1 - Getting Started ~5 mins
In this lesson you will participate by breaking a real decision you face into moves. Critical thinking is evaluating. Problem-solving is acting. Most people overdo one and underdo the other.
Use a live choice, not a made-up one: mocks versus Thursday shifts, a subject or FET/apprenticeship open day, part-time hours versus study time, or a deadline you cannot push again. By the end you will hold a short summary of your own decision with each move labelled, and one clear next step in your Digital Portfolio.
2 - Evaluating or Acting? ~10 mins
Mark each statement true or false on what you honestly think right now. Do not look anything up. You will use these commitments when you label your own moves later.
Key terms for this lesson
| Term | What it means for you | Real example |
|---|---|---|
| Critical thinking: evaluating before you commit | The check, compare, and question moves in your decision | Reading two sources before you change a plan |
| Problem-solving: acting to move things on | The try, ask, book, and change moves | Sending the message that fixes the clash |
| Decision: a real choice with more than one open option | The live situation you will write about today | Hours at work versus study time this term |
True or false: thinking and acting
3 - Label the Moves ~15 mins
Read Aoife's decision note. Tag each marked phrase as critical thinking (evaluating) or problem-solving (acting). When the class is ready, reveal the model and notice where you disagreed. Several lines honestly sit near the border; defend your call.
Aoife's decision note
4 - Your Critical Thinking Summary ~20 mins
Create a Critical Thinking Summary in your Digital Portfolio under Module 2, Strand 1 (Appreciating my Community) if that file is not there yet. Use the list builder on this page as your scaffold, then save the finished text under that filename. Use Aoife's note as the shape, not the content. Write from a decision you are actually facing now: mocks versus shifts, a subject or course choice, whether to keep or change a job, a deadline, or something similar.
Include: the decision in one or two sentences; at least four moves you have already made, each labelled critical thinking or problem-solving; one line on which of the two you are short of; and the next move you will make this week, with a day attached. Aim for four labelled moves; three is enough if you are stuck: ask for starters. If a move only fits one label, keep it honest. Finding the imbalance is the point.
This summary stays in your Digital Portfolio as evidence of critical thinking and problem-solving in Module 2, Strand 1, and feeds later collaborative design-thinking work and your Portfolio in Action AAC.
Build your Critical Thinking Summary
5 - What You Covered ~10 mins
Today you participated in separating two skills that often get blurred, then used both on a decision that is actually yours.
- Critical thinking evaluates: check, compare, question, weigh
- Problem-solving acts: ask, try, book, change, decide aloud
- You tested your own beliefs about which moves count as evaluating or acting
- You labelled moves in a worked decision note
- You drafted a Critical Thinking Summary on your own live decision, named which skill you are short of, and set a next move for this week (finish any remaining lines before next lesson if needed)
Talk with the person beside you: which label dominated your list, and what will you do differently on the next stuck choice?
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