, and do they make sense? What are the implications?

4. Cultivate “Habits of Mind”

“Habits of mind” are the personal commitments, values, and standards you have about the principle of good thinking. Consider your intellectual commitments, values, and standards. Do you approach problems with an open mind, a respect for truth, and an inquiring attitude? Some good habits to have when thinking critically are being receptive to having your opinions changed, having respect for others, being independent and not accepting something is true until you’ve had the time to examine the available evidence, being fair-minded, having respect for a reason, having an inquiring mind, not making assumptions, and always, especially, questioning your own conclusions—in other words, developing an intellectual work ethic. Try to work these qualities into your daily life.

• "logic." Wordnik . n.d. Web. 16 Feb 2016 . ↵
• "Student Success-Thinking Critically In Class and Online."  Critical Thinking Gateway . St Petersburg College, n.d. Web. 16 Feb 2016. ↵
• Outcome: Critical Thinking. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Self Check: Critical Thinking. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Foundations of Academic Success. Authored by : Thomas C. Priester, editor. Provided by : Open SUNY Textbooks. Located at : http://textbooks.opensuny.org/foundations-of-academic-success/ . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Image of woman thinking. Authored by : Moyan Brenn. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/8YV4K5 . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Critical Thinking. Provided by : Critical and Creative Thinking Program. Located at : http://cct.wikispaces.umb.edu/Critical+Thinking . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Critical Thinking Skills. Authored by : Linda Bruce. Provided by : Lumen Learning. Project : https://courses.lumenlearning.com/lumencollegesuccess/chapter/critical-thinking-skills/. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Image of critical thinking poster. Authored by : Melissa Robison. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/bwAzyD . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Thinking Critically. Authored by : UBC Learning Commons. Provided by : The University of British Columbia, Vancouver Campus. Located at : http://www.oercommons.org/courses/learning-toolkit-critical-thinking/view . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Critical Thinking 101: Spectrum of Authority. Authored by : UBC Leap. Located at : https://youtu.be/9G5xooMN2_c . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Image of students putting post-its on wall. Authored by : Hector Alejandro. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/7b2Ax2 . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Image of man thinking. Authored by : Chad Santos. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/phLKY . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Critical Thinking.wmv. Authored by : Lawrence Bland. Located at : https://youtu.be/WiSklIGUblo . License : All Rights Reserved . License Terms : Standard YouTube License

• Study and research support
• Academic skills

Critical thinking

Critical writing.

Students sometimes receive feedback such as "your essay is too descriptive" or "you need to show more critical analysis". While some description may be necessary – for instance if you are providing background information – most university assignments require you to produce work that is analytical and critical in its approach.

Your tutors want to know what you think

Your writing needs to show your interpretation of the evidence and source material, how you have used that information to demonstrate your understanding, and your subsequent position on the topic. Being critical in your writing means engaging in academic debates and research happening in your subject area.

The sources you select, the way you show how they agree or disagree with other pieces of evidence, and the way you structure your argument will all show your thought process and how you have understood the information you have read.

Use evidence to strengthen your position

Always keep your reader in mind and try to anticipate the questions they would ask — refer back to the Critical thinking questions (PDF) to help you with this. You can use evidence to help you strengthen your position, answer readers' questions, and "neutralise" opposing points of view.

Remember to keep descriptive statements to a minimum — there is no need to provide large amounts of background or historical information.

Make sure you move from description to analysis and evaluation . Give your interpretation of the facts, and explain the significance, consequences and implications of the statements you have made.

See our advice on structuring a paragraph for more information on how to attach analysis and evaluation to each point you make.

Descriptive vs critical writing examples

The following examples demonstrate the difference between descriptive writing and critical/analytical writing. They are taken from: Cottrell, S. 2003. The Study Skills Handbook . 2nd ed. London: Palgrave.

State what happened vs identify its significance

To write critically you will need to not only describe what happened, but also identify the significance of what happened.

Descriptive example

"The data shows that the incidence (new cases) of asthma rates in children under 15 years old increased rapidly from 1977, peaking in 1993 and then declining, though rates still remain significantly higher than pre-1976 levels."

Critical example

"The trend, from 1977 until 1993, of a rapid rise in rates of asthma diagnosis in children under 15 years, suggests that one of the causal factors was particularly prevalent during this time, but has since declined in importance or effect."

Explain the theory vs show its relevance

Descriptive writing will explain what the theory says. To write critically you need to go further and show why that theory is relevant.

"Carl Rogers' theory of a person-centred approach focuses on the freedom of the individual to determine what values should be used to measure successful personal outcomes or benefit, and is particularly relevant for social workers when wanting to take into account the diverse needs of the client group."

"Carl Rogers' theory of a person-centred approach is particularly suitable for social workers wanting to work with a client group with diverse needs because it allows the client to determine what values should be used to measure successful outcomes, rather than those externally determined by, for example, the service, state or dominant culture in society."

Note the method used vs indicate its appropriateness

Rather than simply noting the method used, which is the descriptive approach, a critical writer will show how appropriate that method was.

"In addition to competency-based questions, the candidates were asked to complete an in-tray exercise, which required them to allocate different priority levels to tasks, as an appropriate method to measure their likely performance in the actual job."

"In addition to competency-based questions, candidates were asked to complete an in-tray task prioritisation exercise. This was because it was considered a more effective way to measure likely performance in the actual role as the majority of the job would involve similar tasks, with little interaction with customers and therefore less requirement for highly developed communication skills."

You can apply our critical thinking model to your own work; use our Judging your own work (PDF) questions to help you decide if your writing is critical. These questions will take you through the description-analysis-evaluation stages. Take a look at further examples of descriptive writing vs. critical/analytical writing (PDF)

• school Campus Bookshelves
• menu_book Bookshelves
• perm_media Learning Objects
• login Login
• how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
• hub Instructor Commons
• Download Page (PDF)
• Download Full Book (PDF)
• Periodic Table
• Physics Constants
• Scientific Calculator
• Reference & Cite
• Tools expand_more
• Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

Writing and Critical Thinking Through Literature (Ringo and Kashyap)

• Last updated
• Save as PDF
• Page ID 40355

• Heather Ringo & Athena Kashyap
• City College of San Francisco via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative

This text offers instruction in analytical, critical, and argumentative writing, critical thinking, research strategies, information literacy, and proper documentation through the study of literary works from major genres, while developing students’ close reading skills and promoting an appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of literature.

Thumbnail: Old book bindings at the Merton College library. (CC BY-SA 3.0; Tom Murphy VII via Wikipedia ).

Introduction

Chapter outline.

The ways in which you approach and discuss debatable topics incorporate critical thinking, critical reading, and critical writing. The reasoning strategies discussed in this chapter reflect the patterns people use to think critically and the structures with which writers and speakers commonly build their arguments. These strategies are also the ones you will use in most of your college writing projects, including your assignments for Position Argument: Practicing the Art of Rhetoric and Argumentative Research: Enhancing the Art of Rhetoric with Evidence . Each strategy is a building block of logic; that is, each is built on a pattern of thought, which you use out of the classroom as well. For instance, you might approach a text or real-life situation in some of the following ways:

• Explain it in terms of something unrelated but more familiar.
• Compare or contrast it with other texts or situations.
• Group it in a category with similar texts or situations.
• Consider it as a problem that needs to be solved.
• Examine the reasons something happens or what happens as a result.
• Explain what the text or situation means to you.

