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Ashworth College Wk 4 Critical Thinking Skills You Need to Master Discussion

 

Elements of Critical Thinking [WLOs: 2, 3, 4] [CLOs: 2, 3, 4]

Prepare: Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum, in preparation for discussing the importance of critical thinking skills, 

Read the articles

Watch the videos

Review the resources

Reflect: Reflect on the characteristics of a critical thinker. Critical thinking gets you involved in a dialogue with the ideas you read from others in this class. To be a critical thinker, you need to be able to summarize, analyze, hypothesize, and evaluate new information that you encounter.

Write: For this discussion, you will address the following prompts. Keep in mind that the article or video you’ve chosen should not be about critical thinking, but should be about someone making a statement, claim, or argument related to your Final Paper topic. One source should demonstrate good critical thinking skills and the other source should demonstrate the lack or absence of critical thinking skills. Personal examples should not be used.

  • Explain at least five elements of critical thinking that you found in the reading material.
  • Search the Internet, media, or the Ashford University Library, and find an example in which good critical thinking skills are being demonstrated by the author or speaker. Summarize the content and explain why you think it demonstrates good critical thinking skills.
  • Search the Internet, media, or the Ashford University Library, and find an example in which the author or speaker lacks good critical thinking skills. Summarize the content and explain why you think it demonstrates the absence of good, critical thinking skills.

Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length, which should include a thorough response to each prompt. You are required to provide in-text citations of applicable required reading materials and/or any other outside sources you use to support your claims. Provide full reference entries of all sources cited at the end of your response. Please use correct APA format when writing in-text citations (see In-Text Citation Helper (Links to an external site.)) and references (see Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.)).

Respond to Peers: Review your classmates’ posts, and respond to at least two of your peers by Day 7. When responding to your classmates, please provide feedback on their examples of good and poor critical thinking skills. Discuss additional ways one can think more critically. Each participation post should be a minimum of 75 words.

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ReplyReply to Week 4 – Discussion Forum

  • COLLAPSE SUBDISCUSSIONQuaneshia GreenQuaneshia Green
    11:36amAug 25 at 11:36amManage Discussion EntryHello classmates and instructor, being able to identify the problem and understanding the people involved and the picture or situation as a whole before trying to solve the problem. The next element of critical thinking is research. Being able to hear both arguments and being able to gather factual information that can be helpful in determining a way of thinking during a problem. Another element is being able to recognize both arguments of a situation and not being biased to either side and make the best judgment call. Next, if you can be able to conclude things based on evidence or information that you have gathered. With this being a skill, you can complete, it means you are a strong critical thinker. The last element of critical thinking is being able to ask open ended questions as it may be necessary. Also, being curious when you are not fully aware but you will ask questions out of curiosity as it may be helpful instead of using it to judge.An example I found on the internet in which good critical thinking skills are being demonstrated by author John Dewey is the weather example. It’s about a man walking and noticing a change in the weather, then has a thought that maybe it is going to rain. He then looks up at the sky and sees a dark cloud hovering over the sun. He then realizes he was right and walks a little faster to beat the rain home. Dewey (1910, 1933). I think he was demonstrating good critical thinking skills because he was able to identify and draw a conclusion. An example I was about to locate where critical thinking skills are lacking was in an article about college faculty and how they lack the concept of thinking critically. The article is broken down in parts and talks about how the college faculty is not really educating students on certain thinking skills as they are beneficial. The lack of critical thinking is demonstrated by not making it a priority and important although these skills are necessary in life.  References:This article was written by Richard Paul, Fall 2004, website www.criticalthinking.org (Links to an external site.)}Bailin, S., Case, R., Coombs, J. R., & Daniels, L. B. (1999). Common misconceptions of critical thinking. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 31(3), 269-283. doi:10.1080/002202799183124

