For this study group, we are going to discuss critical thinking, bloom's taxonomy and strategies to improve your reading and thinking skills. 

Before this study group, students should view the powerpoint from the A+ Student Strategies workshop.  Be familiar with the content of this powerpoint, make notes where you want more information (i.e. where the powerpoint slide is not sufficient in explaining what is going on in the slide).  Access the powerpoint here  (the powerpoint will be on the right side of the screen, more information on reading, critical thinking and study tips are on the left side)

check your understanding of:

Schema

Learning Process

     What is input?

     What is understanding?

     What is analysis?

     What is evaluation?

     What is output?

Says/Does

PTR2

SQ3R

MindMaps

Bloom's Taxonomy

In class we will also discuss:

The Learning Process

Using the W Questions:

What, who, where, why, and how

On your own you should:

Tour the Pro/Con site that does a critical review of a current issue, and this will introduce you to a model of how to think critically about this site and do academic research.

 Here are some of the sources that are useful:

• A great source of topics to begin to think about critical thinking, reading & research is ...
•  http://www.procon.org/ 
• Here's a link to a model of critical analysis called PTR2
• PTR2 Presentation.pptx  
• Sample PTR2 - vaccine 
• Pro Con slides with PTR2.pptx  
• http://www.jcu.edu.au/tldinfo/learningskills/mindmap/ 

Watch this video on "Effective Thinking" - why failure and asking questions are the keys to thinking better http://bigthink.com/big-think-tv/the-5-elements-of-effective-thinking-interview-with-edward-burger