October 17, 2017

Critical Thinking

This assignment is worth 10%.

Due Dates

Part 1 – Rough draft – end of week 3
Part 2 – Peer review – end of week 4
Part 3 – Final draft – end of week 5

Critical thinking is an essential component of leadership because there is an intelligence to practice. This practical wisdom or phronesis is an intellectual virtue incorporating discernment and judgment and is enhanced through practice. How does a leader in your context incorporate critical thinking? To prime your thinking, view the following videos (total of just under 25 minutes). Then explore the website www.criticalthinking.org. These should give you enough information to complete this assignment. You may also research other sources but remember the emphasis of this paper is on applied critical thinking in your leadership context.

Videos and Resources

Task

Part 1 – Rough draft

Using the resources above, and others you will need to find in the TWU Library, discuss how a leader in your context incorporates critical thinking into their decision making. Please identify at least four specific strategies that they use and include examples of each strategy.

Your paper should be referenced in APA format and include references to at least two of the videos listed above, two references to criticalthinking.org, and two scholarly articles. You should be able to complete this assignment in 750-1000 words.

Please complete this assignment in a word processing document, such as MS Word.

Part 2 – Peer Review

On the Monday of week four, you will exchange papers with a partner in the class and perform a peer review for each other. Your peer review should be collegial and address issues like grammar and structure as well as the quality of arguments and evidence presented in the paper.

Your feedback to your partner should be 150-250 words and may be provided in point form.

Peer Review Protocol

Upload your paper as an attachment to the appropriate discussion forum in Moodle (login required) by the end of week 3 (Sunday night).

Your instructor will assign partners and post the partnerships in the description of the forum in Moodle.

Once your partner has posted their paper, download it to your own computer, read it, and make notes according to grammar, composition, and content as prescribed by the assignment. Make notes about the strengths of your partner’s paper as well as areas to work on (clarify, more analysis, more personal application).

Summarize your notes in a response to your partner’s forum post in 150-250 words by the end of week 4 (Sunday night). Please remember that your response will be visible to all members of the class in the forum.

Please remember!

Be Kind: Always treat others with dignity and respect. This means we never use words that are hurtful, including sarcasm.
Be Specific: Focus on particular strengths and weaknesses, rather than making general comments like “It’s good” or “I like it.” Provide insight into why it is good or what, specifically, you like about it.
Be Helpful: The goal is to positively contribute to the individual or the group, not to simply be heard. Echoing the thoughts of others or cleverly pointing out details that are irrelevant wastes time.
Participate: Peer critique is a process to support each other, and your feedback is valued!
When critiquing a peer’s work, use “I” statements. For example, “I’m confused by this part,” rather than “This part makes no sense.”
Use questions whenever possible. For example
I’m curious why you chose to begin with…?
Did you consider adding…?
What evidence do you have for…?

Remember the three important phrases:

“I notice….”

“I wonder….”

“If this were my work, I would….”

Part 3 – Final draft

Once you have received feedback from your partner, please revise your paper incorporating your peer-reviewer’s recommendations. You are encouraged to interact with your reviewer in the forum if you need clarification. You are not required to address every item that your peer-reviewer mentions in their review of your paper.

Submit your final paper to the appropriate assignment dropbox in Moodle by the** end of week 5 (Sunday night).**

Assessment

The Critical Thinking paper will be assessed according to the Rubric posted in the “Peer Review Forum” in Moodle. The “Distinguished” paper, will include the following:

APA/WRITING: Paper is an exemplar of language and conventions used in scholarly literature. Writing is well-organized and free of errors in grammar or composition. All resources are appropriately cited. No errors in APA format.

DEVELOPING a COHESIVE and LOGICAL ACADEMIC ARGUMENT : Makes a focused, cohesive, logical and compelling argument. Paper is effectively organized and includes an introduction, body, and conclusion. Transitions between sections and ideas are clear, and build on each other.

ANALYSIS of CRITICAL THINKING STRATEGIES: Clearly outlines and analyzes four strategies related to the significance of critical thinking in a specific professional context. Includes a clear and relevant illustrative example for each of the four strategies. Advances the argument substantively through these examples.

SCHOLARLY INTEGRATION: Integrates references to support the four strategies discussed in the paper. These include two references from specified videos, two references from criticalthinking.org, and two references to peer-reviewed scholarly literature, plus references to additional scholarly literature.

COLLABORATIVE LEARNING: Provides substantive peer review feedback on initial version of paper to one colleagues in the class. Feedback advances the learner’s scholarly thinking, connects them with new scholarly resources, and/or results in a stronger academic argument.