Critical Reflection Guide for Students

“Reflection is to the mental life what digestion is to the bodily life—it’s how we draw nutrition out of the raw materials of living. It’s how we
incorporate new information into existing knowledge. Unreflective experience by itself teaches nothing. Event follows event in an endless stream.
We react and react and react, without pausing to think. Before we know what something was we are busy with the next something. But as we
reflect we turn our experience into meaning. We see how parts relate wholes and how wholes are made of parts. We see how different things are
similar and how similar things are different. We see how bad stories go wrong and how they can be made better. And to the elements of
reasoning and universal intellectual standards are tools to help you take your thinking apart and to reflect in on an elevated plane, instead of
thinking randomly.”

Adapted from Richard Paul, 2012 Critical Thinking Conference (San Francisco)

Critical Reflection Goal = Thinking Critically

For every critical reflection, please tick the appropriate boxes below.
Universal Critical Thinking Standards
Associated Questions
☐ Clarity
 Did I have clarity on the concept taught?
 Did I interpret the question correctly?
 How can I overcome this problem of not being able to get
clarity?
☐ Accuracy
 How do I know my inference is accurate?
 What could I have done to check for accuracy?
☐ Precision
 Was I precise in expressing my ideas?
 Did I provide sufficient detail?
☐ Relevance
 Did I check if the evidence I cited is relevant to the problem?
 Did I give redundant information that weakened/misled the
marker?
☐ Depth
 Did I grasp the complexities of the concept?
 Am I able to use conceptual lens to deepen my insight into
the problem/issue?
☐ Breadth
 Is there another way to interpret what this means?
 Am I able to connect this to something else I have learnt in
another discipline?
 Am I able to see patterns across time/space/disciplines.
Elements of Reasoning
Associated Questions
☐ Purpose [iSCoRe and Languages]
 Did I have clear understanding of the assignment’s purpose?
 How can I develop the skill of working with the end in mind such as who is my
target audience and the intended effect of my piece of work?
☐ Key Question, Issue or Problem [Languages]
 Was I able to clearly define the issue or problem; accurately identify the core
issues?
 Can I appreciate depth and breadth of problem?
 How can I improve in fair-mindedness when I looked at the problem?
☐ Information [iSCoRe and Languages]
 Was I able to gather sufficient, credible, relevant information: observations,
logic, data, facts, questions, graphs, themes, assertions?
 How can I look into information that opposes as well as supports the argued
position?
 How can I improve on my skill to distinguish between information and
inferences drawn from the information?
☐ Concepts [Math and Science]
 Was I able to identify and accurately explain or use the relevant key
Concepts?
 How can I learn to distinguish micro from macro concepts?
☐ Assumptions [LS ELit and US Science]
 Was I able to accurately identify assumptions (things taken for granted)?
 How can I improve on making clear explanations on how assumptions can affect the
results / answers?
☐ Point of View [LS ELit and SS]
 Did I identify and evaluate relevant significant points of view?
 How can I develop empathy and fairness in examining all relevant points of view?

☐ Logic ☐ Interpretations and Inferences [LS Geo, Art, US Science and US Geo]
 Does what I said at the beginning fit with what I concluded at  Did I follow evidence and reason in order to obtain thoughtful, logical,
the end? conclusions or solutions?
 Do my conclusions match the evidence that I have  Was I able to make deep rather than superficial inferences?
presented?"  How can I check that my inferences are consistent with one another?

☐ Significance ☐ Implications, Consequences, Evaluating [LS History and SS]

 Is this the most important issue to focus on?  Did I identify the most significant implications and consequences of
 Is this most significant problem to consider? the reasoning based on a fixed criterion?
 How can I distinguish probable from improbable implications?

☐ Fairness
 Was I fair when I presented my views?
 Did I show biasness against any group?
References:
1. Erickson, L. 2011. Concept Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom.
2. Paul, R & Elder, L. 2001. The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking. The Foundation for
Critical Thinking.

Copyright © 2013 Anglican High School, Singapore. All Rights Reserved

Critical Reflection: I Used to Think…Now I Think
Name: Class: Date:
Subject: i-SCoRe 2.0 Topic/Skill: Purposeful Design Teacher:
Note to teachers:
i) Please guide your students on the level of questions to reflect on as the teacher would know the potential of the reflection based on the depth and breadth of the
assignment.

Question:

1. Purpose – What is the Underlying Problem to your chosen design situation.

2. To what extent does our design overcome challenges and impact the lives of your target
users?

Please elaborate with Clarity, Relevance to the Underlying Problem, Thoughtfulness and
Accuracy.

Student’s Reflection: You may attach additional writing paper if more space is needed.

Copyright © 2013 Anglican High School, Singapore. All Rights Reserved

Teacher’s rating and comment:
Elements of Expert Practitioner Apprentice Novice Teacher’s Remark
Reasoning
Purpose 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Key Question 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Information 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Concepts 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Assumptions 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Point of View 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Interpretations 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Implications 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
*Note to teachers:
1) Please circle level of attainment for written reflection based on the ACTS rubrics.
2) Please record the first and second rating for your discipline’s element(s) on the class namelist and pass the collated rating to our TAs for keying in
before the final year examination.

Copyright © 2013 Anglican High School, Singapore. All Rights Reserved