Critical thinking at work: evaluating claims, evidence and sources
For any employee who has to decide whether to believe, share or act on a claim: a supplier's promise, a figure in a report, a survey result, an urgent message or a post someone forwarded. No prerequisites. You learn to pin down exactly what is being claimed, check the source with the CRAAP questions and lateral reading, spot weak reasoning with numbers (cause and correlation, unrepresentative samples, misleading averages), recognise manipulation tactics described by CISA and the UK NCSC, and write a short evidence assessment with a stated confidence level. Your company's procedures decide how you verify payment requests and where you report suspicious messages.
- Level
- Beginner
- Length
- About 80 minutes
- Contents
- 5 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Separate a claim from the evidence offered for it and state what evidence would settle it
- Evaluate a source before relying on it, using the CRAAP questions and lateral reading (SIFT)
- Identify weak reasoning with numbers: correlation presented as cause, unrepresentative samples, small baselines and averages distorted by outliers
- Recognise manipulation tactics in messages and posts and verify them through an independent channel
- Write a short evidence assessment that states the claim, the checks made, the gaps, a confidence level and a recommendation
Course outline
- 1.Separate the claim from the evidenceLesson · 10 min
- 2.Evaluate a source before you rely on itLesson · 12 min
- 3.Identify weak reasoning in numbers and chartsLesson · 14 min
- 4.Recognise manipulation tactics and verify independentlyLesson · 10 min
- 5.Write an evidence assessmentLesson · 10 min
- 6.Critical thinking at work: evaluating claims, evidence and sources: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 14 questions
- 7.Critical thinking at work: evaluating claims, evidence and sources: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- Meriam Library, California State University, Chico: Evaluating Information – Applying the CRAAP Test
- Mike Caulfield: SIFT (The Four Moves)
- CISA: Tactics of Disinformation
- NCSC (UK): How to spot a scam email, text message or call
- Australian Bureau of Statistics: Correlation and causation
- Australian Bureau of Statistics: Census and sample
- Australian Bureau of Statistics: Measures of central tendency
See it with your own jobs and topics
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