Welcome to CS114Academic Strategies

Unit 6Prof Brooke

AGENDA

Tonight we will cover: Announcements Reminders Critical Thinking Internet Research Getting started with assignment

Please ask questions at any time just raise your hand //

Announcements

CongratsAll is Graded-check your gradebook

Are you where you should be?

Contact Information

The fastest way to contact me is by email: bestabrookfishinghawk@kaplan.edu

AIM Office Hours (ID: drskmbuddy)Mondays 8-10am, ET Make sure you identify name, course and seminar time

Virtual Office

Questions

Please ask any questions you have. If you would like to inquire about grades I will be able to do a private chat (PM) towards the end of seminar.

Reading and Critical Thinking

“Critical thinking” refers to a disciplined approach of analysis (breakdown) and evaluation (scrutiny) of information. It is “critical” in that it is methodical and deliberate, in contrast to random and coincidental. The process includes but is not limited to experience, observation, interpretation, calculation, understanding actions and consequences, formulating theories and solutions to problems, looking for changes, looking at situations from more than one vantage point, and researching for more clues.

Critical thinking is a crucial part of a lifelong learner’s responsibility

Reasoning

Deductive and inductive reasoning

Deductive = generalization leads to specific information (finding the effect)

Examples: 1) It has been proven that magnetic opposites attract, and so these magnets in my

hands will stick together when I find the opposite polarities. 2) The law of gravity leads me

to believe that if I let go of my notebook, it will fall to the floor.

Inductive = specific information leads to generalization (finding the rule)

Examples: 1) The magnets in my hands stick together if I find the opposite polarities, which

proves that magnetic opposites attract. 2) I let go of my notebook and it fell to the floor,

which proves the law of gravity.

Fallacies

FallaciesA fallacy is a statement made typically based on erroneous or

potentially deceptive information.

Fallacyfiles.org defines a logical fallacy as “a mistake in reasoning.” The study and identification of fallacies goes back to Plato and Aristotle, and we look at these “arguments” to be able to identify inaccuracies in others’ statements while reading or researching.

Examples

Appeal to Authority – the person is not an expert.“I’m not a doctor but I play one on TV” (1980s ad).

Appeal to Emotion – the manipulation of one’s emotions; appeals to fear, flattery, and pity are specific appeals to emotion.

“My grandmother is in the hospital and is really sick, but I worked on my paper while

waiting in the hospital, and I think I deserve an A.”

Appeal to Fear – creating fear or dread.“My grandmother is the dean and she’ll want to see that I earned an A.”

Appeal to Flattery – using a compliment to distract the listener.“What a great looking tie, Professor! By the way, did you grade my paper yet?”

Appeal to Novelty – because it’s new, it must be better.“New and improved” - packaging and advertising for many, many products.

Examples part two

Appeal to Pity – playing upon the sympathies of the listener.“I’m so sorry I didn’t do the project, Professor. I’ve had such a bad week, dealingwith my sister’s seven kids, the garage door broke, my husband just lost his job ...”Red Herring – distracting the listener with irrelevant information. In fox hunting, a

driedred herring is sometimes dragged along the trail in order to throw the hounds off of thefox’s scent; the process prolongs the chase and helps train the dogs to follow the lesspungent scent. This is a general category of fallacies, within which you may find other,more specific kinds such as Bandwagon.“You say we should write down our professional goals, but what about people whodon’t like to write?”Slippery Slope (also known as the Camel’s Nose) – one thing leads to another, which

leadsto another, and so on, leading the reader away from the original event or thought.“If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” is a kids’ book that illustrates this: If you give themouse a cookie, he’ll want milk. If you give him milk, he’ll want this. If you give himthis, he’ll want that, and so forth. You’ve completely drawn the reader away fromthe original premise, that the mouse wants a cookie. (Note: this particular story iscircular and brings us back to the cookie, so it is not a perfect slippery slope.)

Scientific Method

The Scientific Method1. Observation and description of phenomena, including

quantifying data2. Theorizing (forming a hypothesis or hypotheses) to explain

the observations3. Predicting outcomes by deductive reasoning, including

quantitative predictions4. Testing predictions through sampling the range of

possibilities, eliminating alternatives, and coming to a conclusion with a) identification of causes, b) correlation with observed data, and c) in a logical time-order relationship

Searching

Search engines are sites that produce computer-generated list of websites. They start with a“spider” (also called a bot or crawler) that searches the web. A web page index is created from the results of the spider’s search. A search box then provides a place for the human user to type keywords and search the entries within the index. Search engines contain a large number of sites and can be effectively used for research.

Meta-search engines compile lists by looking for results from other search engines. The results, however, are not as extensive as using a regular search engine. Example: using the keyword “technology” on June 10, 2008 netted only 88 results at meta-searcher dogpile compared to 1,240,000,000 at Google. Using a regular search engine, narrowed by certain techniques, can net better results for someone doing academic research.

Cornell

Search engines use keywords – the words which are most important – to locate web pages.

Even though some students may feel compelled to type a full question in the search box, using only keywords will bring a clearer result. More details about how to narrow your search results are learned from information in the unit.

Evaluation

♦ Find and evaluate the home page by eliminating all parts of the address that follow thedomain extension.♦ Associations and societies with statistics can be useful, but accuracy must still bedetermined, as there may be a hidden agenda behind the presentation of thesestatistics.♦ Avoid sites that promote an opinion, use overly conversational writing, have an“attitude,” or include the slightest bit of profanity, as the seriousness of intent andscholarship cannot be determined.♦ Do not use message boards, blogs, or chat rooms as academic sources, since they areconsidered casual conversation.

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html

Fun-thinkers

Q: Two women play five games of checkers. Each wins the same number of games,but there are no ties. How can this be?

A: The women are not playing against each other.

Q: If you have only one match and you walked into a room where there was an oilburner, a kerosene lamp, and a wood burning stove, what would you light first?

A: The match must be lit before any of the other items could be lit.

Q: How far can a dog run into the woods?

A: Only halfway through the woods, because after that, he is running out of the woods.

Q: A farmer has 17 trees, and all but 9 die. How many are left?

A: There are 9 that did not die, so 9 are left.

To Do

Seminar DONEReadingUnit Assignment for Unit 63 posts on 3 different days---1 response to

main prompt with at least 150 words—first post no LATER than Saturday

Well Done

Questions? Thanks for a wonderful Seminar – have a

fantastic week. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact me via Kaplan email or AIM.