These thought patterns exemplify active critical thinking, which translates into critical writing. In other words, writing patterns reflect thinking patterns. By applying these reasoning patterns appropriately and effectively, you will be able to incorporate the evidence you need to support a thesis and persuade readers of the validity of your argument. Remember, too, that these are skills, and like other skills, the more you practice, the better you will get at using them effectively. (You can read more about argument and logic in Rhetorical Analysis: Interpreting the Art of Rhetoric .)

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/writing-guide/pages/1-unit-introduction

• Authors: Michelle Bachelor Robinson, Maria Jerskey, featuring Toby Fulwiler
• Publisher/website: OpenStax
• Book title: Writing Guide with Handbook
• Publication date: Dec 21, 2021
• Location: Houston, Texas
• Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/writing-guide/pages/1-unit-introduction
• Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/writing-guide/pages/11-introduction

© Dec 19, 2023 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.

• Writing, Research & Publishing Guides

Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Amazon Prime includes:

Fast, FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button.

• Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
• Unlimited Free Two-Day Delivery
• Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
• A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
• Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
• Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access

Important:  Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.

Buy new: .savingPriceOverride { color:#CC0C39!important; font-weight: 300!important; } .reinventMobileHeaderPrice { font-weight: 400; } #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPriceSavingsPercentageMargin, #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPricePriceToPayMargin { margin-right: 4px; } $94.00 $ 94 . 00 FREE delivery Friday, May 10 Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com

Return this item for free.

Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges

• Go to your orders and start the return
• Select the return method

Save with Used - Acceptable .savingPriceOverride { color:#CC0C39!important; font-weight: 300!important; } .reinventMobileHeaderPrice { font-weight: 400; } #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPriceSavingsPercentageMargin, #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPricePriceToPayMargin { margin-right: 4px; } $70.53 $ 70 . 53 $3.99 delivery May 13 - 14 Ships from: Madison Book Sellers Sold by: Madison Book Sellers

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Critical Writing: A Guide to Writing a Paper Using the Concepts and Processes of Critical Thinking

Purchase options and add-ons.

The main goal of Critical Writing is to provide students with a set of robust, integrated critical concepts and processes that will allow to them think through and write about a topic in a way that is built on—and permeated by—substantive critical thinking.

This step-by-step guide shows:

• how to construct a thesis statement and the other main points that constitute the structure of the paper;
• how to write the paragraphs that make up the body of the paper;
• how to engage in productive research in a planned, self-directed way;
• how to make a point clear—not just grammatically or stylistically but also how to clearly convey ideas to an audience;
• how to think your way through the numerous unanticipated issues (including aspects of grammatical correctness, transitions, and many others) that arise while writing papers.

Each step provides close and careful processes for carrying out each of these tasks, through the use of critical thinking.

• ISBN-10 153814090X
• ISBN-13 978-1538140901
• Publisher Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date March 17, 2021
• Language English
• Dimensions 6.39 x 0.94 x 9.41 inches
• Print length 296 pages
• See all details

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Editorial Reviews

With Critical Writing, Gerald Nosich has filled a gaping hole in the current pedagogical literature about helping students think more critically and then use that thinking to write effectively across disciplines. Many books about this topic provide a prescriptive formula for critical thinking, but most texts do not offer students a way to adapt their thinking processes to their own purposes and individuality. That Nosich provides guidance to both instructors and students with plenty of examples and exercises combined with added emphasis on the crucial role self-reflection plays in all writing sets this text above others in the field.

Though good thinking and good writing are intimately connected, textbooks often neglect this important link, focusing either on writing techniques or on critical thinking theories and strategies. Nosich’s text fills a gap in the market by offering students and teachers a practical guide for embedding critical thinking into the writing process. Drawing on both his deep knowledge of critical thinking and his decades of experience as a classroom instructor, Nosich offers readers a robust and substantive discussion of critical writing, the act of applying critical thinking concepts, traits, and strategies to research and writing. This text would be a valuable addition to any class focused on cultivating skills in writing, critical thinking, or research methods.

Nosich’s approach to using the Paul-Elder framework for Critical Thinking is practical and user-friendly, employing a clear and comprehensive set of tools for strong writing based on sound critical thinking. This well-designed and highly readable guidebook is an outstanding resource for anyone who wants to write well, in any non-fiction genre.

I highly recommend this book to all faculty who want their students to learn how to write papers of quality focused on issues of importance. This book stands above traditional approaches to writing in that it emphasizes the importance of reasoning in understanding and exploring issues at the heart of a written paper, and it details the explicit tools of critical thinking relevant to high quality writing. The critical thinking approach so clearly and expertly detailed by Dr. Nosich in this book—in readily accessible language—should be required in all writing courses.

This volume appeals to faculty, students, and others, who appreciate a structured and accessible approach to improving their writing. I especially like Dr. Nosich's unpretentious, conversational tone that keeps readers engaged, and provides practical solutions to the writing challenges they face.

As an English professor who has endeavored to teach composition permeated with systematic, critical thinking for many years, this newest book by Gerald Nosich, Critical Writing: A Guide to Writing a Paper Using the Concepts and Processes of Critical Thinking, has once again supplied me with powerful and practical strategies for teaching. I first met Dr. Nosich at a seminar by The Foundation of Critical Thinking where I was at once captivated by his amazing teaching presentation and sound ideas for the classroom, especially in the area of writing critically with original content. Every time I attend these conferences, I seek out Dr. Nosich’s presentations and never fail to be inspired; I always return to my students with more effectiveness in helping them to produce higher-level academic writing. I am preparing my next Composition 1 course with this new book in hand.

About the Author

Gerald Nosich is a noted authority on critical thinking across disciplines and has given more than 250 workshops on all aspects of teaching critical thinking. He is professor emeritus at both SUNY Buffalo State in New York and at the University of New Orleans. Nosich is the author of numerous books, articles, and audio and videotapes on critical thinking. He is a senior fellow of the Center and the Foundation for Critical Thinking.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (March 17, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 296 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 153814090X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1538140901
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.27 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.39 x 0.94 x 9.41 inches
• #3,100 in Philosophy Criticism (Books)
• #5,589 in Authorship Reference
• #16,168 in Fiction Writing Reference (Books)

About the author

Gerald m. nosich.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

ENGL 2A: Critical Thinking & Writing (Krane)

• Welcome & Hello
• Find Articles
• Extra: Find eBooks
• Extra: Find Newspapers
• Library Workshop Day: 04/30

Science Librarian

Course Description:

CTW 2 is a course about information. It is a course about finding, evaluating, and using information to build your own arguments so you can contribute to thoughtful debates while informing audiences through reason-based analysis.

