A' Level Critical Thinking Course (AS/A2)

A' Level Critical Thinking

OCR (AS/A2)

A distance learning course is the ideal way to gain an A' Level in Critical Thinking. Whether you're looking to go on to further education, improve your job prospects or expand your knowledge, distance learning A' Level Critical Thinking is a flexible and convenient course, which allows you to comprehensively prepare for the A Level exam through home study. What's more, because the distance learning A' Level Critical Thinking course is a fully comprehensive course, no prior knowledge is required.

Critical Thinking develops the ability to make sense of arguments and ideas. People who question what they read in the newspaper and enjoy reading between the lines, by analysing the language used in a logical way, will enjoy this course. As well as being lively and enjoyable in its own right it can help improve study and communication skills. On this basis, Critical Thinking can be a very useful way to support the study of other subjects and improve your performance in other subjects.

Learning about critical thinking provides a framework for you to weigh up all of the information that you are bombarded with every day. This may be very helpful when you are studying other subjects. It helps develop the skill of reading for meaning. Rather than skimming through a newspaper article, a technical report or a difficult chapter in a book, you should become better equipped to take what you have read to pieces. You are given a discipline to see what somebody is really saying and whether you are convinced by it, rather than taking them at face value. By the end of the course you may also be better able to construct an argument yourself.

AS Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking develops the ability to make sense of arguments and ideas. People who question what they read in the newspaper and enjoy reading between the lines, by analysing the language used in a logical way, will enjoy this course. As well as being lively and enjoyable in its own right it can help improve study and communication skills. On this basis, Critical Thinking can be a very useful way to support the study of other subjects and improve your performance in other subjects.

Learning about critical thinking provides a framework for you to weigh up all of the information that you are bombarded with every day. This may be very helpful when you are studying other subjects. It helps develop the skill of reading for meaning. Rather than skimming through a newspaper article, a technical report or a difficult chapter in a book, you should become better equipped to take what you have read to pieces. You are given a discipline to see what somebody is really saying and whether you are convinced by it, rather than taking them at face value. By the end of the course you may also be better able to construct an argument yourself.

A2 Critical Thinking
The course is divided into two units, each of which is divided into several sections. There are a large number of activities to do. The course is skills based rather than content based. In other words, there is not very much to commit to memory. It is more about practising and developing skills. The answers to all the activities are included with the course notes. At various points you will complete one of the assignments and send it to your tutor for marking.

Each unit corresponds to a unit as set out in the syllabus and an examination. The lessons also broadly correspond to sections of the units in the syllabus. It is important that you will study the lessons in the right sequence. However you should be aware that Critical Thinking is very much an integrated subject – try and see the links between terms and concepts as you go along.

FORMAT OF COURSE (Modules Overview)

AS Course
UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL THINKING
UNIT 2 ASSESSING AND DEVELOPING ARGUMENT
A2 Course
UNIT 3: ETHICAL REASONING AND DECISION MAKING
UNIT 4 CRITICAL REASONING

HOME STUDY SUPPORT

You will be provided with comprehensive materials designed to provide you with everything required to complete your course of study. You will have your own personal tutor helping you with your course work and with any questions you may have. Plus you can contact a Student Advisors by email or phone for all the practical advice you may need – so we really are with you 100%.

Your tutor will give you various resource sites to visit and there is extra material in the Student Support Portal. In addition there are several supporting texts books for this course but again this depends on which approach you are following and which book best suits your individual needs

COURSE RESOURCES

Although the course material provides explanations of the whole syllabus you are strongly advised to purchase a copy of OCR Critical Thinking AS by Jo Lally and others. It is published by Heinemann. (ISBN 978-0-435235-89-5). The book provides clear explanations and contains many activities.

At the front of the book is a CD which contains, among other things, the answers to the activities.

Finally, the OCR website (www.ocr.org.uk) contains full details of the syllabus and sample exam papers with answers.

