Week1Assignment_PingLouie

Ping Louie Week 1 Assignment February 5, 2009 Professor Cynthia Wiseman CRT 100 I often have difficulty making decisions. In the process of making a decision, I tend to think what mostly might happen if I did “this.” I know there will always be positive or negative outcomes. I hope in this course, I can make a better judgment. After taking this course, I will expect myself to have some improvement in decision making. Since I have trouble with critical reading, perhaps I can improve on it as well. An example in which I used critical thinking is when I had to decide if I should have McDonald’s fruit salad or Kashi’s Heart to Heart cereal. I haven’t had the fruit salad for a long time and I have been eating Kashi’s cereal for breakfast in a whole week. At that time, I had a bad scrape on my knee. So I had to choose to buy a fruit salad from McDonalds or go to Pathmark and buy another box of Kashi’s cereal. I used price and ingredients to make my decision. The price for the fruit salad is a one time thing. It is quite expensive if I am planning to have it for a week. On the other hand, the Kashi Cereal box was a little bit expensive but I will have it for one whole week. For the ingredients, since I have a scrape, Vitamin B complex should be able to help my skin. The Kashi cereal has complex B vitamins. As for the fruit salad, there was only yogurt, nuts, grapes, and apple slices. At the end, I chose the Kashi cereal. This course can relate to all the subject classes (except for art) I’m taking at school because the reading materials at class require me to think critically. Whatever the materials I’m reading, require me to be an active reader. In my Government class, I had to read materials and think of reasons behind their decision. This is an example of becoming an active reader. This requires thinking critically. In every situation, there is A (the event) + B (the decision) = C (the outcome). I think “Critical Thinking” is in between A and B. If one can analyze a situation with multiple perspectives, one can make a better judgment for oneself. However, sometimes there is more than one solution and that’s when “critical thinking” is a repetitive process. This course allows us to stand firm to our decision after a series of repetitive pure logical thinking process. It is important to incorporate the process “Critical Thinking” throughout our lives because one can make a firm decision with no regrets. If someone doesn’t agree with one’s opinion, he or she will have several reasons to back it up. I often have questions for my government and physics class. In my government class, I often ask, “Why did they do this?” I would not ask “How do they come to the conclusion?” As for physics class, when my teacher made a statement. I tend to ask questions that seem to oppose that statement. For example, if there are an elephant and a mouse falling, which one will fall faster? My teacher’s answer was both will fall at the same time. Then I would say, “but the elephant will touch the ground first and then the mouse.” My physics teacher would tell me that we will learn about it later on. However, that question will keep on clinging on to my mind for a while. I would never ask how people came up with a formula because formulas has been tested many times and was proven correct. a.) Spanish: Why can’t we have more creative assignments? b.) Physics: How do we know which formula to use when reading a problem? c.) English: Why do most English class from different schools read books like “The Scarlet Letter, Macbeth, Of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye, Beowulf, In Cold Blood, The Grapes of Wrath, A Painted House, Going After Cacciato, and The Secret Life of bees” while in my English class, I have to read books such as “Down These Mean Streets, Monster, and Red Scarf Girl?” d.)Government: Why do we have to cut out newspapers and write a description of it? e.) Web Design: Why can’t you teach us how to use Dreamweaver? Are there any other fun projects? ** A.)  ****3 questions I have about critical thinking** ** 1.)** Are there only three parts to Critical Thinking?  **2.)** Can a person who is emotionally disabled be able to use “Critical Thinking” as  a process to a correct judgment? **3.)** In the “Critical Thinking” process, what do you mean by “a question is   empty or not depends on the spirit in which you ask the question?”  ** B.)  ****3 questions I have about how I will be using critical thinking** ** 1.)** Can this critical thinking course be useful to me if I want to study Psychology-   therapy, Neuroscience, philosophy, and sociology?   **2.)** Does this course teach us morals? (I.e. you are what you eat, don’t take what you have for granted) **3.)** Does this course cover only the basics of Critical Thinking?  I should be at least 5 to 10 minutes earlier than the schedule time. I should do things quickly and accurately.   Not only do I study the materials from school, my other resource center should be bookstores and the library.   I should ask my friends to brink out new friends who I don’t know and go hang out. I should get involve in activities such as community service and things that are happening around my neighborhood.   I should first read about how my brain works. I should take quizzes to find out my strengths and weaknesses. I should adjust and try doing puzzles. I should also read literature and do workbooks to improve reading comprehension.   I will have to put a lot of energy in everything I’m learning and writing.  1.) Should I study upstate NY or stay in NYC for college? -If I’m studying upstate, who can take care of my kitten? -If I’m studying upstate, how much stuff can I bring? -If I’m studying upstate, how safe can I be? -If I’m studying in NYC, will I be able to totally concentrate in school work? -If I’m studying in NYC, can I still have independence? -If I’m studying in NYC, how can I get my own room/apartment? 