    • Abrami, Philip C., Robert M. Bernard, Eugene Borokhovski, David I. Waddington, C. Anne Wade, and Tonje Person, 2015, “Strategies for Teaching Students to Think Critically: A Meta-analysis”, Review of Educational Research, 85(2): 275–314. doi:10.3102/0034654314551063
    • COLLAPSE SUBDISCUSSIONVanessa HerrschaftVanessa Herrschaft
      4:29pmAug 25 at 4:29pmManage Discussion EntryWeek 4 – Discussion
    • Explain at least five elements of critical thinking that you found in the reading material.
    • In this weeks reading materials, the five key elements I noticed were identification, research, relevance, inference or understanding, and authenticity. Four of these elements come from the article, “6 Critical Thinking Skills You Need to Master Now”, and these are important because without applying these elements to critical thinking, any source or any information to be found would be believed and thought to be true. To be able to properly identify information is to “identify the situation or problem as well as the factors that may influence it” (Erstad, 2018, pt 1). In this process, inference comes into the thinking about the information, which primarily is how one perceives it and applies it to their topic. Research and relevance are similar as well, making sure to look for relevant information to the topic while researching, which does require looking, and reading throughly to see how the information relates. Authenticity is being able to tell what’s fake and what is real, and identifying it in each piece of research. A common reason to look for authenticity is to avoid putting false or misleading information into a report or paper, or even a conversation.  
    • Search the Internet, media, or the Ashford University Library, and find an example in which good critical thinking skills are being demonstrated by the author or speaker. Summarize the content and explain why you think it demonstrates good critical thinking skills.
    • NASA (2021). Effects | Facts – Climate Change.
      Retrieved from: https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/ (Links to an external site.) While searching the internet, I found a webpage dedicated by Nasa to presenting the information about Climate change. There were four different options, in which I chose effects/facts about climate change. This page describes generally what is meant when categorizing events and changes as climate change. There are a few different listings of what climate change is affecting, for example, temperatures continuing to rise, frost-free, and growing season will be longer, changes in rain patterns, more heat waves and stronger hurricanes. The author uses critical thinking to explain and prove these with research based information, and pattern analysis for each change noted. This demonstrates good critical thinking skills because the information is well explained, thought out and backed by fact and cannot be inferred or shown as “fake” with all the numbers and data to back it up. This is presented in an educated manner, while remaining easy to understand. 
    • Search the Internet, media, or the Ashford University Library, and find an example in which the author or speaker lacks good critical thinking skills. Summarize the content and explain why you think it demonstrates the absence of good, critical thinking skills. 
    • Fritz, A. & Ramirez, R. (2021, August 9). Earth is warming faster than previously thought, scientists say, and the window is closing to avoid catastrophic outcomes. Retrieved from: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/09/world/global-climate-change-report-un-ipcc/index.html (Links to an external site.) In my second source, I stayed with the internet, as there is plenty of information put out to inform, but not always in the most effective ways. In this source, it talks about how the earth is warming at a much faster rate than anything that has been previously recorded. This source does not appear to have done a fair amount of critical thinking, as the information is brief, and has only light data to back up the information being presented. The title alone is meant to draw attention which, is not a bad thing but can seem to be inferred in many different ways. There could have been more thought put into it, and another factor is the lower level explanations, giving basic information to make the reader feel informed while not having to try and digest bigger words. This article is not meant for the more educated audiences, but to inform general population. References: Erstad, W. (2018). 6 Critical Thinking Skills You Need to Master Now.
      Retrieved from: https://www.rasmussen.edu/student-experience/college-life/critical-thinking-skills-to-master-now/ (Links to an external site.) NASA (2021). Effects | Facts – Climate Change.
      Retrieved from: https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/ (Links to an external site.) Fritz, A. & Ramirez, R. (2021, August 9). Earth is warming faster than previously thought, scientists say, and the window is closing to avoid catastrophic outcomes. Retrieved from: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/09/world/global-climate-change-report-un-ipcc/index.html (Links to an external site.)
  • this is what the last tutor did for me and it was wrong I need this  be right so I can get a better grade on it Elements of critical thinking found in the readingThe chosen reading is “6 critical thinking skills you need to master now” by Will Erstad. In the article, there are some critical thinking elements discussed that an individual is supposed to implement in becoming a problem solver of the society (Erstad 2018). The elements of critical thinking include identification of problems, conducting researches, noticing any biases, drawing inferences from the readings, determination of the levels of relevance, and finally an element of curiosity in everything (Erstad 2018). Questioning the status quo and ensuring that the issues that must be identified are necessary for providing a good problem solution.Ways in which good critical thinking is demonstrated by an authorCritical thinking is demonstrated by the author due to the inclusion of curiosity, conducting researches, looking for potential biases, and making an inference to the situation in place (Puspita, Kaniawati & Suwarma, 2017). Critical thinking is a multifaceted process and must include combining ideas to help in addressing the issue in question and implementing what is considered ideal with regards to the things that matter. From the information in the article, the author demonstrated critical thinking with the right approaches applied in making things work and enhance something ideal and effective as recommended. Ways in which the author lacks critical thinking skillsFrom the information presented in the article, several things are making it not look like it is critical thinking (Puspita, Kaniawati & Suwarma, 2017). The author lacks a significant focus and precision regarding the issue to brainstorm or think critically about. A major solution should focus on integrated measures and key elements of change in addressing what is considered crucial and effective (Widana et al., 2018). Critical thinking should be all-inclusive and first begin with focusing on a particular spectrum of ideas to implement in the course of the change identified.ReferencesPuspita, I., Kaniawati, I., & Suwarma, I. R. (2017, September). Analysis of critical thinking skills on the topic of static fluid. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 895, No. 1, p. 012100). IOP Publishing.Widana, I. W., Parwata, I., Parmithi, N. N., Jayantika, I. G. A. T., Sukendra, I. K., & Sumandya, I. W. (2018). Higher order thinking skills assessment towards critical thinking on mathematics lesson. International journal of social sciences and humanities, 2(1), 24-32.Erstad, W. (2018). 6 Critical Thinking Skills You Need to Master Now. ReplyReply to Comment
    • COLLAPSE SUBDISCUSSIONSonja BethuneSonja Bethune (she/her/hers)
      1:16pmAug 25 at 1:16pmManage Discussion EntryThe examples should not be from sources about the actual topic of “critical thinking”.  The point to this discussion is for you to use your critical thinking skills to evaluate two different sources of information and determine which one illustrates good critical thinking skills and which one illustrates poor critical thinking.The example could be from a news article or even a video clip. For instance, I found an article from Yahoo! News titled “Jury Awards $21M to Man Injured by Automatic Door on Cruise Ship (Links to an external site.)“. Being awarded that much money seems a bit over the top. This makes you wonder about how the judge determined that this was an appropriate figure. The cruise line’s attorneys are going to appeal the decision, since they obviously think that the aware is excessive. The man claims to have suffered a traumatic brain injury which resulted in him having seizures. On the one hand, was there much critical thought in the way the $21 million was considered for an award? On the other hand, what made this man think that he deserved this much money for his injury?
      Reference:
      KABC – Los Angeles. (2015, November 13). Jury awards $21M to man injured by automatic door on cruise ship [Video file]. http://news.yahoo.com/video/jury-awards-21m-man-in…

