Assignment:

CRICTICAL THINKING

1. In chapter 3 of our text, Paul and Elder encourage you to "connect academic subjects to your life and problems." This often seems challenging since many of the subjects you are learning seem irrelevant to your life. But, are they really? Let's try an experiment and see.

Pick a subject you are studying or have studied that you think is irrelevant to you. Now, choose something (another subject you are studying or have studied that you are interested in or anything else in your life you are interested in) and find the connection between that thing and the "irrelevant" subject you are studying. You might be surprised at the hidden connections.

Your explanations should have reasons that support them and make use of the concepts in the textbook.

2. Here's something a little troubling to consider related to our discussion topic of "activated ignorance." Our text refers to this briefly but it is worth considering in more depth as we are engaging in critical thinking.

As I've mentioned before we all have beliefs and merely having them is nothing special. What's worse is that it is quite likely that we are all holding some beliefs right now that are simply and demonstrably false. You have such beliefs and so do I. The question is what should we do about this? A good critical thinker might want to subject them to scrutiny. Here's a handy tool to use: the baloney detection kit. How can you apply this kit to your beliefs?

Your explanations should have reasons that support them and that make use of the concepts in the textbook.

LEARNING STRAGIES

3. Universities and college require documentation or citing, such as APA, to identify the ideas of authors and organizations in scholarly work. Students are often frustrated by the rules and regulations set up by APA, MLA and other similar groups. In 150 words or more, share your ideas on the following question. What do you think would be the impact on scholarly research if colleges did not require APA or another form of citing?

4. Review the LEAD (Learning Evaluation and Assessment Directory), on page 107 of your textbook to help you determine your dominant learning style. Choices include visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles. Different learning styles should be combined to reinforce one another to make your learning more effective. In 150 words or more, how does your dominant intelligence, personality, and learning style align with your career choice? Describe what additional skills would enhance your learning ability in college or your career.

Accounting

5. If total debits equal total credits in a trial balance, is it free of errors? Explain.
6. The Beach House Accounting firm needs to adjust its books at the end of the year. The firm's year end is December 31st. The accountant noted the following transactions:

1. On June 1st, the firm prepaid one year of its rent.

2. On July 1st, the firm received a payment from a client in the amount of $5,000. The client paid $5,000 as a prepayment of the current year accounting fees. At year end, the firm had only completed 75% of the current year's accounting services for the client.

At December 31st, how much rent expense should the firm record under the cash basis and under the accrual basis? Also, at December 31st, how much revenue should the firm record from the client under the cash basis and under the accrual basis? Explain your answers.

Which basis of accounting more clearly reflects the income and expense of the organization? Why? How might the method of reporting skew the true picture of the year's record?

STAFFING ORGANIZATIONS

1. As an employee, what have you experienced regarding the federal employment laws governing staffing? Do you feel your organization was ethical and in compliance with the federal laws and regulations? Why, or why not?

2. If you ask some managers about conducting job analyses, you may get a very negative response. Why do you think some organizations choose to not perform job analyses given their benefits?