Critical Thinking Written Assignment
Group Feedback
I have finished grading all of the Critical
Thinking papers I received and I feel it is helpful to you if I give you some
group feedback on what I noticed as I graded them. Please note that the specific things I mention below may or
may not relate to you. In many
cases, I have given each of you specific feedback as necessary. I would prefer to deliver this group
feedback in person so I could spontaneously answer your questions but since we
don’t meet next week, a blog post will have to suffice. I will regularly give
you this type of feedback, individually and as a group, to help you refine your
writing and analytical skills, as well as be better equipped to meet future
challenges inherent in your academic and professional pursuit.
Your first written assignment on the topic of
critical thinking helped me to get acquainted with your writing style, approach
to decision-making and leadership. As I read what each of you wrote, I often
saw glimpses of your unique analytical philosophy and I got to know you better
as a result.
I was impressed by the way you embraced the
concepts presented by Paul & Elder in this small booklet. Many of you
were very excited about the opportunity to apply new aspects of this very
transferable skill personally. It was obvious that all of you read the material
thoroughly. Many of you provided personal examples to illustrate your
answers. This helped me recognize your level of interest in the subject
matter and the automatic connection you were making between critical thinking
and practical aspects of your life. I encourage all of you to provide
a few "real life" examples (professional or personal) to illustrate
the concepts we will discuss in future lessons. This is my strong
recommendation but please don't overuse it. To be sure, every point you
make does not require an example. In addition, be sure that any
illustrations you include work to support the point you are making.
In addition, I encourage all of you to elaborate on
general statements you make. Some of
you do this very well already and need no refinement in this area. All of you had interesting
insight into critical thinking and frequently I found myself wanting to hear
more from you about some specific aspects you mentioned. This balance
between providing sufficient detail and yet remaining succinct will be even
more of a challenge as we move to the Applied Theory assignments very quickly.
Suggestions for successful future assignments:
Please write your papers in a Word-compatible
document before you submit it. ANGEL
has a difficult time interfacing with some other programs, including Apple's
Mac-based software (I learned this the hard way). Do not use the blank
form at the bottom of the submission page to submit your paper to me. I cannot offer specific feedback if you
do it this way.
For the sake of consistency, I prefer a 12 point
professional font (Times New Roman,
Cambria, Courier, etc) 1.5 spacing, with section headings and a reference
page where appropriate. Either MLA or APA guidelines will work.
The choice to include bulleted lists, outlines or
tables is up to you. These are very acceptable to me for some of the
future assignments in our course.
I will help you identify when this may be appropriate.
Please name the documents you submit as
follows: Your first and last name followed by an abbreviated name for the
specific assignment (for example, “Diane
Waisner Critical Thinking”). Your filename must always begin with your
name so I won't lose sight of it after I download it into my system to grade
it. Many of you remembered to do
it this way and I noted it but several of you failed to do this (I made a real
point to discuss this in our first class). Because this was your first paper for our class, I did not
hold any of you accountable if you failed to name your paper this way, I did
that myself. However, I may subtract
points from your future papers if this simple requirement is not adhered to
consistently. This may seem like a
minor issue but it can be a real pain for me if everyone names her/his
individual paper “critical thinking paper.” Imagine trying to keep 16+ of those files distinguished in
your own Word folder.
Pay very close attention to the required elements
for each assignment as they are clarified and defined in the appropriate folder
on ANGEL, rather than going by a more general discussion we may have in class
or what is included in the summary Course Assignment table we reviewed
together. You will be held accountable for the elements of the assignment as they
are described in the folder on our course site. I specifically review every paper to make sure you answer my
questions thoroughly, etc.
Feel free to convert
any Organizational Development tailored questions to your own field of study,
if it isn’t OD (fundraising, project management, management, etc.), and answer
them as is appropriate for that venue.
Please ask me if you have a question about this.
Finally, many of you are accomplished writers and
this makes it easier for me to follow your line of thought when grading your
work. None of us is perfect
grammatically, however, and proofing your own work thoroughly can be
tricky. I encourage you to watch your use (or lack) of commas, tense agreements
within a sentence, and plural/singular agreement between the subject and verb
in a statement. These are the
errors I see repeated most often.
The following comment is directed to those of you
who received a greater volume of individual critique from me as I graded your
assignment. Please don't be discouraged. I spend a significant
amount of time offering feedback in the hope that you will receive it in the
spirit in which it is given. I want you to be successful!
Anticipating your success,
Diane
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