'Critical thinking' and 'critical analysis' are terms which are consistently used by academics in explanations of what is required by students in their university work as well as in feedback about what is lacking in student assignments. But what is critical thinking/critical analysis? Well confusingly, it's very hard to define. It can be thought of as better, more rigorous thinking. It has also been described as "the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skilfully conceptualising, applying, analysing, synthesising and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generalised by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning or communication, as a guide to belief or action [or argument]" (Scriven & Paul ,2001, p.1).

The difficulty in defining it is partly because what critical thinking/analysis is differs in relation to the context, the situation and the material to which it is applied.