COURSE OVERVIEW:
Welcome to the Critical Thinking Skills for Decision Making course. This program will equip you with the essential tools, habits, and mental frameworks required to think more clearly, make better decisions, and solve problems with greater accuracy and confidence. You will explore how to analyse information, assess arguments, challenge assumptions, minimise bias, and reason through complex situations using structured critical thinking techniques. This course also highlights how strategic questioning, reflective thinking, and intellectual discipline support stronger judgement and improved outcomes in both personal and professional contexts.
This course begins by examining why we should improve our thinking and how to evaluate the quality of our thought processes. You will explore what critical thinking is, the core critical thinking skills, and how to detect and decode arguments effectively. This section also explains how to analyse decoded arguments, how to propose and defend your explanations clearly, and how to present well-reasoned arguments in context to support sound decision-making.
The next learning area explores the different types of intelligent thinking and the distinction between convergent and divergent thinking. You will examine the steps and habits in the critical thinking process and how to get better at decision making by applying disciplined thought, reflective practice, and systematic evaluation. This section also introduces the first steps to better decision making, the methods for improving your skills in making decisions, the pros and cons of heuristics, and the risks associated with ineffective decision making and problem solving.
A further section focuses on becoming a better decision-maker through deliberate awareness and skill development. You will explore the importance of knowing your mental tendencies, the different exercises used to develop critical thinking skills, and the powerful strategies that strengthen reasoning. This section also addresses why dealing with one problem at a time improves clarity, why questioning assumptions is essential, and why acknowledging the influence of groups is critical to independent thinking. You will explore how to practice asking critical questions, how to obtain verifiable evidence, why awareness of your mental processes matters, and how to form your own opinions. This section also examines how to perform proper analysis and reasonable interpretation, how to confirm the veracity of information while staying innovative, how to diversify your thinking and maintain an open mind, and how to resist impulsiveness and reduce ambiguity. You will also explore how to eliminate negative self-talk, improve listening skills, develop intellectual humility, and stay self-aware of your thought processes.
The program then introduces questioning as a central part of critical thinking. You will explore the general benefits of asking questions and how to design questions that enhance critical thinking. This section examines the dos and don’ts of creating questions, how to design questions that court knowledge, and how to develop questions that generate informative responses. You will explore how to create questions that support comprehension and how to tailor comprehension questions to different learning needs. This section also introduces how to build questions that support the application of knowledge, how to design questions that strengthen analysis, and what you achieve by breaking down general information into smaller components.
A further section examines how to create queries that seek evaluation and how to frame evaluation questions effectively. You will also explore how to design questions specifically geared toward synthesis, including synthesis-related queries that encourage the development of new ideas, combinations, and insights. This section also introduces the different types of questions and how each supports a different level of critical engagement.
The final learning area focuses on the logic behind critical thinking. You will explore how logical structure supports reasoning, the importance of recognising flawed logic, and how to apply logical principles to strengthen arguments, challenge assumptions, and reach well-supported conclusions.
By the end of this course you will be able to think more critically, evaluate information effectively, design powerful questions, recognise biases and assumptions, apply logical reasoning to decision-making, and develop the intellectual habits needed to make clear, accurate, and well-supported decisions in any context.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
By the end of this course, you will be able to understand:
- Why improve our thinking?
- How to evaluate your thinking?
- What is critical thinking?
- The core critical thinking skills
- How to detect and decode arguments?
- How to analyse any arguments that are decoded?
- How to propose and defend your explanation clearly?
- How to present well-reasoned arguments in context?
- The types of intelligent thinking
- The difference between convergent and divergent thinking
- The steps and habits in the critical thinking process
- How to get better at decision making?
- The first steps to better decision making
- The methods for improving your skills in making decisions
- The pros and cons of heuristics
- The risks of ineffective decision making and problem solving
- How to be a better decision-maker?
- The importance of knowing mental tendencies
- The different exercises to develop your critical thinking skills
- The powerful strategies to improve critical thinking
- Why deal with one problem at a time?
- Why always question assumptions?
- Why acknowledge the influence of groups?
- How to practice asking critical questions?
- How to get verifiable evidence?
- Why be aware of your mental processes?
- How to form your own opinions?
- How to do proper analysis and reasonable interpretation?
- How to confirm information veracity and be innovative?
- How to diversify and have an open mind?
- How to resist impulsiveness and eliminate ambiguity?
- How to eliminate negative talk and improve listening skills?
- How to develop intellectual humility?
- How to stay self-aware of your thought processes?
- How to use questioning in critical thinking?
- The general benefits of asking questions
- How to design questions to enhance critical thinking?
- The dos and don’ts in creating questions
- How to design appropriate questions for critical thinking?
- How to ask questions that court knowledge?
- How to design questions to attract informative response?
- How to create questions that enable comprehension?
- How to tailor comprehension questions?
- How to build questions that help with the actual application of knowledge?
- How to design questions that are likely to enhance analysis?
- What you achieve by breaking down your general information?
- How to create queries that seek to evaluate?
- How you can frame evaluation questions?
- How to design questions that are specifically geared towards aiding in synthesis?
- How to design synthesis related queries?
- The different types of questions
- The logic behind critical thinking
COURSE DURATION:
The typical duration of this course is approximately 2-3 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.
ASSESSMENT:
A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.
CERTIFICATION:
Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.