Introduction to Critical Thinking Final Project: A Critical Thinking Portfolio

Your Final Project for this course is a portfolio of information and resources that one could use to help develop critical thinking in a particular interest, field, or career. Your portfolio should be submitted as a PowerPoint presentation in Blackboard.

If you choose a career your topic might be: "Critical Thinking in ___________________________" (Nursing, Special Education, IT, etc.)

But, you might instead choose a particular interest or field: "Critical Thinking in ___________________________________ " (Parenting, Art, Social Justice, etc.)

Follow the format below to complete your presentation

Presentations should be 15 slides

Slide 1: Introduction slide - Your name & topic

Slide 2: Topic Overview - Description of your topic and why you selected it.

Slide 3-5: Characteristics of a Good Critical Thinker -

For slides 3-5 you will select one of the characteristics of a good critical thinker (below) per slide (3 characteristics total), which you believe to be essential to your topic. For instance for the topic of "Critical Thinking in Art" creative problem solving might be an essential characteristic to develop. Provide not only an explanation of WHY this characteristic is essential to your field, but also a specific example in your topic to illustrate your point. For example: In preparation for, sculptor Richard Serra's retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, the museum faced some major technical challenges. His sculptures were too large, heavy, and complex to install in the museum in a traditional manner, instead, museum staff developed a plan with a team of contractors and architects to remove the entire face of the building and place the large metal forms with cranes. This team used creative problem solving when faced with a challenge.

Characteristics of a Good Critical Thinker (select 3, one per slide)

• Analytical Skills
• Effective Communication
• Research and Inquiry Skills
• Flexible and Tolerance for Ambiguity
• Open-Minded Skepticism
• Creative Problem solving
• Attention, Mindfulness and Curiosity
• Collaborative Learning

Slide 6 - 8: Barriers and Resistances to Good Critical Thinking

For slides 6-8 you will select one of the barriers/resistances to good critical thinking (below) per slide (3 characteristics total), which you believe to be most problematic in your topic. For instance for the topic of "Critical Thinking in Art" fear of challenge might be barrier you view as particularly difficult for an artist to overcome. Provide not only an explanation of WHY this barrier/resistance is essential to overcome in your field, but also a specific example in your topic to illustrate your point.

Barriers/Resistances (select 3, one per slide)

• Avoidance
• Anger
• Denial
• Ignorance
• Clichés
• Conformity
• Distractions
• Absolutism
• Fear of Challenge
• Egocentrism
• Ethnocentrism
• Rationalization
• Stress

Slide 9 & 10: Informal Fallacies

For slides 9 & 10 find an example (1 fallacy per slide) of an informal fallacy being used in something related to your field. You might find a fallacy in an advertisement, a video, a cartoon - fallacies are everywhere! Your resource should be related to your field and you should provide the resource (image or link) as well as a description of what fallacy you found and how it was used. For example, in my topic of "Critical Thinking in Art" I might find an advertisement for a "starving artist" art sale and identify this terminology or details within the ad of using the fallacy of hasty generalization by stereotyping artists as "starving" and in need of help, support, and funding.

Informal Fallacies (select 2, 1 per slide)

Fallacies of Ambiguity

• Equivocation
• Amphiboly
• Accent
• Division
• Composition

Fallacies of Relevance

• Ad Hominem (personal attack)
• Appeal to Force or scare tactic
• Appeal to pity
• Popular appeal
• Appeal to Ignorance
• Hasty generalization
• Straw man
• Red Herring

Fallacies Involving Unwarranted Assumptions

• Begging the question
• Inappropriate Appeal to Authority
• Loaded question
• False Dilemma

Questionable Cause

Slippery Slope

Naturalistic Fallacy

Slide 11 & 12: Moral Dilemmas -

For slides 11 & 12 you will provide examples of individuals within your field that have faced moral dilemmas. Briefly describe the situation and your example of the moral dilemma faced. Then consider which moral theory the individual may have used to work through their challenge. For instance, did the curator of the museum have to consider the consequence of his/her action when they chose to censor the content of the artwork on display? If so, they might have utilized Utilitarianism as that is a moral theory that emphasizes consequences of our actions.

Moral Theories (select 2, 1 per slide)

• Ethical Subjectivism
• Cultural Relativism
• Utilitarianism
• Deontology
• Rights Based Ethics
• Virtue Ethics

Slide 13 & 14 -

Slides 13 &14 are open ended. You may select any of the following critical thinking topics and link them to a resource (video, scholarly article, advertisement, song, cartoon, article, book, journal, magazine, tv show, poem, etc) related to your field to illustrate the importance of this particular component of critical thinking.

Critical Thinking Topics (select 2, 1 per slide)

• Three Stages of Cognitive Development (Dualism, Relativism, Commitment)
• Three Tier Model of Thinking (Experience, Interpretation and analysis)
• The Role of Emotion in Critical Thinking (Emotional Intelligence)
• Faith & Reason (Fideism, Rationalism, Critical Rationalism)
• Use of Language (Informative, Directive, Expressive and Ceremonial)
• Definitions/Evaluating Definitions (Stipulative, Lexical, Precising, Persuasive)
• Communication Styles (Assertive, Aggressive, Passive, Passive Aggressive)
• The Use of Language to Manipulate (Emotive Language and Rhetorical Devices)
• Knowledge & The Human Mind (Empiricism, Rationalism, Structure of the Mind)
• Evidence (Direct Experience, Hearsay, Anecdotal Evidence, Experts)
• Cognitive & Perceptual Errors in Thinking (Gambler's Error, Memorable Events Error, Diffusion of Responsibility Error, etc)
• Marketing and Advertising
• Mass Media in the United States (Media Bias, Media Literacy)
• The Scientific Method & Research Methodology
• Social Contract Theory of Government
• Democracy in the United States

Slide 15: Works Cited/Resources.