How to Write a Critical Thinking Essay in Education: Discover The Full Guide!

Writing guide
Posted on June 2, 2020

Sooner or later, the student will have to deal with such an obligatory task as a critical thinking essay. Many fall into despair because they do not fully understand what they need to do, others consider it boring, and still, others simply don’t like essays.

If at least something about you, then you are in luck! Here you will get rid of all this because with our guide it will be very simple for you to complete this task. Moreover, get a good mark for it too. If you are ready, then let’s get started!

How to Write a Critical Thinking Essay in Education: Start with Definition

Let’s start by looking at what such kind of thinking is in general, and then moving directly to this type of essay. So, critical thinking is a structure that is used to analyze phenomena, events and then formulate conclusions.

If such a definition seems overly complex, then let’s look even easier. How often in everyday life do you work with information, process everything you hear and see? Do you trust everything you learned? Do you rate the accuracy of the information received? Are you looking for confirmation of the information, because it seems to you that the information is not true?

Most likely you will answer positively to all these questions. Well, or at least some of them. Actually, these questions are part of the critical thinking that a person is exposed daily to evaluate this or that information.

So, now we have figured out the features, what about the essay? Such a task is required for the student to demonstrate analytical abilities, put forward a strong thesis and add own attitude to the issue, and not just well-known and confirmed opinions.

What does the professor estimate in this type of assignment?

  • Capability to observe and be attentive to details;
  • The ability to focus information carefully;
  • The capability to highlight the most important and not scatter attention to secondary information;
  • Justify own point of view;
  • Application of analytical skills in writing;
  • The skill to demonstrate own judgment;
  • The skills to think logically and follow the logic in writing.

In fact, everything is not as complicated as it may seem. If you follow the recommendations that we will reflect in this article, you can easily cope with such an academic task. Let’s go further.

If You Need Ideas to Generate Topic

Here you will find several topics that can be a foundation for formulating your own. Of course, if you were given the freedom to choose a topic.

  1. Modern Technology And Education: Does This Combination Have A Positive Or Negative Effect?
  2. Educational Discrimination And Its Consequences For Students.
  3. The Role Of Critical Thinking In The Education System.
  4. How Critical Thinking Education Contributes To The Development Of Professional Skills.
  5. Should Everyone Be Able To Think Critically? Why Is It Easy For Some, But Difficult For Others?
  6. Does The Process Of Education Outside The University Or College Stop?
  7. Effective Methods For Developing Critical Thinking Outside The School.

You Need to Start from This Tips

Let’s move on to the recommendations that you should follow before starting work on the task. Thus, you can build the execution process in an organized, simple and competent manner.

Stock up on Time

Most students like to put everything off until the last moment. Hence, you need to fight this if it’s about you. Especially if you want to get a good mark for your work.
Stock up at least two days in order not to sit all day and night to complete the task. Ideally, you will need three days and now you will understand why.

  • The first day: Preparation and collection of information, implementation of basic recommendations, composing the plan. (How much such work takes you time depends on how long you analyze and process the information). For this reason, it is better to devote a day to such work.
  • The second day: Writing and formatting in accordance with the recommendations of the university/college.
  • The third day: Checking what you wrote, proofreading the text.

If you organize the work in this way, then you will do the task simple and much faster than doing all this in one day. Moreover, you can do the assignment efficiently!

The Topic Selection

If you were given the freedom to choose a topic, then it will take time to select the most suitable for you. Choose a topic that you already know something about or that you are interested in for research. Because you have to work with numerous sources. And if the topic is not interesting to you, then it will be boring and even difficult to do the task.

You can use the topics that we suggested above to formulate your own. Also, take care that the topic is not very complicated for you and verify that you can put forward a good thesis and answer all the questions that arise.

Data Collection and Processing

So, now it’s time to collect as many high-quality and relevant sources as possible. As mentioned earlier, your ability to highlight and analyze will be assessed. Therefore, you will have to work on sources that may come in handy in your work.

Before you start collecting information on education, make a list of questions that you will need to write your work. It will be easy for you to highlight the necessary information and draw up a mini-plan of your future essay.

Also, do not forget to take notes if you find important information. It often happens that you find a vital point, but do not record it. And then it becomes very difficult for you to find that fact. Therefore, do it from the very beginning, so as not to read it all over again.

Information Analysis

You also need to highlight the arguments, facts and so on in the sources that you have studied. Identify the pros and cons of each. Do it in a brief form, and only then in the writing process will you make a more detailed description. This way you will have another plan with which you can create a strong thesis statement.

