Academic Strategies Unit 4 Seminar

Critical Thinking & Internet Research

Professor J. Kelly

AGENDA

Website Evaluation Video Assignment Overview Web Field Trip Critical Thinking Case Study Questions

Website Evaluation Tutorial

http://lib.colostate.edu/tutorials/webeval.html

Listen to this brief (and somewhat funny tutorial) and then respond to the following question in the chat area:

Why should we evaluate online sources?

Unit 4 Research & Evaluation Assignment

Select the Unit 4 tab on your Course Menu and then select the Assignment icon and pull up the assignment template.

Follow all guidelines listed on the Unit 4 template.

Recommendation: Search for topics related to business.

Carefully proofread your work and make necessary revisions! Submit your completed template to the Dropbox.

Unit 4 Website Evaluation

TIP: Make sure to carefully review the 5 W’s of Web Site Evaluation information, which is located at the end of the Unit 4 Reading.

The 5 W’s information will help you to determine the suitability of online resources by asking you to look closely at 5 items.

5 W’s of Website Evaluation Authority (who): Who is the author or sponsor and what are his/her credentials? Did the

author/sponsor provide contact information?

Accuracy (where): Where did the information come from? Are there citations and links to other web sites?

  Objectivity (what): What is the purpose of the site (inform, entertain, persuade, advertise,

etc)? Is the discussion fact-based or opinion-based?

  Currency (when): When was the site originally created? Has it been recently updated?

Are the links working?

  Coverage (why): Why is this site worthwhile? Is the site easy to navigate and does the

information seem logical?

5 W’s of Web Site Evaluation

1. Authority (who):       2. Accuracy (where):       3. Objectivity (what): 4. Currency (when):       5. Coverage (why):

Let’s practice……………

Web Field Trip

Go to Google Scholar - http://scholar.google.com/ Type in critical thinking and academic success Select Collaborative learning enhances critical thinking

Apply the 5 Ws as you look at the article

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/v7n1/gokhale.jte-v7n1.html?ref=Sawos.Org

Critical Thinking

What is it? Why should it matter to me? How can I apply it in my own life? Will it help me in my Kaplan courses? How can I improve my critical thinking?

What is critical thinking?

Critical thinking is ongoing process of understanding, questioning, observing, analyzing, and making judgments.

“Critical thinking is the discipline of rigorously and skillfully using information, experience, observation and reasoning to guide your decisions, actions and beliefs.”

Source: “Critical Thinking: Developing Skills for Successful Thinking” http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_95.htm

A well cultivated critical thinker: raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and

precisely; gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to

interpret it effectively comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards;

thinks open-mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and assessing, as need be, their assumptions, implications, and practical consequences; and

communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems.

Source: http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766

Attributes of a Critical ThinkerSource: Strategies for Success: Critical Thinking Ferrett, S. Peak Performance (1997).

http://www.accd.edu/sac/history/keller/ACCDitg/SSCT.htm

asks pertinent questions assesses statements and

arguments is able to admit a lack of

understanding or information has a sense of curiosity is interested in finding new

solutions is able to clearly define a set of

criteria for analyzing ideas is willing to examine beliefs,

assumptions, and opinions and weigh them against facts

listens carefully to others and is able to give feedback

sees that critical thinking is a lifelong process of self-assessment

suspends judgment until all facts have been gathered and considered

looks for evidence to support assumption and beliefs

is able to adjust opinions when new facts are found

looks for proof examines problems closely is able to reject information that

is incorrect or irrelevant

 Why do YOU think critical thinking skills, such as some of the “attributes” listed on the previous slide, will be important for you here at Kaplan and in other areas of your life as well?

Four Steps to Improve Your Thinking

Step 1:     Clarify your points Step 2:     Stick to the point

Step 3:     Question Questions

Step 4:     Be Reasonable

Think… Think… Think… THINK of critical thinking as a way to

EXPAND your thinking--actively thinking, rather than passively going through the motions; being open-minded, rather than closed-minded; ready to question, rather than simply allowing information to stand on its own merit; exploring and testing, rather than accepting and digesting.

