Using Critical Thinking In A Writing Class

In the course of this spring semester, I have learned so many things that have been beneficial to me when comprehending critical writing as well as writing it. Developing critical thinking skills was one of the most things I personally enjoyed learning from this class such as how to generate my own writing, how to expand yourself and others in your writing with a more complex vocabulary. Another writing strategy that I learned this semester was how to write a persuasive essay in APA formatting. I was already introduced to this way of writing when I was in high school, however we never got the chance to practice using it. This has showed me how to be organized with my writing while collecting the writer´s ideas and information from any type

Critical thinking involves evaluating and analyzing data in order to form a reasonable judgment about a particular topic or idea. It is not simply believing a subject matter because someone in authority or expertise said it, but challenging those arguments in order to form a well thought out conclusion. A critical thinker will normally not accept an answer without reasoning; they require evidence to validate or prove their conclusion. The ability to reason logically is a fundamental and disciplined skill that can be learned over time.

Critical thinking is not a new concept just emerging from the think-tanks and universities that bring us innovative educational concepts. Critical thinking has existed since the days of Plato, Socrates, and other great ancient philosophers. Ancient Greeks believed that critical thinking “not only involved an examination of eloquent words and actions of other people,” as Plato had believed, “but also an examination of one’s own thoughts and actions” (Sriraman & Adrian, 2004, p. 97). Another outspoken advocate of critical thinking was Francis Bacon, a controversial scientist from the early seventeenth century. A non-conformist, Bacon proffered that critical thinking was the “desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate,

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During this semester of English 112, I have learned a lot about different research techniques as well as different writing strategies. Although, I feel that I have grown as a writer this growth did not lack growing pains. This course differed greatly from the English 111 and 113 courses that I have taken in previous semesters. It proved to be one of the most challenging English classes that I have taken so far in my academic career. There were many elements of the pre-writing process introduced during the past sixteen weeks, such as writing a preliminary draft and annotated bibliography, that I have never been exposed to before. The critical reading, critical thinking, and critical writing process in this course definitely stretched me as a writer and student. There were three writing styles practiced during this course along with three different genres. The first paper written was in the MLA (Modern Language Association) writing style coupled with the humanities genre, the second was written in the APA (American Psychological Association) writing style coupled with the social science genre, and the third paper written was in the CSE (Council of Science Editors) writing style which was coupled with the sciences genre. These different genres gave great insight as well as a different perspective to my chosen topic, pregnancy. Although, I feel I have a better knowledge of these different types of writing styles and critical writing procedures, I still have room for growth as I

This class aims to address public speaking and I definitely feel more confident when speaking in front of audiences, especially since I now know the #1 rule of public speaking - KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. I learned about topics in writing and speaking that I did not even know existed even though i saw and heard them everyday. Rhetorical Devices such as Anaphora and Chiasmus are perfect examples of this. Incorporating story into speaking and writing is something that is crucial and I really realized this throughout the semester. This helped me improve my speaking and writing abilities. Even though I despised waking up early for this class, I definitely feel like I gained vast knowledge on speaking and writing. I learned the importance of giving readers a roadmap for them to follow. I noticed a big difference which was also reflected in my grade from my informative speech to my persuasive speech. I was definitely more clear and confident by my second speech. I learned how to make eye contact with my audience while speaking. This class helped me gain valuable insight into my topic - Poverty In India. I found that there was so much more to my topic than just plain facts. In terms of the learning outcomes for this class, I feel i managed to achieve the vast majority of

Beliefs, attitudes and values are three little words that have and make a massive impact on who we are as individuals, who we are as people, and even how the world is viewed by ourselves and others. A belief is something that individuals or groups think, such as believing in a god. Where a Value would be the living life in the ways a religion expects, this value will be made from the belief that the person or group has in their God. The attitude towards this would be the feelings, beliefs and behaviour tendencies towards this, for example praying, reading the holy book,

This class has been very good for me because the content informed me about three important concepts. The first one is the Visualize Yourself Giving an Effective Speech to prepare yourself. The second one is the Gain Attention and Interest for your introduction. The third one is the Motivated Sequence for the organization.

I learned the use of Standard English rules and styles in constructing sentences. I also learned how to organize my thoughts, ideas and experiences. Furthermore, I learned how to construct and maintain a coherent transition of paragraphs, as well as, how to select words, idioms, sayings and phrases that best suited the topic or purpose. With time, I even started to use diagrams to help organize my thoughts, ideas regarding the intended topic even before I write it. Learning how to remain relevant to a topic has enabled me to improve my grades.

My hand was moving fast across the page checking things about myself that I didn't even need to think about. Personally I stop checking boxes and my left hand started to absentmindedly fingle with the freshly sharpened pencil in my hand. A question that came naturally to most people What is a critical thinking question in my eyes.

"The objective of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives" as told by Robert Maynard Hutchins, an American educational philosopher. The American academic system is very different from those in other countries. That is among the many reasons why our public K-12 schools are under such an oppressive curriculum. In an effort to embark on this undertaking it is necessary to at first assess the curriculum as presented within the K-12 school system. The K-12 educators are held to certain expectations. In K-5 the instructor is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring children leave elementary schools with the basic knowledge and social skills necessary to the next level in their education. During this time, children are thinking a lot more critically than those of an older age, because as bell hooks has said "children are predisposed critical thinkers" which I think to be unquestionably true. Children are always finding new ways to

In this semester I have improved my writing skills. At the beginning, I didn’t know much about writing. Since English isn’t my first language, I had lots of errors in my essays. Writing in MLA format was one of the things I learned. Also, organizing my ideas, and then, write them in a draft, so my paper would end up worth of reading. Before turning the paper in, searching for errors was other thing I learned, because at the beginning, when I was done with an essay I would turned it in without looking twice, searching for mistakes. Now, I always double check to see if I made a mistake. Likewise, I used many common words to describe an idea or a person, I’m getting better on it, but I still need to work on finding new words to make my essays

When taking this class, I got to learn how to think critically, ask the right questions and formulate my thoughts into coherent paragraphs. The presentations gave me a lot of information; the assignments helped me remember and better process what I learned. And finally, the discussions gave me the opportunity to express my ideas, as well as an insight into what my classmates

When defining the term “critical thinking” it can seem overwhelming and daunting, especially for young learners. In laments terms, you are teaching your student how to think for him or herself when it comes to problem solving. Instead of giving the student the answer, you give them the tools to discover the answer him/herself. Critical thinking is an important component of any classroom. No matter the age group, these skills stay with a child for the rest of his or her life. As a teacher, it is important to understand what critical thinking pertains to and how to structure part of your lesson plan around developing critical thinking skills.

The concepts of critical thinking and creative thinking are both gaining increasing importance in the world today. Critical thinking allows people to understand difficult concepts in a manner that is clearer and more defined. They can more readily understand those concepts if they employ critical thinking. In all portions of everyday life, a person is expected to make independent judgments. Those judgments are based on experience and knowledge. Without the ability to think critically, every situation that a person comes across would have to be considered in isolation from all other situations. When a person encounters a problem that is a new one, he or she may be able to use critical thinking to solve those problems.