COLLAPSE SUBDISCUSSIONJoanmarie GonzalezJoanmarie Gonzalez5:51pmAug 25 at 5:51pm

Manage Discussion Entry

According to Erstad (2018), critical thinking is an essential skill that allows individuals to “make logical and informed decisions to the best of their ability”. The primary elements that support critical thought includes a beginning step involving identification. Through this step, critical thought is utilized to identify a situation or problem and the surrounding factors which may influence it (Erstad, 2018). The second element, conducting research, empowers individuals to compare competing arguments or positions by conducting independent research and is followed by the third activity, which involves the identification of biases. During the identification of biases process, critical thought supports the need to evaluate data objectively in the same manner a judge would rule over an argument that advanced by two sides who exhibit covert or overt biases (Plencner, n.d.). The fourth skill that advance successful critical thought is inference and supports the ability to “infer and draw conclusions based on the information presented to an individual” (Erstad, 2018). The applications of inference allows successful critical thinkers to collect and develop outcomes in review of a given scenario. The fifth skill set of critical thinkers identified by Erstad (2018) confirms the need for developing relevance, leading to the identification of information which should be most important during the analysis process. The final step of successful thinking involves curiosity, challenging critical thinkers to not take any idea or position at face value. Instead, critical thinkers need to ask “why” and then go out and confirm the answers to questions through the completion of research (Erstad, 2018).

