In the last few weeks, we have been discussing the value of General Education skills such as Critical Thinking and Communication. Now that you have identified how these skills are an important feature of your education, we are going to look at the elements of Critical Thinking in an assignment from one of your prior classes.Step One: Locate a Prior AssignmentReview your prior assignments and locate an assignment that you think demonstrates your Critical Thinking abilities. It would be preferable for you to choose an assignment from one of your major classes, but if you cannot locate an assignment from one of these courses, you can submit one from a General Education course. Consider an assignment such as a research paper when you compared and contrasted two subjects or an assignment where you analyzed a topic such as the different types of treatment available for an illness.The key is to locate an assignment which shows how you demonstrate knowledge, apply understanding, and show analysis, judgment, and/or evaluation of a topic.Step Two: Examine Your AssignmentTo help you identify an assignment that demonstrates critical thinking, let’s start by taking a close look at critical thinking. What IS critical thinking? It’s a term used frequently in classrooms and assignments, but you may not be very clear on what makes for an effective demonstration of critical thinking.In searching for elements of critical thinking in a prior assignment, consider the following:How do you use data in your piece? Effective critical thinking means…Identifying and applying useful data and informationDemonstrate logic to interpret dataDefine and explain important terms and complicated concepts (this might be related to the data or sources you use)Adapting knowledge (or data) to specific scenarios and issuesHow else do you support your thesis? Effective critical thinking means…Describing experiences and opinionsDeveloping examples to support thesis and claimsArticulating relationshipsHow do you deal with opposing points of view? Effective critical thinking means…Recognizing and discuss inferences and faulty logicDeveloping a plan to generate and construct a solution to a problemCombining multiple viewpoints and strategies in problem solvingIdentify and address opposing points of viewStep Three: Submit Your AssignmentOnce you have identified your Critical Thinking piece, you can submit it. When you submit your assignment, please enter the following information in the “Title” field on the Dropbox below:The number and title of the course where you got the assignment (For example, G125 Humanities)The name of the assignment (For example, Humanities Course Project)This needs to be apa style and reference. Can you do these an diversity?
