Section outline

  • Course Overview

    This course equips you with practical critical thinking skills you can apply across your studies, work, and everyday decision making. You’ll learn how to examine your own thinking, evaluate arguments fairly, and avoid common reasoning errors. The course also shows how to collaborate and think critically with others, including when working alongside emerging technologies like Gen AI.

    Learning Outcomes

    This course will help you to:

    1. Grasp the differences between critical and uncritical thinking, and build confidence as a reflective learner
    2. Apply metacognitive strategies to improve self-awareness and deepen your approach to reasoning and problem-solving
    3. Analyze arguments effectively by identifying fallacies, avoiding distortions, and mastering techniques like steel man and Socratic questioning
    4. Use reframing, premortems, and collaborative discussion to explore perspectives, anticipate challenges, and enhance decision-making
    5. Integrate technologies, including Gen AI, as tools to support critical thinking and collaborative learning

    • Course Instructor: Dr Tom Chatfield

      • Dr Tom Chatfield

        Tom is a British tech philosopher, author, advisor and speaker. He writes, broadcasts and consults internationally, with a special interest in critical thinking, AI, and future skills. His recent work includes designing and presenting new critical thinking and AI business courses for The Economist; running international seminars on the critically discerning use of AI; and co-creating a prototype AI cognitive co-pilot. An experienced Chair and NED, Tom is currently a member of the British Library Advisory Council, and Associate at the interdisciplinary think-tank, Perspectiva. His books exploring digital culture—including Wise Animals, How To Thrive in the Digital Age, and Fun Inc.—are published in over thirty languages, while his critical thinking textbooks, published by Sage, are used by universities, institutions, and companies around the world. Over the past decade, Tom has developed award-winning online courses for universities and businesses; been a guest faculty member at the Said Business School and visiting associate at the Oxford Internet Institute, both at the University of Oxford; and is now an honorary fellow at City St George's, University of London. He has collaborated with organizations including Allianz, the BBC, Google, and the UN. Past speaking appearances include TED Global and the US National Academy of Sciences. A launch columnist for BBC Future, he writes widely in the international media and guest lectures at universities in the US, UK and Europe.

        View Bio for Dr Tom Chatfield

      • Pre-Course Self Assessment

        Before you dive into this course, spend a few moments reflecting on your familiarity with the topic and your current level of skills confidence. 

        You will then re-visit the same questions in our Post-Course Self Assessment and reflect on how the course has helped you develop in confidence and grow your skills. 

        • Module One: Spotlight on Critical Thinking

          This module will help you to:

          1. Remind yourself of the differences between critical and uncritical thinking
          2. Explore how critical thinking techniques can help you become a more confident learner and thinker
          3. Consolidate fundamentals and reflect on next steps to deepen your approach to critical thinking

        • Module Two: Asking the Right Questions

          This module will help you to:

          1. Recognize and put into practice metacognitive strategies to improve your self-awareness as a thinker
          2. Master the art of making steel man arguments and identifying straw man distortions to analyze reasoning more effectively
          3. Identify and understand common formal and informal fallacies, both in your own and others’ work

        • Module Three: Shifting Perspectives and Thinking Critically Together

          This module will help you to:

          1. Apply Socratic questioning to uncover unexamined assumptions and deepen your understandings
          2. Use reframing techniques to shift your perspective and gain insight into problems
          3. Conduct premortems to spot and mitigate flaws and risks in your plans or ideas
          4. Engage in critical discussion groups to share and extend your thinking alongside others
          5. Use technologies like Gen AI as a critical thinking partner

        • Glossary of Key Terms

          In addition to the glossary you’ll find woven throughout the course, you can find the full glossary collated in one place here.

        • Post-Course Self Assessment

          Now you’ve completed the course, spend a few moments reflecting on where your familiarity with the topics and your confidence skills levels are at now. 

          Has the course helped you develop new skills and grow your confidence?

          You'll need to complete the Post-Course Self Assessment in order to download your certificate. If you didn't do the Pre-Course Self Assessment before starting the course, please go to the top of the page and reflect on your familiarity with the topic and your level of skills confidence before you started the course.

          • Completion: Certificate

            Completing all modules (plus the pre and post-course assessments) will unlock the course certificate, which you can then download here. Your course certificate will only be made available once you have completed all these sections.

            If you have difficulty accessing your certificate, please contact the Sage support team at: onlinesupport@sagepub.co.uk. You can also check out this FAQ page which may be helpful.

            • Give Feedback About This Course

              Did you enjoy the course? Please take two minutes to share your feedback. We use learner feedback in future course updates and developments to provide an excellent learning experience.

            • Accessibility

              We have high standards of accessibility on Sage Campus and as of May/June 2024 all activities within this course are keyboard and screen reader compatible. For more details on accessibility standards, please see the Sage Campus Accessibility Guide.

              For those using assistive technology, please note that within this course:

              • Tab components: JAWS and NVDA behave slightly differently. For NVDA to keep reading, it is best to exit focus mode and go back to browse mode. 
              • Matching: JAWS does not read out question label on dropdown focus.