You'll still rely on the critical thinking skills and writing process you developed in CTW 1, yet we will also examine in greater detail how messages are shaped in more or less effective ways for various audiences. In doing so, we will analyze real-life arguments through a rhetorical lens by considering how activism is defined, how it might lead to social change, what reasons people have for protesting, what issues you value so greatly you would protest for them, and what communication tools work best for activists. 

• Next: Find Articles >>
• Last Updated: Apr 30, 2024 1:39 PM
• URL: https://libguides.scu.edu/engl2a_krane

ProCoT : Stimulating Critical Thinking and Writing of Students through Engagement with Large Language Models ( LLM s)

We introduce a novel writing method called Probing Chain-of-Thought ( ProCoT ) , which potentially prevents students from cheating using a Large Language Model ( LLM ), such as ChatGPT, while enhancing their active learning. LLM s have disrupted education and many other fields. For fear of students cheating, many have resorted to banning their use. These LLM s are also known for hallucinations. We conduct studies with ProCoT in two different courses with 65 students. The students in each course were asked to prompt an LLM of their choice with one question from a set of four and required to affirm or refute statements in the LLM output by using peer-reviewed references. The results show two things: (1) ProCoT stimulates creative/critical thinking and writing of students through engagement with LLM s when we compare the LLM -only output to ProCoT output and (2) ProCoT can prevent cheating because of clear limitations in existing LLM s, particularly ChatGPT, when we compare students’ ProCoT output to LLM ProCoT output. We also discover that most students prefer to give answers in fewer words than LLM s, which are typically verbose. The average word counts for students in the first course, ChatGPT (v3.5), and Phind (v8) are 208, 391 and 383, respectively.

1 Introduction

A chain of thought is a sequence of intermediate reasoning steps (Wei  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2022 ) . Chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting allows a sufficiently Large Language Model ( LLM )to solve a problem as a clear sequence of steps before a final answer. An LLM , which is typically a deep neural probabilistic model (Brown  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2020 ) , such as ChatGPT 1 1 1 openai.com , has the ability to generate convincing outputs when given inputs, called prompts. The use of such Artificial Intelligence ( AI )tools, particularly ChatGPT, has gained immense popularity in many fields in the last one year (Allam  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2023 ) . They have also gained notoriety for suspected cheating, particularly in the Education field (Cotton  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2023 ; Ventayen, \APACyear 2023 ) . This is besides the hallucinations (or ungrounded addition) problem with LLM s (Rawte  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2023 ; T. Adewumi  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2022 ) , which occurs partly because they are typically trained on static data, with no updates through time. Humans, on the other hand, can source and use real-world context to verify the veracity of claims (Maslej  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2023 ) .

Topic-based writing has always been a common way of assessing students (Todd  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2004 ) . However, the capability of LLM s to completely or partially generate content as desired by a user appears to be putting a threat to students writing own their own. The research question we address in this work is: ‘ Is there a way to both prevent cheating in writing by students through LLM s and also engage them in the use of such AI tools? ’ The generative power of these LLM s makes it imperative to ask similar questions regarding coding, mathematics and other similar tasks.

We introduce Probing Chain-of-Thought ( ProCoT ) , a method aimed at stimulating creative/critical thinking and writing of students through engagement with LLM s, given that these models are here to stay. We demonstrate this method in two University courses (an Erasmus+ blended intensive program ( BIP ) (Commission, \APACyear 2022 ) and a full semester course) for two sets of students. The students were free to use the LLM of their choice and 95% used ChatGPT 2 2 2 openai.com (v3.5) while 5% used Phind 3 3 3 phind.com (v8) in the BIP . Similarly, most of the students in the second course used ChatGPT (96%) while BingAI 4 4 4 bing.com/search?q=Bing%20AI&showconv=1&form=MA13FV (limited to 2,000 characters of input) was 4%. We believe ProCoT will empower educators to no longer fear LLM s but see them as technological tools and students will be better critical thinkers. Also, it may be applied to any field that uses writing.

1.1 Our Contributions

ProCoT prevents cheating through LLM s by students.

ProCoT stimulates creative/critical thinking and writing of students through engagement with LLM s

ProCoT will provide valuable data to further train LLM s to be better models without privacy issues.

The rest of this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 discusses the background and literature review, including LLM s. Section 3 describes in detail the methods we follow, including the two cases. Section 4 discusses the outcome in results that also present statistical analyses. Section 5 briefly gives concluding remarks.

2 Background and Literature Review

In essay writing assessments, students are asked to demonstrate a point of view (Todd  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2004 ) and this may be supported by evidence (e.g. through peer-reviewed references). This allows students to show what they have learnt and build their writing skills.

2.1 Essay Writing and Evaluation

The pedagogy of essay writing evaluation requires a comprehensive approach that focuses on student learning and development. Central to this is the use of rubrics, which are detailed guides laying out the expected criteria for an essay (Lipnevich  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2023 ) . They may cover aspects like the strength of an argument, the use of evidence (or references), and the organization of ideas (Todd  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2004 ) . A formative approach to evaluation, based on quality feedback, helps students identify their strengths and weaknesses and fosters a growth mindset (Spector  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2016 ; Porter, \APACyear 2022 ) . These methods also provide transparency and ensure alignment with intended learning outcomes ( ILOs ) (Le  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2023 ; Ramesh  \BBA Sanampudi, \APACyear 2022 ) .

Peer review and self-assessment are also important in pedagogy. By engaging in peer review, students develop critical thinking skills (Cheong  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2023 ) while self-assessment encourages students to reflect on their own writing, fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility (Culver, \APACyear 2023 ) . Encouraging reflection is vital in the pedagogical evaluation of any writing. It helps students to be more independent and confident writers (Pang, \APACyear 2022 ) . The pedagogical evaluation of writing is a comprehensive yet subjective process (Todd  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2004 ) . It is a crucial component of the educational journey that plays a significant role in the overall development of students, both as critical thinkers and skilled writers.

2.2 Large Language Models ( LLM s)

An LLM aims to mimic human language patterns, responses, and general linguistic structures after training. It is a deep probabilistic model that is trained on big data to generate probabilities over a set of tokens (or words) for predicting the next token in a sequence and there are many types with different sizes (Brown  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2020 ; Touvron  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2023 ; T. Adewumi  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2023 ) . These models are usually based on the Transformer, which is a deep neural network architecture (Vaswani  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2017 ) . They are trained to perform Natural Language Processing ( NLP )tasks, like reading comprehension, summarization, and question answering (Radford  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2019 ; Touvron  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2023 ) .

By far, the most popular example of an LLM is OpenAI’s ChatGPT 2 , though there are several others, like Gemini 5 5 5 deepmind.google/technologies/gemini by Google DeepMind and LLAMA-2 (Touvron  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2023 ) by Meta. ChatGPT, now in vesion 4 (Natalie, \APACyear 2023 ) , is an advanced LLM . It is the latest in the family of Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) models, which began with GPT-1 while version 2 (Radford  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2019 ) in 2019 is recognized as possibly the first LLM because of its size of 1.5B parameters (Maslej  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2023 ) . ChatGPT (v3.5) is available for free to users through a web interface or for a fee after a certain period through an Application Programming Interface (API).

