Final discussion questions: #3

The concept from critical thinking that I felt could have used further discussion over the course of the semester was the concept of counterarguments. I believe that counterarguments is possibly the most important chapter in the entire Epstein text because the basis of critical thinking is arguments, and the concept of counterarguments could be interpreted as half of the knowledge needed to understand arguments fully. I also felt that within the subject of counterarguments the Epstein text failed to elaborate on the concept of refuting an argument properly, there was far too little present in terms of basic explanation and definition to learn the concepts without turning to outside resources. This is all not to say that I did not learn and understand the concept, but merely that I felt that this concept is immensely important and the text seemingly sweeps it under the rug rather than choosing to emphasize learning the nuances of a vast subject.

Final discussion questions: #2

Favorite: My favorite thing about this class was the well structured range of assignments, it seemed as though all of the assignments had great teaching materials provided as well as an easy to understand example when necessary. Additionally all of the assignments had the proper amount of spacing between them, which balanced well with the difficulty of assignments making for a class that required you to learn the material, while never pushing the stress level greatly.

Least Favorite: My least favorite thing about the class was the tests, although I read the book and took notes to accompany my online assignments going into the tests I never knew exactly what the material was going to be. While knowing which chapters the tests are concerning is one thing, a pseudo-study guide would definitely help so that the students know which particular concepts within the chapters are most important to know for the test.

One to improve upon: The only thing about this course that I would change without having to debate myself would be the due dates for the assignments, in that I would push them back to Sunday, or add another day onto the work week provided. I say this because many of those who choose to take online courses, myself included, have absolutely no time within the regular confines of the work day. With that said the requirements of spacing blog submissions by at least twelve hours was incredibly difficult, I had to do much of my work in the middle of the night for this course after I had finally gotten home - being that Sunday is the one day of my week that I dedicate entirely to school work it would've helped to have the blog post time frame to end on Sunday night, although this is all in the end personal preference.

Final discussion questions: #1

Over the course of the semester I have learned how to facilitate better discussion through critical thinking concepts, as well as further developing my ability to present well structured arguments. The basis of my learning this semester in Comm 41 is based around the concept of interacting claims, and how certain types of claims can be built upon to construct the best argument possible - achieving the ultimate goal of critical thinking, convincing the opposing party to accept your argument as truth.

Perhaps the most important lesson I can take from this course is the application of critical thinking concepts to group work, knowing the proper way to communicate and convey ideas to others within a work setting is vital to  functioning as an efficient worker. Through participation in group activities, particularly the filming of the third project involving group facilitation, I learned a great deal about not only participating in discussions but facilitating them as well. I believe that this skill is the most important thing I have learned all semester in Comm 41, as bringing about quality ideas from others is an incredibly useful ability in the corporate world.