2.) Should I go to a challenging school or a not? -Going to a challenging school, how will I be able to face competitions?  -Going to a challenging school, if I lost in a game, will I be able to pick myself back up    and know that it isn’t my limit?  -If I don’t go to a challenging school, will I also learn as much as going to a challenging    school?  -If I don’t go to a challenging school, will I easily overcome competitions among    students?   1.)  Will this course change the way I think when I’m faced with competition? 2.) Why can’t the web design teacher teach us techniques we can use?   3.)  Why can’t we learn the basics of using Dreamweaver? Situation #1: Actually, this situation is continuing. I want to go away for college but I thought having a kitten would not interfere with my decision. When my older sister said let’s get a kitten, I thought it was okay since I will be going away for college and my sister will be taking care of the kitten. I expected the kitten will not interfere with my school. To me, I put education above health and family. Since I have a kitten, my older sister told me that I’m responsible for the kitten. I thought that she wanted me to have another pet because my first pet died. My first pet died because I didn’t feed it. I was too busy doing my homework. I regretted it. Now, I’m not sure whether I should go away for college or stay in NYC. Situation #2: While cleaning up my bedroom, I have trouble throwing things away. Clothes, books, toys, and even gift wrappers is precious to me. I didn’t want to throw away magazines because I still haven’t finish looking through them. My whole room is filled with clutter. I tried to remind myself that if you want more space, throw it away. You have to become heartless. It was difficult for me. At the end, I couldn’t throw anything away. I just put everything back to where it belonged. (Continue from Situation #2…) Later on, I bought a camera and I thought, since I can’t become heartless throwing stuff away, maybe I can take a picture of the things I want to throw away but can’t bring myself to do it. At first, I began to hate myself being unable to throw stuff away. Now, I feel that it can be a double edge knife. However, it’s a matter of how I approach the situation. At that moment, I realize that this can be a good quality of mine. When I’m around with others, I tend to notice their actions and behaviors. If I see something that seems like uninterested, I quickly switch to a topic in which they are interested in. I’m often correct when noticing whether they pay attention to what I say or not. 1.) During the critical thinking process, there will be a situation that involves responsibility. Is being responsible and having responsibility an emotional thing? If it is emotional, will it interfere with your analyzing ability and making a correct judgment with an outcome you’d believe in? 2.) While reading the text, if there are questions, do we answer them? Will it be collected as a homework grade?
 * __ Journal Writing __**
 * __ Exercise 1 Answer the following questions: __**
 * 1. How does what I learn in this course relate to my own experience? **
 * 2. How can I use what I learn here in my own life? **
 * 3. Can I think up my own examples? **
 * 4. How does this subject matter relate to other courses I am taking? **
 * 5. What is the evidence behind this? **
 * 6. How do the topics in this course fit together? What is the purpose of the course? **
 * 7. Why? **
 * __ Exercise 1, Pt II __**
 * 1. Reflect on your educational experience a little. Which of the questions listed by teachers are ones you tend to ask yourself in courses you are taking? Which of them do you never ask? **
 * 2. Keep a journal of questions that arise during a course you are taking now: questions about the subject matter itself, about how it affects you (or not) about how you can use it, about implications of the course, about the way it is taught, about the assignments given, or about assignments not given. **
 * __ Exercise II __**
 * Write down 3 questions you have about critical thinking. Write down 3 questions you have about how you will be using critical thinking in this course. Of these 6 questions pick out the one you think is the best. If no real questions came to you, even after pushing, what conclusions do you draw from that? **
 * __ Exercise III __**
 * What are some concrete things that I can do… **
 * ** To improve my job performance **
 * ** To make better grades? **
 * ** To meet new people? **
 * ** To read more effectively? **
 * ** To make the subject matter of this course meaningful in my life? **
 * __ Exercise __**
 * ** Identify some situations in your life that are problematic, situations that are not going as well as you think they should. Write them as questions. Be specific in how you describe them. Don’t just say, “How can I get along with my friends?” Focus the question: “How can I best deal with Arthur when I feel him pressuring me to do X when I don’t think I should be doing X?” **
 * ** Write a list of further questions that you should be asking about those situations. **
 * __ Exercise IV __**
 * Keep a journal of questions that arise during a course you are taking now. Questions may be about … **
 * The subject matter itself
 * How it affects you (or does not affect you)
 * How you can use this knowledge
 * Implications of the course
 * The way the course is taught
 * The assignments given
 * The assignments not given
 * Exercise V **
 * ** Describe situations in which your emotions led you astray in your reasoning. **
 * ** Describe some situations in which your emotions made a positive contribution to your reasoning. **
 * ** Try to discover patterns in your emotional reactions so you can assess when your emotions tend to be accurate. **
 * Personal Questions: **