Reading Reflection #10: Overcoming Obstacles to Critical Thinking

 

  1. It’s a discussion with a two answer way debate like “do you like apples? yes or no and why. An issue in the Society is elections if they are a good fit or not a good fit.
  2. Are the answers accurate to support your decisions. they will bring you to different solutions that can be the outcomes to the problems.

Self Reflection

  1. I have learned more about readings then K-12 school year in one semester and I really like the readings and it has open my eyes more now with different concepts and topics.
  2. I’ve learned to speak my mind more and engage more in the topics that we are talking in class even if it doesn’t make sense and I learned that online classes are harder than face to face classes because at home you can be more distracted than in class.
  3. I will be thinking more about it before making my decisions.

Reading Reflection #9: Rival Causes and Statistics

 

  1. In the textbook, it says: “A rival cause is a plausible alternative explanation that can explain why a certain outcome occurred.” this is use when the author has good reason or evidence on a claim. Some questions you can ask is “can I think of any other way to interpret the evidence?, What else might have caused this act of these findings?, If I looked at this event from another point of view, what might I see as important causes?, and If this interpretation is incorrect, what other interpretation might make sense?”
  2. Causation is based on association or correlation and association/correlation does not prove causation. the difficult one is association/correlation because it doesn’t prove causation in evidence.
  3. increased amounts of germs and bacteria on college campuses cause higher rates of illness in college students. College students are less likely to sanitize living areas and common areas on campus, which in turn creates excessive germs on surfaces and in the air leading to more sickness in students.

        • Conclusion: Colleges campuses are not clean and can lead to sickness.
        • Reason/cause: The increased amounts of germs and bacteria.
        • Rival (other possible) causes: Less likely to sanitize living areas and common areas on campus.
        • Evaluation (How strong is the original argument? What’s missing?): It’s strong but, they don’t talked about have much they actually sanitize the college campus per day.

    B. Based on your reading of ARQ chapter 10, “Are Any Statistics Deceptive?”, summarize how the following types of statistics can be deceptive. What are some strategies you can use to determine how reliable each type is?

      • Unknowable and biased statistics: This has random data from random people. This is reliable when using for a random sample
      • Confusing averages: The numbers can range from more than average to below average. It’s reliable when you are trying to estimated the number closest to average.
      • Measurement errors: When they measure different times for the same evidence.
      • Concluding one thing, proving another: Comparing what statistics we need to what we have.
      • Deceiving by omitting information: The absolute numbers on which this percentage is based.

    C. Read the following passage. Identify the conclusion, and reasons, and evaluate the evidence (in this case the statistics) used to support the writer’s argument.

    The home is becoming a more dangerous place to spend time. The number of home-related injuries is on the rise. In 2005, approximately 2300 children aged 14 and under died from accidents in the home. Also, 4.7 million people are bitten by dogs each year. To make matters worse, even television, a relatively safe household appliance, is becoming dangerous. In fact, 42,000 people are injured by televisions and television stands each year. With so many accidents in the home, perhaps people need to start spending more time outdoors.

      • Conclusion: People are getting hurt at home and they should go outside more.
      • Reasons/causes: Dogs that bite, safe household appliances, and accidents like electric.
      • Evaluate the evidence (the statistics): 2300 children age of 14 and under dies from accidents, 4.7 million people bitten by dogs, 42,000 people gets injured by T.V’s and T.V stands.

Reading Reflection #8: Evidence Part 2

 

  1. What scientific method is “An empirical method of acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century. It involves careful observation, applying rigorous skepticism about what is observed, given that cognitive assumptions can distort how one interprets the observation.” The characteristics of the scientific method are Publicly verifiable data, control, and precision in language.
  1. The surveys or questionnaires can be unreliable because they can’t tell you have many people took the survey or the questionnaires so the data can’t be a broad and the survey or questionnaires can be biased.. when they ask specific questions about a certain topic that can be a reliable information.
  1. Pros are  research uses control to minimize extraneous factors, Scientific research is subject to public versatility, and scientific research is precise ans consistent in the use of language.   Cons are research varies greatly in quality and artificiality, research findings often contradict one another and facts can change over time, and research findings can only support conclusions, scientific research is a human activity; it can be distorted and is not free of subjectivity.  They can be problematic because they research findings can change over time with different facts.
  1. What is the quality of the source of the report?, How selective has the communicator been in choosing studies? and Is there any evidence of strong-sense critical thinking? we should look at the samples they have on the research findings.
  1. WOLDU, G. H. (2010). The Kaleidoscope of Writing on Hip-Hop Culture. Notes67(1), 9–38. https://doi-org.libproxy.stcloudstate.edu/10.1353/not.2010.0031

Reading Reflection #7: Evidence Part 1

 