COURSE ASSESSMENT

For each module there are two or three formal tutor-marked assessments which, when completed, should be sent to your tutor, via e-mail or conventional post. All of the information within the units is written in line with the requirements of the examination board specification and the demands of the examination.

All units are broken down into clear subject topics, and students should spend the amount of time studying for each topic as advised by their course tutor. Each topic module has been written for ease of understanding and topic coverage may be of different length and difficulty depending on the level of detail and information required. You will need to study the modules in the sequence provided.

The AS and A2 modules link together and assessment is all done by examination as there is no coursework option.

HOME STUDY COURSE ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Students probably need to have passed GCSE level English Language to do well on the course. There is no mathematics element but there is a need to have a go at interpreting figures and understanding some basic mathematical concepts such as averages and percentages at a fairly basic level.

This course is openly available to anyone wishing to learn more about Critical Thinking and would like to take part in a highly rewarding home study course. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to expand their knowledge and study further, so we try to keep our entry requirements to a minimum.

You have the freedom to start the course at any time and continue your studies at your own pace for a period of up to 24 months from initial registration with full tutor support.

COURSE FEES

The enrolment fee for the A' Level Critical Thinking (Full AS + A2) home study course is £393.75 (inc VAT), though for a limited time we are offering you the opportunity to pay only £315 (inc VAT) which is a 20% discount if you enrol online and pay in full.

You can also opt for our Easy Payment Plan and enrol online today by paying a deposit of £78.75 and then 4 equal payments of £78.75 per month. The first instalment is paid about a month after you receive your course.

COURSE QUALIFICATION
The titles of the qualifications as will appear on certificates are:

OCR Advanced Subsidiary GCE in Critical Thinking
OCR Advanced Level GCE in Critical Thinking

AS EXAMS - Exam board: OCR - Code: HO52
Unit 1 Introduction to Critical Thinking (20% of total A level marks)
1.5 hour written paper. Answer all questions. Candidates will be presented with 2 or more passages, totalling 900 words.

Candidates answer short answer questions and more discursive answers

Unit 2 Assessing and Developing Argument (30% of total A level marks)
1.5 hour written paper. Answer all questions. The paper has 2 parts and candidates answer all questions. Section A: contains multiple choice questions. Section B: Short answer questions after analysing a passage. Section C: short answer questions and construction of one or more further arguments.

Exams available January and June

A2 EXAMS - Exam board: OCR - Code: H452
Unit 3 Ethical reasoning and decision making (25% of total A level marks)
1.5 hour written paper. Question paper is based on resource material including graphs, charts and diagrams. Exercise in applying general and ethical principles. Short or more discursive answers.

Unit 4 Critical reasoning (25% of total A level marks)
1.5 hour written paper. Complex materials in form of one or more passages, images, statistics etc. Short or more discursive answers dealing with analysis and evaluation. Also own further argument produced in response to the material.

AS/A2 - A level in Critical Thinking. Both AS and A2 level courses and examinations must be successfully completed to gain a full A level.

FURTHER COURSE INFORMATION 

Please note that included in your course fee is your registration to the online student community, and a licence to print your study materials. Please also be aware that the licence is for one print only, so ensure that you have enough paper and ink to print the full course materials if required.

You will need to having one of the following packages to access your online course:

Windows:
Windows 98, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7 - Acrobat Reader 4.0 and above

Macintosh:
Mac OS X, Mac OS 9.2 - Acrobat Reader 4.0 and above

In the student 'On Campus' you are also able to take part in the student chat room and forums as part of our online student community.

After enrolling online you will receive your username and password to access the On Campus area within 5 working days. You will also receive your personal student number via email.

Students are required to arrange and pay for their examinations and manage the course work element if the subject requires this. Students must check the relevant examination board website for further information and final examination sitting dates for the specification.

POSTAGE & PACKING

Get FREE UK delivery when purchasing distance learning courses online. We will deliver your course materials direct to your door upon enrolment so you can get started straight away and plan your studies around your other commitments.