LLM s offer a myriad of benefits, including assistance in learning, improvement in language skills, access to extensive information, and the provision of customized learning experiences. Particularly, the capabilities of ChatGPT to generate coherent and contextually relevant text based on prompts have made it popular. Similarly to other machine learning ( ML )models (Yamamoto  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2018 ) , it may be used to assist in evaluating student essays and providing feedback. The use of LLM s in education is not without challenges, however (Sullivan  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2023 ; Sok  \BBA Heng, \APACyear 2023 ; Meyer  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2023 ) . Over-reliance on these models can potentially lead to diminished critical thinking abilities in students. Another critical aspect to consider is the inherent biases in LLM s (Meyer  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2023 ; T. Adewumi  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2022 ; T \BPBI P. Adewumi  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2019 ) . Since these models are trained on existing data, they may unintentionally reflect and reinforce any biases that exist in the data they were trained on, which could affect the quality and fairness of information provided to students. Ensuring responsible AI use is paramount to maintaining a safe and productive learning environment (Vinuesa  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2020 ) .

2.3 LLM Fact-Checking Methods

In recent years, LLM fact-checking methods have emerged for combating misinformation. Retrieval Augmented Generation ( RAG )models (Lewis  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2020 ) , which combine information retrieval and generation, and special-purpose knowledge bases or datasets are useful in this regard. A few datasets that are used for fact-checking in LLM s are listed below. The availability of these methods have not made LLM s error-free, indicating that more work still needs to be done by the research community.

FEVER (Thorne  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2018 ) - Fact Extraction and VERification (FEVER) is a widely used dataset that consists of claims and evidence, allowing LLM s to learn to validate or debunk statements based on the supporting information. The statements from the dataset are from Wikipedia and claims are classified as Supported , Refuted or NotEnoughInfo .

ClaimBuster (Arslan  \BOthers ., \APACyear 2020 ) - ClaimBuster is a dataset of 23,533 statements that is designed to identify claims which are worth fact-checking. The statements are extracted from U.S. general election presidential debates. There are three possible categories in the data: non-factual , unimportant factual statement , and check-worthy factual statement.

3 Methodology

Probing the chain-of-thought (output) of an LLM involves students scrutinizing the output by using a reference-based platform to provide time-relevant fact-checked feedback on the output. The method is entrenched in the ‘Self-Regulation’ method (Zimmerman, \APACyear 2013 ) , which is the self-directive process by which learners transform their mental abilities into task-related skills. It involves the following components in an iterative process: forethought , planning , monitoring , failure detection and correction . It leads to faster independence and self-awareness of students. ProCoT may even be applied to other outputs, besides those of LLM s.

We compare the quality of students’ writing, as evaluated by a human subject expert and using statistical analysis, to establish the effectiveness of ProCoT. We compare 1) LLM -only outputs, 2) students’ ProCoT outputs, and 3) LLM ProCoT outputs. LLM -only output is the result of asking the model any of the the original questions among the lists in the sub-sections below. Meanwhile, a student’s ProCoT output is the feedback provided (with peer-reviewed references) for the LLM -only output while an LLM ProCoT output is the LLM feedback to their original ( LLM -only) output. We give the same instruction that is given to the students to the LLM when generating the LLM ProCoT output. This is to determine if the students can cheat by generating ProCoT feedback successfully with the LLM and pass them off as their own. These evaluations are carried out in two cases involving two different courses and two different sets of students.

The first case involves 26 students, where about 88% are Masters students, 9% Bachelor’s, and 3% PhD, at a BIP . A BIP is a short programme that combines physical mobility with a virtual part. The 6-day BIP was titled ‘DigiHealth‐AI: Practice, Research, Ethics, and Regulation’ and organized in collaboration with partners from four European countries.

The students were asked to pose one out of the four questions below to any LLM . The questions were randomly selected from two blogs. 6 6 6 wtamu.edu/ cbaird/sq/category/health; magazine.utoronto.ca/research-ideas Thereafter, the ProCoT instruction was ‘ Write 1 page to affirm or refute assertions/statements made by ChatGPT/LLM in the response by using references from peer-reviewed articles ’. The students were under supervision for a 30-minute period while providing answers.

Did cancer exist before man-made chemicals were around to create it?

Who will benefit from AI in healthcare?

How long do you have to exercise for it to count?

How will we avoid machine bias?

This case had 39 students who were all Masters students. The course is titled ‘Text Mining’ and is a regular semester course. Again, each student was asked to pose one out of the four questions below to any LLM . The questions were randomly selected from a list of 50 exam questions, which are dedicated to the course. Thereafter, the ProCoT instruction was ‘ Write, at least, 300 words (excluding the reference section) to affirm or refute statements made by ChatGPT/LLM by using (at least 5) references from peer-reviewed articles or books ’. The students were allowed to go with the task and submit within a week.

What is a large language model (LLM)?

What is the vanishing gradient problem and how is it tackled?

Describe the two paradigms of using a pre-trained model in transfer learning: feature extraction and fine-tuning.

Name two similarity measurement metrics for vectorized semantic representation. Which one may be preferred and why?

4 Results and Discussion

Two out of twenty-six submissions from the students were rejected for lack of compliance to the ProCoT instructions. Results from the valid students’ ProCoT answers show that cheating can be prevented by framing questions as we have done with ProCoT . Comparing the LLM ProCoT feedback on its answers to the original questions 7 7 7 on 12 December, 2023 , ChatGPT expressly says ‘ I cannot provide direct references to peer-reviewed articles ’ on the one hand while saying ‘numerous studies in peer-reviewed literature support’ its answer. In one instance, though, it referenced a doi , which directed to a paper that was less than suitable. Phind, meanwhile, appears to be better at providing peer-reviewed references, though some references are blog posts. However, it appears to lift the same content supplied to it as if regurgitating (in what may be considered plagiarism) more than paraphrasing the content or generating original response for engaging communication. Therefore, the quality of students’ ProCoT answers (on the basis of grounding by references) is better than those by ChatGPT, though ChatGPT usually gives more comprehensive answers that are typically verbose but not necessarily always factual. They are also better than those by Phind on the basis of originality, though Phind may also give more verbose answers.

The minimum, median, maximum, and average word counts for the students’ ProCoT answers are 31, 189, 594, and 208, respectively, as shown in the Box plot of Figure 1 (a). Figure 1 (b) shows the Pareto plot for the words in their answers, where most students used word counts in the range 31 and 201. This implies most students prefer using fewer words to express their answers. ChatGPT gave an average word count of 391 in its ProCoT answers while Phind gave 383. These indicators of the average word counts by students and LLM s may be useful as cues for possible cheating, besides LLM artefacts that may result from copying an LLM output unedited. This is because possible cheating through prompt engineering on an LLM to fix the word count is known to work poorly. 8 8 8 platform.openai.com/docs/guides/prompt-engineering/strategy-provide-reference-text It is important to emphasize that word count alone is not enough to conclude that cheating has occurred.

