It’s fashionable these days to say that everyone’s opinion is equally valid. But what does that really mean? Valid for what? In these courses we show students that in the academic world, a qualified view point is stronger. Students learn how to scrutinise arguments and challenge their validity by considering logic, inference, credibility of evidence and objective justification.
Workshops for beginners start with the fundamentals of sound argument. Advanced courses address more specialised techniques. All courses can be tailored once we understand more about your students, their needs, goals and previous experience.
Brain Kung Fu
– a beginner’s course in critical thinking
- Should we respect everyone’s opinion?
- What are the components of a strong, convincing argument?
- How can you attack a flawed argument?
- How can cross examination reveal gaps or weak points?
- Is an argument without objective reasoning really an argument at all?
Logic, Truth and Proof
– an advanced course in critical thinking
- How do you spot a paradox?
- How can statistics be deceptive or manipulative?
- What is rhetoric and is it good argument?
- What is a fallacy and how do you identify one?
- How does correlation relate to cause?
- What’s the difference between deductive and inductive logic?
- What’s the difference between necessary and sufficient conditions?
It’s fashionable these days to say that everyone’s opinion is equally valid. But what does that really mean? Valid for what? In these courses we show students that in the academic world, a qualified view point is stronger. Students learn how to scrutinise arguments and challenge their validity by considering logic, inference, credibility of evidence and objective justification.
Workshops for beginners start with the fundamentals of sound argument. Advanced courses address more specialised techniques. All courses can be tailored once we understand more about your students, their needs, goals and previous experience.
Brain Kung Fu
– a beginner’s course in critical thinking
- Should we respect everyone’s opinion?
- What are the components of a strong, convincing argument?
- How can you attack a flawed argument?
- How can cross examination reveal gaps or weak points?
- Is an argument without objective reasoning really an argument at all?
Logic, Truth and Proof
– an advanced course in critical thinking
- How do you spot a paradox?
- How can statistics be deceptive or manipulative?
- What is rhetoric and is it good argument?
- What is a fallacy and how do you identify one?
- How does correlation relate to cause?
- What’s the difference between deductive and inductive logic?
- What’s the difference between necessary and sufficient conditions?
We have a menagerie of different activities that we draw upon to put together a course that will be most appropriate and beneficial for your students once we understand more about them, their previous experience and any specific goals.
All tasks are classroom based, student-centred and interactive. As you might imagine, they are all about arguments – dissecting them, structuring them, justifying them, scrutinising them and defeating them.
A typical day might include a mix of debating games, logic puzzles, investigations, tricks with statistics and student presentations, all made fun with light-hearted topics, amusing examples and of course, some feisty competition.
The objectives for organising a critical thinking workshop can vary considerably so the first thing we would advise is a chat on the phone to help us really understand what you’d like to achieve.
Groups or themes we’ve catered for in the past have included:
- Gifted and talented students who need an extra dose of intellectual challenge
- Debating teams or students preparing to take part in public speaking events
- New sixth formers crossing the bridge to A level
- Applicants for medicine expecting an interview or admissions test
- EPQ candidates evaluating source material or structuring essays
- Oxbridge candidates hoping to improve their skills in argument
- General enrichment for whole year groups
- Subject-specific masterclasses contributing to an enrichment programme such as, “The Falsification Principle”, “An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science” or “Use and Abuse of Statistics”.
… and on one occasion we created a bespoke three-day course for a whole sixth form to cover the entire Critical Thinking AS level!
Do get in touch and tell us all about what you have in mind. We’ll listen carefully and from there make some recommendations.
“I found it extremely useful, not just for completing the exam but for experience in later life.”
“It was better because it wasn’t boring and we were actively involved in what was going on.”
“I really enjoyed the course and felt I grew in confidence. The Course Leader was really nice and helpful.”
“I have realised that the content of an argument is more important than the style of delivery.”
“I enjoyed the lateral thinking activity as it was an opportunity to discuss and argue unusual ideas.”
“I thought the course was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I learned a lot about thinking in different ways. It was a great course and I would love to do it again.”
“It was great fun using your brain and powers of persuasion to convince others you were right.”
“It’s taught me that working my brain hard isn’t that bad so I like problem solving from now on.”
“I am now going to question things more and not just accept things because I’ve seen or heard them or been taught about something.
“It has opened my eyes to a whole new world of possible answers.”
“It was fun and creative and also gave me a rush of adrenaline as I was so in the moment”
“Very engaging, fun and well thought out and filled with some intense, heated discussions!”
“This course kept our brains active and we always had to be thinking and concentrating.”
“Fantastic – it was both mind-stimulating whilst immensely enjoyable.”
They say…
“Now I can definitely win arguments against my brother! It has opened my eyes to a whole new world of possible answers.”
“This was brilliant compared to all the other courses I’ve had in my 17 years. Truly inspirational, I have no higher praise.”
“It made me excited to challenge myself more. Very well managed and structured leading to a brilliant course.”
“I was constantly motivated and recharged with varying discussions and tasks.”
“Enriching, and I’m now more aware of the complexities of questions and the intellectual debate that could follow.”
“I found this day exciting, exhilarating and full of new ideas and things for me to enjoy.”
“The puzzles were thrilling to solve but also very clever and challenging.”
“We got to do everything ourselves and think for ourselves without being spoonfed.”
“I enjoyed getting up to lead. I really didn’t think I’d be able to do it but I felt really good when I did.”
“Amazing and a huge learning curve for me and the whole of my year group. It really developed my communicating skills.”
“It was just fantastic. I loved it! The best bit was seeing everyone’s amazing designs.”
“100% the best course I’ve ever been on. A great experience and I would love to do it again. Every activity was amazing.”
Our course
activities
We use a whole mix of techniques to draw out different skills and appeal to all learning styles
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Numbers
don’t lie
96% of students who have attended other courses say that our courses are better!
Read more reviews
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