Module 3 - Selecting and Describing a Topic

Activity 1 : : Activity 2 : : Activity 3 : : Activity 4

Activity 4: Taskstream 

Now that you have completed Module 3 you are ready to work on RUA1 Task 1 in TaskStream. Read through the task directions for Tasks 1A and 1B.  Your response to Task 1A should be a maximum of 2 to 3 pages, double spaced.  Your response to each of the questions on Task 1B will likely be a paragraph or shorter in length.  You might want to write draft responses on one day and then come back to them the next day for editing and submission.  These edited responses can then be submitted in TaskStream as an attachment.  Be sure to read the grading rubric for Task 1 to confirm that you have included all the elements a grader will look for. This rubric is an attachment to the task description in TaskStream.

• After Reading Chapter One in Learning to Think Things Through and Chapter One in Asking the Right Questions, choose a problem/topic from the attached list. The topics are deliberately broad, which allows you to focus your attention in a direction of interest to you. This can be done immediately if you already have a specific interest or you can begin your research and get some ideas from varying perspectives about ways you might want to refine your focus. By the time you begin Task 3, you should have a specific focus to your topic. Because Critical Thinking is a systematic process, you must stay with the topic you choose throughout RUA1 and RUA2. If you choose to change topics, you will be required to begin again at Task 1.
• Follow the instructions for logging into the library and finding your way to the Opposing Viewpoints database. Instructions are given in a blog post in the CLRPS Community. This is a good place to begin your research, a good place to find varying viewpoints on the topic you’ve chosen, but you can also gather information from various sources and databases.
• The purpose of Task 1A is to give you a baseline, a starting point on your thinking process. It gives you a chance to explore what you already know about the topic and write down your initial views on the topic as they now stand. You may use the  Opposing Viewpoint essays to gather information if you don’t already have prior knowledge and opinions of your own about your chosen topic.
• As you answer the question posed in Task 1B, be sure to read the entire question—in both large type and small type—and answer each part of the question posed.
• Critical Thinking about your topic cannot be done without a continual assessment of your own thinking process. Reflection on your own thinking is an essential element of critical thinking. It is optional, but often helpful, to keep a journal of your thoughts and ideas about your topic and about your own thinking process, and changes in either. In future tasks you will be asked to evaluate the evolution of your thinking process.
• If you refer to content from outside resources, be sure to identify your source, using APA. Here is a good resource for APA citation information: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c09_s1.html .

Please feel free to contact the Critical Thinking mentors through the RUA community if you have further questions.