Out of the 39 submissions, 26 were valid because they followed the instructions, particularly with grounding their argument with peer-reviewed references. In all the ChatGPT ProCoT answers 9 9 9 on 20 December, 2023 , only in-text citation is provided, when it does use references. With regards to question 1 about LLM in the previous section, ChatGPT’s ProCoT answer does not give any reference and merely regurgitates what was stated earlier rather than affirm or refute what was given. With regards to question 2 about the vanishing gradient, ChatGPT’s ProCoT answer gives 7 relevant references. With regards to question 3 on transfer learning, ChatGPT’s ProCoT answer gives 5 relevant references. With regards to ChatGPT’s answer to question 4 on similarity metrics, its ProCoT answer fails to follow the instruction, as it did not provide the minimum references, which is one of the reasons for rejecting some students’ submissions. BingAI, on the other hand, in all cases regurgitated the input and provided 4-6 blogs as references (when it provides references) instead of peer-reviewed articles. It then adds a short paragraph as conclusion in 2 out of the 4 instances. The appendix contains some of the examples.

Again, students use fewer words, as will be observed from Figure 2 , preferring to align with the minimum word count of 300. The median, maximum, and average word counts are 389, 713, and 405, respectively. The average word counts for ChatGPT and BingAI are 356 and 315, respectively. We assume the students’ average word count is higher in this case because we required a minimum number of words. It might be helpful to remove this restriction, as done in case 1, as a possible cue for cheating.

5 Conclusion

ProCoT shows that educators need not fear LLM s but embrace them as powerful tools to enrich the experiences of students in learning. Weaknesses currently exist in the most popular free LLM - ChatGPT, and this makes it useful for teaching students to be better writers by grounding their writing in peer-reviewed references. Observations from the results and ongoing research into LLM s imply these models will improve over time, especially as new data from methods like ProCoT can be used to retrain these models to be better. They will become better grounded in their knowledge. For example, we observe improvements in case 2 over case 1, which had one week difference between them, though it should be noted that the topics are different.

Hence, new methods may be required to evaluate students’ writing performance and learning in the future. We believe this is not a reason for educators to fear or bar students from using these tools but to see the opportunity to stimulate critical thinking through the engagement of students with these tools. This will be possible through evolving, active and innovative methods. Multimodal evaluation may be the solution in the future or methods that are grounded in interview/oral assessments.

Acknowledgement(s)

This work is supported by the Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP), funded by Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundations and counterpart funding from Luleå University of Technology (LTU).