An article published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021) which reviewed the benefits of getting a COVID-19 Vaccine Shot, covered many of the points identified by Erstad (2018) which determined the successful attributes of successful critical thinkers. In advocating for citizens to take the vaccine shots, the presentation of statistical evidence not only confirmed the identification of the problem but also identified those factors which have the potential to influence vaccine shots not being taken. While the article did not hide its biases towards an identified outcome, it appeared successful in not shaming those who have not been vaccinated and instead, focused on delivering the necessary education and insights that will influence their future decisions and actions. The article was also successful in applying critical thought concepts associated with inference to challenge readers to draw conclusions based on the data and develop the best courses of action moving forward and addressing any concerns in a logical and scientific manner (Erstad, 2018).

The timely nature of this discussion comes on the heels of an argument I had last week with my father who remains committed to the idea that the moon landing was a fake. I am not absolutely sure if he believes this or is just being difficult, but in choosing to engage in critical thought in the analysis of McWilliams (2020), which advances my father’s opinion, it is my intention to get the upper hand. By arguing the moon landing as the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on American citizens, the piece details how the pictures of the first mission to the moon were photoshopped, calling attention to the flag being influenced by the wind (there is no wind on the moon) and that the shadows of the astronauts were incorrect during their time on the moon. Instead of challenging readers in the presentation of competing arguments, the critical thought was done solely by the author and simply advanced their conclusions which were full of biases (Plencner, n.d.; McWilliams, 2020). This was an article that lacked any critical thought associated with asking the question “why” and instead, presented a series of conclusions based on inferences that supported a pre-determined outcome (Erstad, 2018; McWilliams, 2020). Based on the article, it is unlikely that regardless of the presentation of any counter-arguments, there position would not change. Instead of challenging readers to draw their own conclusion through critical thought applications, any potential challenges to the narrative would likely be dismissed with disdain. Despite the article being amusing, it falls well short of utilizing critical thought in its content and as a result, diminishes the pieces credibility and argument (Erstad, 2018; McWilliams, 2020).

References

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, August 16). Benefits of Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines…

Erstad, W. (2018, January 22). 6 Critical Thinking Skills You Need to Master Now. Rasmussen College. https://www.rasmussen.edu/student-experience/colle…

McWilliams, L. (2020, March 31). The moon landing was fake. Fortune. https://collegian.com/2020/03/category-opinion-mcw…

Plencner, A.D. (n.d.). Theoretical Studies. Communication Today, 4-12. https://communicationtoday.sk/download/2/2014/Plen…Reply 

COLLAPSE SUBDISCUSSIONVanessa Herrschaft

Vanessa Herrschaft4:29pmAug 25 at 4:29pm

Manage Discussion Entry

Week 4 – Discussion

  • Explain at least five elements of critical thinking that you found in the reading material.

In this weeks reading materials, the five key elements I noticed were identification, research, relevance, inference or understanding, and authenticity. Four of these elements come from the article, “6 Critical Thinking Skills You Need to Master Now”, and these are important because without applying these elements to critical thinking, any source or any information to be found would be believed and thought to be true. To be able to properly identify information is to “identify the situation or problem as well as the factors that may influence it” (Erstad, 2018, pt 1). In this process, inference comes into the thinking about the information, which primarily is how one perceives it and applies it to their topic. Research and relevance are similar as well, making sure to look for relevant information to the topic while researching, which does require looking, and reading throughly to see how the information relates. Authenticity is being able to tell what’s fake and what is real, and identifying it in each piece of research. A common reason to look for authenticity is to avoid putting false or misleading information into a report or paper, or even a conversation.