  1. The definition in my belief of evidence is a proven statement that would have back up or justify the argument.  In the textbook, the evidence definition is “explicit information shared by the communicator that is used to back up or to justify the dependability of a factual claim. In prescriptive arguments, evidence will be needed to support reasons that are factual claims; in descriptive arguments, evidence will be needed to directly support a descriptive conclusion.”
  1. The definition of Personal experience is something that happened in your life. The strength of personal experience using in evidence is it has happened and some can tell you about it but, the potential problem that it only happened to them and not other people so, the evidence is not a broad perspective. The definition of case examples is using a story to make the statement true. The strength is that you can make up the story to sound like a true realistic story but, the potential problem that the story can be made up with fictional characters to sound like that it was a true story but in reality its all fake. The definition of testimonials is you own opinion in the evidence. The strength is that these are real people speaking to sound believable but the potential problem is that they can be paid actors to speak from a script to sound believable that it works or its a great place to be in. The definition of appeals to authority is getting evidence from “experts.” The strength is it can be believable and maybe real experts but the potential problem is they can be paid to say positive evidence to sound believable.
  1. The website I went to is www.thealantic.com and look at a a coronavirus at they use the appeals to authority. the coronavirus is talking about hopes of a new drug that would help people that have the coronavirus. The evidence is very reliable and believable because there’s so many evidence that supports the claims.

Reading Reflection #6: Logical Fallacies

 

  1. I’ve seen politics like why Donald trump isn’t a good president and people naming like he mistreats women, he’s orange, he’s racist etc.
  2. One time, I was talking why they shouldn’t do this internship in high school because you need to be smart and have experience in the field but, the person that I was talking to gave me a response saying “this is why you didn’t get the job and I did.”
  3. The fallacies in this passage is it’s breaking traditional morals o this great nation, it allows other non traditional marriages like incest.
  4. The fallacies in this passage is how this person describe that they held several parties and nothing happened.
  5. The parties one can have statistics on how many people get harassed compare to outside of the parties, what is considered an antisocial, why is there alcohol in the first place.

Reading Reflection #5: Census 2020

 

  1. The census is important that everyone should get involved because this is where we get the amount of money to fix roads, get student loans, food stamps, and more.
  2. The people that are uncounted for is the people that aren’t at that place at that day to be counted. Some people think this is creepy or skeptical. People also think they would be track down if they aren’t a immigrant here or they are a criminal. The people that are hard to count are the people that are homeless or Native Americans.
  3. I learn is this existed. I also learned that it is a crucial impact when everyone does it so we can get money to help us.
  4. My passions is photography and this connects with federal or state funding because the money can create beautiful landscapes to take pictures.

Reading Reflection #4: Ambiguity and Assumptions

ARQ chapter 4, “What Words or Phrases are Ambiguous?

  1. The book define ambiguity as “when its meaning is so uncertain in the context of the argument we are examining that we need to further clarification before we can judge the adequacy of the reasoning.”. It is important to identify ambiguous terms because some terms have more than one meaning connected to the term. Sometimes the meaning you think means this but, it was meant for a different reason.
  2. It is not helpful because a term can more more than what you see in a dictionary. It can also mean in a person a different way than what you are thinking what it means. In the book, it says “the more abstract a word or phase, the more likely it is to be susceptible to multiple interpretations.”
  3. To determine which ones are the most important is to see how much reasoning the paragraph have and how strong the reason is to the question that is being asked.

ARQ chapter 5, “What Are the Value and Descriptive Assumptions?

  1. A value assumption is “An implicit preference for one value over another in a particular context. we use value preferences and value priorities as synonyms” and a descriptive assumptions is “An unstated belief about how the world was, is, or will become.”
  2. It is important for the people to know about different values of others are assuming because people have their own opinions ans not everyone is thinking the same beliefs as you do. For example: Christians and Catholics.
  3. We should because we have the freedom of speech and its our own personal beliefs.
  4.  Rich-poor “Should the rich help the poor?”

Reading Reflection #3: Issues, Conclusions, and Reasons

ARQ chapter 2, “What Are the Issue and the Conclusion?”

  1. The two main types of issues are descriptive and prescriptive. Descriptive issue is more about the time like the past, present and future. descriptive is more towards a description than a debate. A preservative issue is more of a debate if this issue is right or wrong. It has more of a personal opinion from a person than a group of people.
  2. Some questions I would ask to myself is: what is the issue? why is this important?, what are the reason? etc. I look out for indicator words to find the conclusion. For example of some indicator words: Consequently, in conclusion, therefore, etc. These words will help you locate the conclusion and also help you find the reasons to the argument that is being presented.

ARQ chapter 3, “What Are the Reasons?”

  1. The book define an argument from the introduction and why or why not of the argument, then it gives out reasons and evidences, then it will give out a conclusion to summarize it all.  The book has strong reasoning to convince the reader.
  2. I ask myself: what are the reasons to support the argument?, how does it relate to the topic? etc. The indicators words to look out for when trying to find the reasons to relate to the topic are: as a result of…, studies shows that…, because of the fact that…, etc.

