Critical and Creative Thinking
UndergraduateMUR-PHL1312020
Course information for 2020 intake
Acquire a higher level of creative thinking and critical communication skills. Display the ability to recognise, analyse and deconstruct arguments. Equip yourself with knowledge you'll need during your ongoing studies and in your future career.
Enrolments for this course are closed, but you may have other options to start studying now. Book a consultation to learn more.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- Subject may require attendance
- Entry requirements
- No ATAR needed, No prior study
- Duration
- 13 weeks
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Critical and Creative Thinking
About this subject
On successful completion of the subject you should be able to:
- use expository and argumentative English correctly and clearly;
- contribute effectively and confidently to discussions;
- identify and reconstruct the forms of reasoning used in a wide range of everyday and academic contexts, including implicit assumptions and implications;
- identify common fallacies in different styles of reasoning;
- construct and evaluate the success of arguments you encounter in books, articles and discussions;
- write your essays with confidence, based on knowledge of how to structure a successful argument.
- Critical Thinking: What is it?
- Logical, Illogical and Non-logical in the Learning Guide AND Orientation from textbook
- Textbook Ch. 1: Recognizing Arguments
- Textbook Ch. 2: Analyzing Arguments
- Textbook Ch. 5: More Valid Argument Forms
- Textbook Ch. 9: Definition
- Chapter 2: Logic: Deductive Validity from Bowell & Kemp, Critical Thinking: A Concise Guide, 2nd ed.
- Textbook Ch. 3: Evaluating Arguments
- Textbook Ch. 6: Causal Analysis
- Textbook Ch. 11: Reasonable Beliefs
- Textbook Ch. 8: Fallacies
- Textbook Ch. 12: Rules for Writing AND Category Mistakes in the Learning Guide
Achieving a high level of critical and creative thinking is one of the most important goals of a university education.
This subject aims to enhance the thinking and communication skills that are fundamental to all of your academic studies.
Employers in most professions and industries regard these abilities as essential.
Effective thinking demands rigorous analysis, imagination and insight.
In this subject you will develop and practise these skills and learn how to structure a successful, systematically reasoned essay.
Please Note: All students studying at Murdoch University will need to complete the compulsory unit, Murdoch Academic Passport (MAP100), which only takes 2-3 hours to complete online. Find out more: http://goto.murdoch.edu.au/MurdochAcademicPassport.
- Questions on topics 1 to 4 (30%)
- Questions on topics 5 to 8 (40%)
- Invigilated examination (30%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
This research-based university in Perth has a strong interdisciplinary focus and a reputation for outstanding teaching and ground-breaking research. With more than 25,000 students and 2,400 staff from over 90 countries, and campuses in Dubai and Singapore, Murdoch embraces free thinking, shared ideas and knowledge to make a difference, and Open Universities Australia is certainly part of that.
Learn more about Murdoch University.
Explore Murdoch courses.
- QS World University Ranking 2025, within Australia:
- 26
- Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2025, within Australia:
- 31
Entry requirements
No entry requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
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