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

• T. Adewumi  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2023) \APACinsertmetastar 10191208 {APACrefauthors} Adewumi, T., Adeyemi, M., Anuoluwapo, A., Peters, B., Buzaaba, H., Samuel, O. \BDBL Liwicki, M.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2023. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle AfriWOZ: Corpus for Exploiting Cross-Lingual Transfer for Dialogue Generation in Low-Resource, African Languages Afriwoz: Corpus for exploiting cross-lingual transfer for dialogue generation in low-resource, african languages. \BBCQ \BIn \APACrefbtitle 2023 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN) 2023 international joint conference on neural networks (ijcnn) ( \BPG  1-8). {APACrefDOI} 10.1109/IJCNN54540.2023.10191208 \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• T. Adewumi  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2022) \APACinsertmetastar info13060298 {APACrefauthors} Adewumi, T., Liwicki, F. \BCBL   \BBA Liwicki, M.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2022. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle State-of-the-Art in Open-Domain Conversational AI: A Survey State-of-the-art in open-domain conversational ai: A survey. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Information136. {APACrefURL} \url https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/13/6/298 {APACrefDOI} 10.3390/info13060298 \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• T \BPBI P. Adewumi  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2019) \APACinsertmetastar philosophies4030041 {APACrefauthors} Adewumi, T \BPBI P., Liwicki, F. \BCBL   \BBA Liwicki, M.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2019. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Conversational Systems in Machine Learning from the Point of View of the Philosophy of Science—Using Alime Chat and Related Studies Conversational systems in machine learning from the point of view of the philosophy of science—using alime chat and related studies. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Philosophies4341–0. {APACrefURL} \url https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/4/3/41 {APACrefDOI} 10.3390/philosophies4030041 \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Allam  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2023) \APACinsertmetastar Allam2023 {APACrefauthors} Allam, O., Williams, M., Almeida, M., Alper, D., Craver, A., Persing, J. \BCBL   \BBA Alperovich, M.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 202310. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Generative Pre-Trained Transformers (GPT) Artificial intelligence – Assessing the Accuracy of ChatGPT as an Adjunct for Peri-operative Care Generative pre-trained transformers (gpt) artificial intelligence – assessing the accuracy of chatgpt as an adjunct for peri-operative care. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery - Global Open11132-133. {APACrefDOI} 10.1097/01.GOX.0000992588.09873.87 \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Arslan  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2020) \APACinsertmetastar arslan2020benchmark {APACrefauthors} Arslan, F., Hassan, N., Li, C. \BCBL   \BBA Tremayne, M.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2020. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle A benchmark dataset of check-worthy factual claims A benchmark dataset of check-worthy factual claims. \BBCQ \BIn \APACrefbtitle Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media Proceedings of the international aaai conference on web and social media ( \BVOL  14, \BPGS  821–829). \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Brown  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2020) \APACinsertmetastar brown2020language {APACrefauthors} Brown, T \BPBI B., Mann, B., Ryder, N., Subbiah, M., Kaplan, J., Dhariwal, P. \BDBL Amodei, D.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2020. \APACrefbtitle Language Models are Few-Shot Learners. Language models are few-shot learners. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Cheong  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2023) \APACinsertmetastar cheong2023self {APACrefauthors} Cheong, C \BPBI M., Luo, N., Zhu, X., Lu, Q. \BCBL   \BBA Wei, W.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2023. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Self-assessment complements peer assessment for undergraduate students in an academic writing task Self-assessment complements peer assessment for undergraduate students in an academic writing task. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education481135–148. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Commission ( \APACyear 2022) \APACinsertmetastar ecBIP2022 {APACrefauthors} Commission, E.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2022. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Blended mobility implementation guide for Erasmus+ higher education mobility KA131 Blended mobility implementation guide for erasmus+ higher education mobility ka131. \BBCQ {APACrefDOI} 10.2766/467485 \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Cotton  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2023) \APACinsertmetastar cotton2023chatting {APACrefauthors} Cotton, D \BPBI R., Cotton, P \BPBI A. \BCBL   \BBA Shipway, J \BPBI R.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2023. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Chatting and cheating: Ensuring academic integrity in the era of ChatGPT Chatting and cheating: Ensuring academic integrity in the era of chatgpt. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Innovations in Education and Teaching International1–12. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Culver ( \APACyear 2023) \APACinsertmetastar culver2023learning {APACrefauthors} Culver, C.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2023. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Learning as a peer assessor: evaluating peer-assessment strategies Learning as a peer assessor: evaluating peer-assessment strategies. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education485581–597. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Le  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2023) \APACinsertmetastar le2023impact {APACrefauthors} Le, X \BHBI M., Phuong, H \BHBI Y., Phan, Q \BHBI T. \BCBL   \BBA Le, T \BHBI T.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2023. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Impact of Using Analytic Rubrics for Peer Assessment on EFL Students’ Writing Performance: An Experimental Study Impact of using analytic rubrics for peer assessment on efl students’ writing performance: An experimental study. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Multicultural Education93. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Lewis  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2020) \APACinsertmetastar lewis2020retrieval {APACrefauthors} Lewis, P., Perez, E., Piktus, A., Petroni, F., Karpukhin, V., Goyal, N. \BDBL others  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2020. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Retrieval-augmented generation for knowledge-intensive nlp tasks Retrieval-augmented generation for knowledge-intensive nlp tasks. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems339459–9474. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Lipnevich  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2023) \APACinsertmetastar lipnevich2023unraveling {APACrefauthors} Lipnevich, A \BPBI A., Panadero, E. \BCBL   \BBA Calistro, T.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2023. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Unraveling the effects of rubrics and exemplars on student writing performance. Unraveling the effects of rubrics and exemplars on student writing performance. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied291136. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Maslej  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2023) \APACinsertmetastar maslej2023artificial {APACrefauthors} Maslej, N., Fattorini, L., Brynjolfsson, E., Etchemendy, J., Ligett, K., Lyons, T. \BDBL others  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2023. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Artificial intelligence index report 2023 Artificial intelligence index report 2023. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages arXiv preprint arXiv:2310.03715. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Meyer  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2023) \APACinsertmetastar meyer2023chatgpt {APACrefauthors} Meyer, J \BPBI G., Urbanowicz, R \BPBI J., Martin, P \BPBI C., O’Connor, K., Li, R., Peng, P \BHBI C. \BDBL others  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2023. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle ChatGPT and large language models in academia: opportunities and challenges Chatgpt and large language models in academia: opportunities and challenges. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages BioData Mining16120. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Natalie ( \APACyear 2023) \APACinsertmetastar Natalie2023 {APACrefauthors} Natalie.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2023. \APACrefbtitle ChatGPT — Release Notes — OpenAI Help Center. Chatgpt — release notes — openai help center. {APACrefURL} \url https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6825453-chatgpt-release-notes \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Pang ( \APACyear 2022) \APACinsertmetastar pang2022teachers {APACrefauthors} Pang, N \BPBI S \BHBI K.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2022. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Teachers’ reflective practices in implementing assessment for learning skills in classroom teaching Teachers’ reflective practices in implementing assessment for learning skills in classroom teaching. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages ECNU Review of Education53470–490. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Porter ( \APACyear 2022) \APACinsertmetastar porter2022collaborative {APACrefauthors} Porter, G.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2022. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Collaborative annotation: Links to formative assessment and issues of scale for pedagogy Collaborative annotation: Links to formative assessment and issues of scale for pedagogy. \BBCQ \BIn \APACrefbtitle Proceedings of the Ninth ACM Conference on Learning@ Scale Proceedings of the ninth acm conference on learning@ scale ( \BPGS  313–316). \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Radford  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2019) \APACinsertmetastar radford2019language {APACrefauthors} Radford, A., Wu, J., Child, R., Luan, D., Amodei, D., Sutskever, I. \BCBL   \BOthersPeriod .  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2019. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Language models are unsupervised multitask learners Language models are unsupervised multitask learners. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages OpenAI blog189. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Ramesh  \BBA Sanampudi ( \APACyear 2022) \APACinsertmetastar ramesh2022automated {APACrefauthors} Ramesh, D. \BCBT   \BBA Sanampudi, S \BPBI K.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2022. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle An automated essay scoring systems: a systematic literature review An automated essay scoring systems: a systematic literature review. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Artificial Intelligence Review5532495–2527. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Rawte  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2023) \APACinsertmetastar rawte2023survey {APACrefauthors} Rawte, V., Sheth, A. \BCBL   \BBA Das, A.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2023. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle A survey of hallucination in large foundation models A survey of hallucination in large foundation models. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages arXiv preprint arXiv:2309.05922. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Sok  \BBA Heng ( \APACyear 2023) \APACinsertmetastar sok2023chatgpt {APACrefauthors} Sok, S. \BCBT   \BBA Heng, K.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2023. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle ChatGPT for education and research: A review of benefits and risks Chatgpt for education and research: A review of benefits and risks. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Available at SSRN 4378735. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Spector  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2016) \APACinsertmetastar spector2016technology {APACrefauthors} Spector, J \BPBI M., Ifenthaler, D., Sampson, D., Yang, J \BPBI L., Mukama, E., Warusavitarana, A. \BDBL others  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2016. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Technology enhanced formative assessment for 21st century learning Technology enhanced formative assessment for 21st century learning. \BBCQ \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Sullivan  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2023) \APACinsertmetastar sullivan2023chatgpt {APACrefauthors} Sullivan, M., Kelly, A. \BCBL   \BBA McLaughlan, P.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2023. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle ChatGPT in higher education: Considerations for academic integrity and student learning Chatgpt in higher education: Considerations for academic integrity and student learning. \BBCQ \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Thorne  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2018) \APACinsertmetastar Thorne18Fever {APACrefauthors} Thorne, J., Vlachos, A., Christodoulopoulos, C. \BCBL   \BBA Mittal, A.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2018. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle FEVER: a Large-scale Dataset for Fact Extraction and VERification FEVER: a large-scale dataset for fact extraction and VERification. \BBCQ \BIn \APACrefbtitle NAACL-HLT. Naacl-hlt. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Todd  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2004) \APACinsertmetastar todd2004measuring {APACrefauthors} Todd, R \BPBI W., Thienpermpool, P. \BCBL   \BBA Keyuravong, S.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2004. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Measuring the coherence of writing using topic-based analysis Measuring the coherence of writing using topic-based analysis. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Assessing writing9285–104. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Touvron  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2023) \APACinsertmetastar touvron2023llama {APACrefauthors} Touvron, H., Martin, L., Stone, K., Albert, P., Almahairi, A., Babaei, Y. \BDBL others  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2023. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Llama 2: Open foundation and fine-tuned chat models Llama 2: Open foundation and fine-tuned chat models. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.09288. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Vaswani  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2017) \APACinsertmetastar vaswani2017attention {APACrefauthors} Vaswani, A., Shazeer, N., Parmar, N., Uszkoreit, J., Jones, L., Gomez, A \BPBI N. \BDBL Polosukhin, I.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2017. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Attention is all you need Attention is all you need. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Advances in neural information processing systems30. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Ventayen ( \APACyear 2023) \APACinsertmetastar ventayen2023chatgpt {APACrefauthors} Ventayen, R \BPBI J \BPBI M.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2023. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle ChatGPT by OpenAI: Students’ Viewpoint on Cheating using Artificial Intelligence-Based Application Chatgpt by openai: Students’ viewpoint on cheating using artificial intelligence-based application. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Available at SSRN 4361548. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Vinuesa  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2020) \APACinsertmetastar vinuesa2020role {APACrefauthors} Vinuesa, R., Azizpour, H., Leite, I., Balaam, M., Dignum, V., Domisch, S. \BDBL Fuso Nerini, F.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2020. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle The role of artificial intelligence in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals The role of artificial intelligence in achieving the sustainable development goals. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Nature communications1111–10. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Wei  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2022) \APACinsertmetastar wei2022chain {APACrefauthors} Wei, J., Wang, X., Schuurmans, D., Bosma, M., Xia, F., Chi, E. \BDBL others  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2022. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Chain-of-thought prompting elicits reasoning in large language models Chain-of-thought prompting elicits reasoning in large language models. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems3524824–24837. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Yamamoto  \BOthers . ( \APACyear 2018) \APACinsertmetastar yamamoto2018automated {APACrefauthors} Yamamoto, M., Umemura, N. \BCBL   \BBA Kawano, H.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2018. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Automated essay scoring system based on rubric Automated essay scoring system based on rubric. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Applied computing & information technology177–190. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib
• Zimmerman ( \APACyear 2013) \APACinsertmetastar zimmerman2013theories {APACrefauthors} Zimmerman, B \BPBI J.  \APACrefYearMonthDay 2013. \BBOQ \APACrefatitle Theories of self-regulated learning and academic achievement: An overview and analysis Theories of self-regulated learning and academic achievement: An overview and analysis. \BBCQ \APACjournalVolNumPages Self-regulated learning and academic achievement1–36. \PrintBackRefs \CurrentBib

