Ques�ons to Fire Up Our Cri�cal Thinking Skills
Interpreta�on
• What does this mean ?
• What ’ s happening ?
• How should we understand that ( e . g ., what he or she just said )?
• What is the best way to characterize / categorize / classify this ?
• In this context , what was intended by saying / doing that ?
• How can we make sense out of this ( experience , feeling , or statement )?
Analysis
• Please tell us again your reasons for making that claim .
• What is your conclusion / What is it that you are claiming ?
• Why do you think that ?
• What are the arguments pro and con ?
• What assump�ons must we make to accept that conclusion ?
• What is your basis for saying that ?
Inference
• Given what we know so far , what conclusions can we draw ?
• Given what we know so far , what can we rule out ?
• What does this evidence imply ?
• If we abandoned / accepted that assump�on , how would things change ?
• What addi�onal informa�on do we need to resolve this ques�on ?
• If we believed these things , what would they imply for us going forward ?
• What are the consequences of doing things that way ?
• What are some alterna�ves we haven ’ t yet explored ?
• Let ’ s consider each op�on and see where it takes us .
• Are there any undesirable consequences that we can and should foresee ?
Evalua�on
• How credible is that claim ?
• Why do we think we can trust what this person claims ?
• How strong are those arguments ?
• Do we have our facts right ?
• How confident can we be in our conclusion , given what we now know ?
Explana�on
• What were the specific findings / results of the inves�ga�on ?
• Please tell us how you conducted that analysis .
• How did you come to that interpreta�on ?
• Please take us through your reasoning one more �me .
• Why do you think that ( was the right answer / was the solu�on )?
• How would you explain why this par�cular decision was made ?
Self-Regula�on
• Our posi�on on this issue is s�ll too vague ; can we be more precise ?
• How good was our methodology , and how well did we follow it ?
• Is there a way we can reconcile these two apparently conflic�ng conclusions ?
• How good is our evidence ?
• OK , before we commit , what are we missing ?
Source : © 2014 User Manual for the California Cri�cal Thinking Skills Test , published by Insight Assessment .