  • Search the Internet, media, or the Ashford University Library, and find an example in which good critical thinking skills are being demonstrated by the author or speaker. Summarize the content and explain why you think it demonstrates good critical thinking skills.

NASA (2021). Effects | Facts – Climate Change.
Retrieved from: https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/ (Links to an external site.)

While searching the internet, I found a webpage dedicated by Nasa to presenting the information about Climate change. There were four different options, in which I chose effects/facts about climate change. This page describes generally what is meant when categorizing events and changes as climate change. There are a few different listings of what climate change is affecting, for example, temperatures continuing to rise, frost-free, and growing season will be longer, changes in rain patterns, more heat waves and stronger hurricanes. The author uses critical thinking to explain and prove these with research based information, and pattern analysis for each change noted. This demonstrates good critical thinking skills because the information is well explained, thought out and backed by fact and cannot be inferred or shown as “fake” with all the numbers and data to back it up. This is presented in an educated manner, while remaining easy to understand.

  • Search the Internet, media, or the Ashford University Library, and find an example in which the author or speaker lacks good critical thinking skills. Summarize the content and explain why you think it demonstrates the absence of good, critical thinking skills.

Fritz, A. & Ramirez, R. (2021, August 9). Earth is warming faster than previously thought, scientists say, and the window is closing to avoid catastrophic outcomes. Retrieved from: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/09/world/global-climate-change-report-un-ipcc/index.html (Links to an external site.)

In my second source, I stayed with the internet, as there is plenty of information put out to inform, but not always in the most effective ways. In this source, it talks about how the earth is warming at a much faster rate than anything that has been previously recorded. This source does not appear to have done a fair amount of critical thinking, as the information is brief, and has only light data to back up the information being presented. The title alone is meant to draw attention which, is not a bad thing but can seem to be inferred in many different ways. There could have been more thought put into it, and another factor is the lower level explanations, giving basic information to make the reader feel informed while not having to try and digest bigger words. This article is not meant for the more educated audiences, but to inform general population.

References:

Erstad, W. (2018). 6 Critical Thinking Skills You Need to Master Now.
Retrieved from: https://www.rasmussen.edu/student-experience/college-life/critical-thinking-skills-to-master-now/ (Links to an external site.)

NASA (2021). Effects | Facts – Climate Change.
Retrieved from: https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/ (Links to an external site.)

Fritz, A. & Ramirez, R. (2021, August 9). Earth is warming faster than previously thought, scientists say, and the window is closing to avoid catastrophic outcomes. Retrieved from: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/09/world/global-climate-change-report-un-ipcc/index.html (Links to an external site.) 

Prepare: Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum, in preparation for discussing the importance of critical thinking skills,

Read the articles

Watch the videos

Review the resources

Reflect: Reflect on the characteristics of a critical thinker. Critical thinking gets you involved in a dialogue with the ideas you read from others in this class. To be a critical thinker, you need to be able to summarize, analyze, hypothesize, and evaluate new information that you encounter.

Write: For this discussion, you will address the following prompts. Keep in mind that the article or video you’ve chosen should not be about critical thinking, but should be about someone making a statement, claim, or argument related to your Final Paper topic. One source should demonstrate good critical thinking skills and the other source should demonstrate the lack or absence of critical thinking skills. Personal examples should not be used.

  • Explain at least five elements of critical thinking that you found in the reading material.
  • Search the Internet, media, or the Ashford University Library, and find an example in which good critical thinking skills are being demonstrated by the author or speaker. Summarize the content and explain why you think it demonstrates good critical thinking skills.
  • Search the Internet, media, or the Ashford University Library, and find an example in which the author or speaker lacks good critical thinking skills. Summarize the content and explain why you think it demonstrates the absence of good, critical thinking skills.

Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length, which should include a thorough response to each prompt. You are required to provide in-text citations of applicable required reading materials and/or any other outside sources you use to support your claims. Provide full reference entries of all sources cited at the end of your response. Please use correct APA format when writing in-text citations (see In-Text Citation Helper (Links to an external site.)) and references (see Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.)). 

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