Question 2 (Case 1):

Chatgpt answer/output:.

AI has the potential to benefit various stakeholders in the field of healthcare. Here are some of the key groups that stand to benefit from AI in health:

Patients:Improved Diagnostics: AI can assist in faster and more accurate disease diagnosis, leading to earlier and more effective treatments.

Personalized Medicine: AI can help tailor treatment plans to individual patient profiles, increasing the likelihood of successful outcomes.

Remote Monitoring: AI-powered devices and apps can enable remote monitoring of health conditions, allowing patients to better manage chronic illnesses and receive timely interventions.

Enhanced Access: AI can improve access to healthcare services, especially in underserved or remote areas, through telemedicine and virtual health assistants.

Healthcare Providers:Clinical Decision Support: AI can provide healthcare professionals with valuable insights and recommendations, aiding in diagnosis and treatment decisions.

Administrative Efficiency: AI can streamline administrative tasks, such as appointment scheduling and medical coding, reducing the administrative burden on healthcare staff.

Predictive Analytics: AI can predict disease outbreaks and patient needs, helping hospitals allocate resources more efficiently.

Reduced Burnout: Automation of repetitive tasks can reduce the burnout experienced by healthcare workers.

Researchers and Drug Development:Drug Discovery: AI accelerates drug discovery by identifying potential drug candidates and predicting their efficacy.

Data Analysis: AI can analyze vast amounts of medical data to uncover patterns and insights that may lead to breakthroughs in medical research.

Clinical Trials: AI can optimize patient recruitment for clinical trials and assist in monitoring trial data.

Healthcare Payers and Insurance Companies:Improved Risk Assessment: AI can help insurers assess risk more accurately, leading to more personalized and competitive insurance plans.

Fraud Detection: AI can detect and prevent healthcare fraud, saving costs for insurance companies.

Population Health Management: AI can assist in managing the health of covered populations more effectively, reducing overall healthcare expenses.

Governments and Public Health Organizations:Disease Surveillance: AI can help in monitoring disease outbreaks, facilitating rapid responses to public health emergencies.

Health Policy and Planning: AI can provide insights for policymakers to make data-driven decisions on healthcare infrastructure and resource allocation. AI-driven home healthcare devices and monitoring systems can help caregivers and family members provide better care and peace of mind for their loved ones. Caregivers and Family Members: While AI has the potential to provide numerous benefits in healthcare, it’s important to address ethical, privacy, and security concerns to ensure that these technologies are used responsibly and for the benefit of all stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem. Additionally, equitable access to AI-driven healthcare solutions and addressing potential biases are important considerations to ensure that the benefits of AI are distributed fairly.

ChatGPT ProCoT Answer/Output:

The statements are generally affirmed. Numerous studies and reviews in peer-reviewed literature support the potential benefits of AI in healthcare for various stakeholders. While I cannot provide direct references to specific articles, I can highlight the broad consensus from the literature.

Improved Diagnostics: Studies have explored the use of AI in improving diagnostic accuracy across various medical domains. For example, AI models have been developed for early detection of diseases such as cancer and diabetic retinopathy.

Personalized Medicine: AI-driven approaches, including machine learning algorithms, have been investigated for tailoring treatment plans based on individual patient characteristics. Personalized medicine is an active area of research in oncology and other fields.

Remote Monitoring: AI-powered devices and applications have been studied for remote monitoring of health conditions. This includes wearable devices and smartphone apps that enable continuous monitoring of vital signs and chronic disease management.

Enhanced Access: Telemedicine, powered by AI applications, has demonstrated potential in improving access to healthcare services, especially in underserved or remote areas.

Healthcare Providers:

Clinical Decision Support: The literature supports the use of AI for clinical decision support, providing insights and recommendations to healthcare professionals in diagnostics and treatment planning.

Administrative Efficiency: Administrative tasks, such as appointment scheduling and medical coding, are areas where AI applications have shown promise in improving efficiency.

Predictive Analytics: AI-driven predictive analytics has been explored for predicting disease outbreaks and optimizing resource allocation in healthcare settings.

Reduced Burnout: Studies have investigated the impact of automation and AI in reducing the burden of repetitive tasks, contributing to the potential reduction in burnout among healthcare workers.

Researchers and Drug Development:

Drug Discovery: AI has been increasingly utilized in drug discovery, offering computational approaches for identifying potential drug candidates and predicting their efficacy.

Data Analysis: The application of AI in analyzing large-scale medical data for research purposes has been well-documented in the literature.

Clinical Trials: AI has been explored for optimizing patient recruitment in clinical trials and assisting in the monitoring of trial data.

Healthcare Payers and Insurance Companies:

Improved Risk Assessment: AI applications have been studied for more accurate risk assessment, contributing to the development of personalized insurance plans.

Fraud Detection: AI has been employed for fraud detection in healthcare, aiding insurance companies in saving costs.

Population Health Management: AI-driven approaches are investigated for population health management, aiming to enhance the effectiveness of healthcare services and reduce overall expenses.

Governments and Public Health Organizations:

Disease Surveillance: AI’s role in disease surveillance and monitoring outbreaks has been acknowledged in the literature.

Health Policy and Planning: The potential of AI to inform health policy and planning through data-driven insights has been discussed in the literature.

Caregivers and Family Members:

Home Healthcare Devices: AI-driven home healthcare devices and monitoring systems have been explored to provide better care and support for caregivers and family members.

Ethical Considerations: The statement emphasizes the importance of addressing ethical, privacy, and security concerns associated with AI in healthcare, which is a common consideration discussed in the literature. Additionally, equitable access and addressing biases are recognized as important aspects to ensure the fair distribution of AI benefits.

