Cottrell, S., (2005) Critical Thinking Skills Palgrave Basingstoke
ISBN 1403996857
Moran, K. (2000) Investment Appraisal for Non-Financial Managers: A Step by Step Guide, London: Prentice Hall,

Staffordshire University electronic resources and off-campus library facilities
Module website
Management Help Website
http://www.managementhelp.org/prsn_prd/critical.htm
John Ramsay's Learning and Grade Improvement Techniques
http://www.staffs.ac.uk/schools/business/bsadmin/staff/s3/jamr.htm

The learning strategy for this module requires students to commit 150 learning hours (including assessment). This will include 24 hours of class support and 126 hours of independent and self directed study.

The class sessions will include formal lectures, case study analysis and group discussions based on student experiences in the subject area. Students will be encouraged to integrate their work based experiences with new knowledge and skills developed in the classroom as the module progresses.

The purpose of this module is to introduce students to the formal use of critical reasoning processes and skills. Students will develop higher order thinking in relation to topics critical to decision making within organisations. Students will consider:

- Deductive and inductive logic
- Problem solving techniques
- Decision making models
- Business risk assessment
- Present arguments in both the written and verbal formats
- Financial aspects of decision making, including marginal costing, beak-even analysis and investment appraisal

The assessment is in two parts;

Part 1 - A group presentation on a specific problem solving exercise. 10 mins (20%) (LO 1, 2 and 3)

Part 2 - An individual report on the same topic as presented in Part 1. (1500 words) (80%) (LO 1, 2 and 3)