a. What is critical thinking? What are some characteristics of critical thinking?
Critical thinking is an important intellectual activity because it is essential for the person to reach independent state of mind. Some characteristics of critical thinking are: “actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action” (Defining Critical Thinking). It is essential to engage critical thinking into the process of learning because material has to be thought of in a critical way before it is adopted.
b. Why is critical thinking an important skill to master as part of your academic program?
Critical thinking is an important skill to master as part of my academic program because I should be capable of discerning what is important for my curriculum and what is not. This skill is important to master because thinking is an essential part of acquiring knowledge and thinking skills have to be improved so that a person could engage in reaching a conclusion in an objective way. My academic program asks for independent thinking and I should be able to apply critical thinking skills to all of the subjects I am learning about.
c. How can you demonstrate critical thinking in your academic work?
I can demonstrate critical thinking in my academic work when I write essays and analyze various subjects. I conduct a lot of research in my academic work and the choice of sources I use depends on critical thinking. My academic work consists asks for critical thinking because everything depends of the presentation of information. “If information is presented that is congruent, adds to, and is consistent with previously acquired learning, it is more readily received and internalized” (Burman, 2000, p. 156). Therefore, I am capable of using critical thinking in order to make my studies effective.
d. Choose a topic relevant to your concentration to discuss in detail.
Critical thinking skills need to be adopted for the evaluation of all topics and I would choose the relationship between philosophical and critical thinking. It is essential to engage critical thinking when it comes to philosophy because everytopic needs to be analiyzed and discussed in detail before it is adopted as relevant. There is “the need to assist the human mind to reach its full potential, liberated from ignorance, superstition, error, and oppression“ (Hornsby, 1997, p. 278). The mind has to be libarated so that free thinking skills could be applied to the independent research.
2. Netiquette - http://www.brighthub.com/education/online-learning/articles/26946.aspx
a. Discuss the importance of adhering to proper netiquette policies in online discussions.
It is important to adhere to proper netiquette policies in online discussions so that a person would be considered to be polite and well-behaved in an academic environment. It is essential for a person to be open to suggestions and friendly when engaging in online discussions.
b. Discuss two items that will be of value to you as an online student
Two items that will be of value to me as an online student are: the “use Proper Language and Titles“(Patsalides, 2013) and the “use of effective communication” (Patsalides, 2013). I need to be understood well through the means of online communication which is why I need to be effective when writing about important topics. It is also essential to use adequate language and to address people properly.
References
Defining Critical Thinking (n.d.). In The Critical Thinking. Retrieved May 22, 2016, from http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766
Patsalides, L. (2013). Top Five Rules of Netiquette in an Online Course. In Bright Hub. Retrieved May 22, 2016, from http://www.brighthub.com/education/online-learning/articles/26946.aspx
Burman, S. (2000). Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 20(3-4), 155-172.
Hornsby, R. (1997). Critical Thinking. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 14(4), 277-278.