In conclusion, while specific references are not provided, the statements align with the broader consensus in the peer-reviewed literature on the potential benefits of AI in healthcare across various stakeholders. Researchers interested in specific studies on these topics may refer to reputable journals in healthcare informatics, medical imaging, bioinformatics, and related fields.

Phind ProCoT Answer/Output:

The statements provided are generally affirmative, as they align with the current understanding of how AI can benefit various stakeholders in the field of healthcare. However, it’s important to note that while AI has the potential to provide numerous benefits, it’s crucial to address ethical, privacy, and security concerns to ensure that these technologies are used responsibly and for the benefit of all stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem.

Patients: AI can indeed assist in faster and more accurate disease diagnosis, leading to earlier and more effective treatments. AI can also help in personalized medicine by tailoring treatment plans to individual patient profiles, increasing the likelihood of successful outcomes. AI-powered devices and apps can enable remote monitoring of health conditions, allowing patients to better manage chronic illnesses and receive timely interventions. AI can also improve access to healthcare services, especially in underserved or remote areas, through telemedicine and virtual health assistants. 1

Healthcare Providers: AI can provide healthcare professionals with valuable insights and recommendations, aiding in diagnosis and treatment decisions. AI can streamline administrative tasks, such as appointment scheduling and medical coding, reducing the administrative burden on healthcare staff. AI can predict disease outbreaks and patient needs, helping hospitals allocate resources more efficiently. Automation of repetitive tasks can reduce the burnout experienced by healthcare workers. 3

Researchers and Drug Development: AI accelerates drug discovery by identifying potential drug candidates and predicting their efficacy. AI can analyze vast amounts of medical data to uncover patterns and insights that may lead to breakthroughs in medical research. AI can optimize patient recruitment for clinical trials and assist in monitoring trial data. 3

Healthcare Payers and Insurance Companies: AI can help insurers assess risk more accurately, leading to more personalized and competitive insurance plans. AI can detect and prevent healthcare fraud, saving costs for insurance companies. AI can assist in managing the health of covered populations more effectively, reducing overall healthcare expenses. 3

Governments and Public Health Organizations: AI can help in monitoring disease outbreaks, facilitating rapid responses to public health emergencies. AI can provide insights for policymakers to make data-driven decisions on healthcare infrastructure and resource allocation. AI-driven home healthcare devices and monitoring systems can help caregivers and family members provide better care and peace of mind for their loved ones. 3

Caregivers and Family Members: AI can provide numerous benefits in healthcare, but it’s important to address ethical, privacy, and security concerns to ensure that these technologies are used responsibly and for the benefit of all stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem. Additionally, equitable access to AI-driven healthcare solutions and addressing potential biases are important considerations to ensure that the benefits of AI are distributed fairly.

Question 4 (Case 2):

Bingai answer/output:.

Certainly! In the context of transfer learning, there are two primary paradigms for utilizing a pre-trained model:

Feature Extraction: In this approach, we leverage the representations learned by a previously trained network to extract meaningful features from new data. The process involves adding a new classifier (usually a fully connected layer) on top of the pre-trained model. The pre-trained model’s convolutional base (which contains generic feature maps) remains frozen during this step. By doing so, we can repurpose the feature maps learned previously for a different dataset without retraining the entire model. However, the final classification layer of the pre-trained model is specific to its original task and class labels. Example: Suppose we use a pre-trained model trained on a large-scale image classification task and add a new classifier for a specific set of classes (e.g., cats vs. dogs).

Fine-Tuning: Fine-tuning involves unfreezing a few of the top layers of the pre-trained model’s base. We then jointly train both the newly-added classifier layers and the last layers of the base model. The goal is to adapt the higher-order feature representations in the base model to make them more relevant for the specific task. Fine-tuning is particularly useful when we have sufficient labeled examples for the target task. Example: After feature extraction, we fine-tune the base model’s top layers to improve its performance on the specific classification task.

In summary, feature extraction allows us to reuse learned features, while fine-tuning refines the model for a specific task by adjusting its higher-level representations. 1

The provided information accurately describes two common paradigms in transfer learning: feature extraction and fine-tuning. These approaches are widely employed to leverage pre-trained models for new tasks. The assertions made are supported by multiple references from peer-reviewed articles and books.

Feature extraction involves using a pre-trained model’s convolutional base to extract meaningful features from new data. This process is well-documented in the literature. For instance, in the book ”Deep Learning” by Ian Goodfellow et al. (2016), the authors discuss the concept of transfer learning and feature extraction in the context of convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The idea of freezing the convolutional base during feature extraction is consistent with the work of Razavian et al. (2014) in the paper ”CNN Features Off-the-shelf: an Astounding Baseline for Recognition.” The study explores using pre-trained CNNs for image classification tasks by extracting features from the convolutional layers. The example provided, using a pre-trained model for a large-scale image classification task and adding a new classifier for specific classes (e.g., cats vs. dogs), aligns with the practical application of feature extraction, as discussed by Yosinski et al. (2014) in ”How transferable are features in deep neural networks?”

Fine-tuning, as described, involves unfreezing a few of the top layers of the pre-trained model and jointly training both the new classifier layers and the last layers of the base model. This process is extensively discussed in the literature. For instance, in the paper ”Visualizing and Understanding Convolutional Networks” by Zeiler and Fergus (2014), the authors explore fine-tuning strategies to improve the performance of pre-trained CNNs on specific tasks. The concept that fine-tuning is particularly useful when there are sufficient labeled examples for the target task is supported by the work of Donahue et al. (2014) in ”Decaf: A Deep Convolutional Activation Feature for Generic Visual Recognition.” The study demonstrates the effectiveness of fine-tuning with ample labeled examples for image classification.

In summary, the information provided accurately describes the feature extraction and fine-tuning paradigms in transfer learning, and the statements align with findings from various peer-reviewed sources. These paradigms offer practical strategies for utilizing pre-trained models and adapting them to specific tasks.

BingAI ProCoT Answer/Output:

In the context of transfer learning, there are two primary paradigms for utilizing a pre-trained model:

Feature Extraction and Fine-Tuning. Feature Extraction involves leveraging the representations learned by a previously trained network to extract meaningful features from new data. The process involves adding a new classifier (usually a fully connected layer) on top of the pre-trained model. The pre-trained model’s convolutional base (which contains generic feature maps) remains frozen during this step. By doing so, we can repurpose the feature maps learned previously for a different dataset without retraining the entire model. However, the final classification layer of the pre-trained model is specific to its original task and class labels. For example, suppose we use a pre-trained model trained on a large-scale image classification task and add a new classifier for a specific set of classes (e.g., cats vs. dogs). 123

Fine-Tuning involves unfreezing a few of the top layers of the pre-trained model’s base. We then jointly train both the newly-added classifier layers and the last layers of the base model. The goal is to adapt the higher-order feature representations in the base model to make them more relevant for the specific task. Fine-tuning is particularly useful when we have sufficient labeled examples for the target task. For example, after feature extraction, we fine-tune the base model’s top layers to improve its performance on the specific classification task. 123

In summary, feature extraction allows us to reuse learned features, while fine-tuning refines the model for a specific task by adjusting its higher-level representations. 123