Every assessment I’ve completed during my undergraduate degree has included some form of critical analysis of theory and research.

I believe I have learned the difference between analysing something and critically analysing something during my studies. Analysing something isn’t simply over-thinking it, it’s about interpreting something through multiple lenses and from different perspectives to see if there is anything hidden between the lines.

In my first Psychology course, PSY1010, I was provided with six journal articles and asked to submit a critical evaluation of three different methods for treating social anxiety disorder. Completing this assessment required me to analyze and critique the articles in order to pinpoint the positive and negative characteristics of the research studies, and the strengths and weaknesses of the treatment methods.

Another example is an assessment item I completed is in PSY2010, where we were asked to critique three media sources and several journal articles that demonstrated negative emotion towards asylum seekers in Australia. To complete this assessment I had to critically analyse the source of the media output, the related psychological theory through which I was explaining the phenomenon, and demonstrate how they were related in a way that made sense and formed a strong argument.