How important is critical thinking? Does it have a place here in our seminars, in our course discussions or elsewhere in your lives? Explain your thoughts.

The ART of taking charge…

"We could define it [critical thinking] as the art of taking charge of your own mind. Its value is also at root simple: if we can take charge of our own minds, we can take charge of our lives; we can improve them, bringing them under our self-command and direction. Of course, this requires that we learn self-discipline and the art of self-examination…“

Source: “Our Concept of Critical Thinking”

Benefits of Critical Thinking It's like building a house. If you build a firm

foundation and do the framing right (test it out and double-check it), you know the structure will stand for a long, long time.

The same goes for your thinking. If you think things through logically and carefully, maybe test and double-check your thinking, your decisions will be sound and you will gain greater confidence in yourself.

Important TermsINFERENCE: Arriving at a conclusion based loosely on facts that are known or assumed to be true.   Example: Upon seeing a woman carrying a briefcase at 8 am, we could infer that she is going to work. This may or may not be true.  

CONJECTURE: Guessing or making predictions based on incomplete information; it has not been proven. Example: There is life on other planets.  This may or may not be true.

FACT: A statement that can be proven true.  Example:  Many research studies have proven that “women live longer than men.”   This statement can be proven true.

OPINION: A personal judgment or shared belief; an attitude or viewpoint that may or may not be true. Example:  Some people believe that Macs are better than PCs. While some will agree and others disagree, a final agreeable truth will not be possible.

Assumption

A thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof: "they made certain assumptions about the market.“

Something taken for granted or accepted as true without proof; a supposition.

A thing assumed to be true in the absence of positive proof.

Sources: www.dictionary.com; www.thefreedictionary.com

BLOOM’S 6 LEVEL’S OF COGNITION

Knowledge (recognize, recall, restate, define, describe, identify

Comprehension (interpret, describe, summarize, predict, distinguish, estimate )

Application (apply, demonstrate, solve, examine, modify, relate)

Analysis (analyze, separate, connect, classify, compare, infer)

Synthesis (integrate, modify, create, design)

Evaluation(judge, assess,

select, discriminate)

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Bloom’s taxonomy

(Bloom, B. S. 1984. Taxonomy of educational objectives. Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA)

Wisdom about Critical Thinking

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.” - Daniel Patrick Moynihan, American sociologist and US Senator (1927-2003)

"Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.” - Confucius, Chinese philosopher (551-479 BCE)

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."- Aristotle, Greek philosopher (384-322 BCE)

Wisdom about Critical Thinking

"Information is the currency of democracy."-Thomas Jefferson, Third US President(1743-1826)

"Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought." - Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Winner of 1937 Nobel Prize in Psychology or MedicineThe Scientist Speculates: An Anthology of Partly-baked Ideas, 1965

"It is critical vision alone which can mitigate the unimpeded operation of the automatic."Marshall McLuhan, Canadian Professor of English LiteratureThe Mechanical Bride, 1951

The Case of Mark Mark has always wanted a career in marketing, and after

being out of school for a few years, is happy to be back learning great things.   Now in his second term, he really likes his coursework and is getting good grades.  

He thinks, though, that his next term might be too hard for him because friends said the next set of courses will be “more advanced.” Mark guesses that he might need a tutor but doesn’t feel he knows any marketing professionals to turn to for help. Generally, Mark doesn’t panic, but he is getting worried and as this fear overwhelms him, his current quarter grades are starting to slip.

What assumptions does Mark make and on what does Mark base his assumptions?  

Why do you think it might not be such a good idea to base decisions on assumptions?

How might Mark use some of these critical thinking skills (understanding, questioning, observing, analyzing, and making judgments) to make a better decision for himself in this case? In other words, instead of panicking, what could he do?

Thanks for attending!

Please post any final

questions . . .