View A Pair of Opinions

This type of essay requires consideration of more than one opinion! If you use only one point of view, it will be wrong. You will need not only to consider several authoritative points of view but also give your own assessment to them. It is also recommended to write out this data so that in the future everything will be at your fingertips.

Formulate Your Own Opinion

When you get acquainted with the sources, opinions, it’s time to formulate your own point of view. In your critical thinking essay on education, this will go in a separate paragraph. Imagine that you are a member of the discussion and briefly describe what you think about this topic. Write down the ideas in a concise manner, after which, in your work, provide a more detailed answer.

Do you think there are too many plans? Believe, with such notes it will be easier than ever to write an essay. You can use such recommendations not only for this type of essay but for all other types. This way you can complete the written part very quickly.

If you follow these recommendations, you will no longer want to work in another way! Now let’s move on to the next phase of your essay.

The Structure You Need to Follow

Thanks to the notes that you will prepare with the above recommendations, you have already done the greatest part of the work. Now it’s time to put everything together and observe the structure. Let’s dwell on this item in more detail.

Introduction

As you might have guessed here should be a thesis. That is, you need to start with a central idea that will go into your work. Remember, we recommend that you to prepare notes in the ‘Information Analysis’ paragraph. This is the source that will help generate a strong thesis.
Please note that you need to briefly and clearly outline the thesis without any secondary information. After all, this is a critical thinking essay, and it requires the ability to single out the main data. The introduction should be brief, use no more than 5 sentences for this part.

Body

In this part, you should also use the notes recommended to compose. Remember that the main part should reveal your thesis, reflect different opinions and of course your own one.
Be concise and write without water. No need to write information that does not apply to your thesis or makes it unclear. You must be convincing and show that you understand the topic. And do not provide such information that will weaken the thesis.

Conclusion

In order to make a good conclusion, you can describe your own assessment of your mini-research topic. Emphasize important facts again, but never provide information that you did not consider in the main part. Like the introduction, it should not exceed 5 sentences. The clearer you reflect your thoughts, the better!

Use This Template to Create an Essay

If you still do not understand how to compose an essay, you can use the following template. It consists of suggestive ideas and questions to help you complete your essay.
Introduction:

  • Focusing on the thesis, the main idea.

The main part:

  • Show your knowledge within the topic.
  • Discuss different points of view. Reflect your own opinion on each point of view.
  • Formulate your point of view and justify it.
  • Explain how your research has influenced your own opinions.
  • Has your point of view changed and why? If your opinion has not changed, then you also need to explain why.

Conclusion:

  • Move from private to general. Highlight key ideas and don’t introduce new ones.

The Last Part of Work: Make an Essay Ideal

Now it’s time to make your essay perfect. Remember we suggested you postpone the essay check on the third day? So it will be easier for you to see all the mistakes and start editing with a clear head.

Make Sure You Follow the Format as Required

Usually, your professor will tell you in what style you need to draw up the work. Also, make sure that you add links to all sources that you used in your work. Style and format play an important role in the final impression of your work, so do not miss such an important point.

Check Your Essay Several Times

As already mentioned, if you immediately start checking your assignment, you will not notice many typos and errors. Therefore, it will be ideal if you postpone it the next day or at least an hour later. You will be surprised, but notice many points that you will not like.

Ask Friends to Read the Work

Another eye is what you need to make your essay perfect. Get ready for criticism. Because most likely you will be shown many points that are worth changing.
Ask your friend if he understood the essence of your essay. However, it should be understandable even to those who are not interested in the topic of education or a person has never delved into the knowledge of this topic.

Read the Text Aloud

These are the most effective editing methods and one of the most difficult. As practice shows, what is written with a pen is not always clear when you read aloud.
When you start reading aloud you will be surprised at how you could write so unclear. Do not worry, this happens even with professionals. The most important thing is to notice and check everything in time. And with this approach, not a single mistake will pass you by.

Use Online Tools

Today, many tools are available on the Internet for free that will help you make your task perfect and readable. For instance, you can use Grammarly, where grammar and punctuation mistakes will be displayed. If you are not sure about your grammar, be sure to check the text here. If you want your text to be readable and clear, use the Hemingway App.

Let’s Conclude

Now you see that a critical thinking essay on education is not as difficult as it seems. Correct time distribution is a key success factor along with other skills and knowledge. The more time you devote, the easier it will be for you to do the task efficiently. Follow our recommendations and get a good mark from your professor!

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