How ‘Intellectual Humility’ Can Make You a Better Person?

  1. The issue is that people underestimated how much information they know and think they are right with their opinion on a topic. The reason I found was: “we tend to learn more from the person we disagree with.”  We tend to make excuses on our opinion in the topic. We also hold a fixed mind set which means we are surely meant that is true and won’t change and learn from it. The conclusion in this article is that we have our own opinion.

Reading Reflection #2: Implicit Bias and Race

Trouble in Mind: To Be Black Is Blue in America

  1. I was still shocked that people are still racist saying the “N” word to him and how he was treated differently because hes not white like them. I was very mad that I could’e done something there but it happened way before I came here at all. I had an experience where someone said that I ate dog and cat which that isn’t true at all. This story and my personal experience are related because we get treated differently by people and they think its okay to treat us differently because we’re different in race and skin color.
  2.  James Baldwin as saying, “To be black and conscious in America is to be in a constant state of rage.” IBé adds, “Even if you are not raging mad, you may be losing your mind. In other words, trouble in mind.” What I think this means is that you have to act like this to be what you are in America, if you don’t act like this then you are not what you are in America.

Microaggressions in the Classroom

  1. My friend made a joke about “if a Asian person plays a Mellophone, are they mello yellow?” I am Asian and I play the Mellophone (A marching band instrument). I was confused for a second then, I got what he meant by mello yellow because Asian people are referred to yellow people. My friend was making jokes an that joke slip out of their mouth. I told people about the joke and they were shocked about that joke because, the joke was racist. I thought it was funny and it didn’t hurt me at all because i’m a delicious drink.
  2. It is very important to feel a sense of belonging within the classroom and in the university because it can help them succeed and not doubt their abilities in learning in the classroom and engaging in the university.

 

Do Conversations About Race Belong in the Classroom?

  1. I went to Park Center senior high school in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. My school is mostly diverse maybe the most diverse in Minnesota. I don’t consider that i’m white because i’m Asian. I’m Chinese and Vietnamese and that’s it. I don’t think it gives you privileges thinking or talking about being white because you are just thinking or talking about it and that doesn’t have any effect on you at all. you don’t get anything special. I don’t want to think about being white because i’m yellow (that’s what people said about Asians). Whiteness has been visible to me when I first came to St. Cloud from Park Center which that school was very diverse and now I see less diverse in St. Cloud and this school nickname is White Cloud.
  2. Conversations about race should happen in school because everyone needs to know that there’s different people also in the world and not just your kind so they don’t treat people differently and they need to learn the history so they understand why people are still racist in modern days . It has to be in a appropriate level for different ages in school.

Reading Reflection #1: Critical Thinking

Asking the Right Questions (ARQ) Chapter 1:

  1. The first value of a person who is a critical thinker are creativity because you have to use your imagination to brainstorm ideas that do work or they don’t work out. The second value is open-mindedness because you have to be open minded to all of these suggestions and ideas from other sources. The third value is Motivation because you need to be motivate to think. The fourth value is to be positive because being positive helps you to become motivate to think. The last value as a critical thinker is commitment because you have to be very committed to learn more about the topic. The theme that we suggest in class is the creativity that leads to brainstorms.
  2. The difference between strong sense and weak sense of critical thinking are strong sense has critical questions to all claims including yourself and weak sense is defending your present beliefs. Strong sense in critical thinking is more difficult because you have to apply critical questions to all claims including yourself and weak sense is defending yourself and not apply it to all claims with critical questions.
  3. An argument in class means that you have to have claims in order to make your point valid to the topic that you are arguing. The book definition of argument is   “An exchange of diverging or opposite views, typically a heated or angry one.” – Google. The book definition argument is different than we argue with friends and/or families because the book is about claims and evidences all the time to prove a point where, we argue with friends and/or family, we don’t use evidences and claims that often to prove a point. Sometimes they listen to you.
  4. Our minds can’t remember every knowledge there is in the world so, we stumble to find the right answers to the questions even about human behavior and society.

Why Questioning?

 

  1. When I was younger in elementary school, I’ve asked so many questions because I was a curious kid back then. Then people said that I was annoying for asking so many questions that didn’t make any sense. Asking questions has made me the annoying kid in school and the kid that was weird. I don’t like asking questions anymore in front of people because of those insults.
  2. Children now are saying insults like annoying or weird to the kids that have curious thoughts in their minds. These insults bring their self esteem down so much that they don’t want to engaged with learning anymore.  Some people that like asking questions are brave to overcome the insults and are very curious to know more about the topic. Asking questions is a good habit to do  because it allows you to know more and understand it more than any other people that don’t ask questions like me.
  3. As a college student asking questions means that they are curious and needs help on something that is important. Sometimes Asking the basic questions makes them annoying also in some people perspectives.  Asking questions in the future will help you understand more about the specific topic and also help other people answer their questions if they can’t speak up for themselves.