Thinking Skills Coursebook

This series helps students and teachers following the Cambridge AS & A Level Thinking Skills syllabus (9694) for examination from 2020. Universities and employers have high expectations for 21st century learners. They want students who can think critically, collaborate efficiently and produce creative solutions to problems. With more practice questions than the previous edition, this coursebook provides opportunities for students to improve both their critical thinking and problem solving skills. It walks students through different scenarios – such as drawing conclusions from arguments – explaining the thinking process involved and helping to increase confidence when thinking independently. Suggested answers to the coursebook questions are in the teacher's resource.

Introduction; How to Use This Book; Section 1: Problem Solving; 1. What do we mean by a 'problem'?; 2. Selecting and using information; 3. Processing data; 4. Working with models; 5. Solving problems by searching; 6. Finding methods of solution; 7. Trends in data; 8. Transforming data; 9. Summarised Data; 10. Identifying features of a model; 11. Necessary and Sufficient Conditions; 12. Changing the scenario of a problem; Section 2: Critical Thinking; 13. An introduction to critical thinking; 14. Claims, statements, and assertions; 15. Assessing claims; 16. Grounds, reasons, and evidence; 17. Evaluating evidence: a case study; 18. Statistical evidence; 19. Uses of evidence: inference and explanation; 20. Identifying argument; 21. Analysing argument; 22. Interpretation; 23. Assumptions; 24. Evaluating argument; 25. Applying logic; 26. Longer texts; 27. Multiple sources; Glossary; Index; Acknowledgements.