A student's inquiry skills are her ability to develop research questions related to her studies, find valid answers to her questions and reach conclusions from them. For instance, tutors may present their students with the issue of discrimination against women in politics, and ask them to critically evaluate it. A student's inquiry skills will come into play in three ways. First, she must be able to focus on women in politics, not confusing the issue at any point with other issues, for instance women in business. Second, she must be able to develop a well-reasoned and independent research question from the issue, such as "Why do people discriminate against women in politics?" Third, she must be able to reach conclusions about the issue, showing the pros and cons of the treatment of women in politics.
A student must be able to appreciate the ideas others present to him and to assess them in a logical manner. Such ideas include those he reads from textbooks, and the ideas of his tutors and his classmates. In the above scenario, understanding and evaluation skills are absolutely necessary for answering the research question that the student has developed: "Why do people discriminate against women in politics?" In trying to answer the question, the student may consult textbooks, renowned politicians and even his classmates. However, he must be able to intelligently assess what he reads or hears from them, separating what is valid from what is not and reaching clear conclusions.
Advocacy skills represent the ability to formulate opinions and support them in a way that encourages reasoned discussion. A student needs advocacy skills to be able to express her research questions understandably, to invite intelligent contributions to her conclusions and to test their correctness in the right contexts. In the above illustration, if the student has concluded from all she read and heard that people discriminate against women because they believe women to be less intelligent than men, her advocacy skills will enable her to express this conclusion in clear terms, and to thus confirm it or to modify it beneficially. Advocacy skills may make her re-consider the conclusion, and re-examine what she has read and heard. Thus, while advocacy skills complement inquiry skills, they strengthen understanding and evaluation skills.