Planning your degree involves creative, critical, and reflective thinking.

Creative Thinking

Creative thinking involves thinking “outside the box,” having enough time to consider and articulate your goals, and play with possible methods of achieving them.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking involves explaining with reasons and research how you’ve structured and designed your degree, with reference to broader academic and professional expectations

Note: The content in this video is presented visually. You may listen to this video with audio description.

Reflective Thinking

Reflective Thinking involves thinking about your own thinking processes, and considering how you learn. Much of educational planning is about reflection – what do you want to study? what skills and knowledge do you already have? what skills and knowledge do you need to develop to address academic and professional expectations? Because reflection is so important, you have time in the educational planning process to reflect, and to share the results of your reflections with your mentor.

As appropriate, you may want to explore all three types of thinking more fully, by reading and doing activities related to the competencies of Active & Reflective Learning (one page) and Critical, Lateral, & Creative Thinking (a section of three pages).