Exercise 2 Parts A and B

Exercise 2: Developing anddemonstrating Critical Thinking and Critical Reading through assessing a piece of writing supplied by another source.

Writing items might be reports, essays, editorials, proposals / plans, correspondence, or speech transcript, but should be nonfiction. Sources could be a colleague, student, media representative, politician, policy developer, even friend or family member.

Part A. Assess the writing from a critical perspective. You may use the 10 domains and scales, the dimensions from the Zone of Criticality

Part B.Given your assessment, draft an evaluative statement critiquing the writing and providing detailed feedback on strengths and weaknesses from a critical standpoint, including recommendations to the author on how the piece might be improved (again, from that critical perspective).

You do not have to provide the feedback to the individual, but that task, in itself, requires considerable Critical Thinking and construction, not to mention tact and diplomacy and should be a goal to strive toward.

Exercise 3 Parts A and B

Part A.This exercise has you describe an encounter, performance, or situation in which you were involved that did not go as expected or as well as you would have liked. It could be a conflict, failure, accident, or disappointment. Though a "one off" is okay, it would be particularly useful for you to detail an experience that has happened more than once or could easily recur.This gives you more to work with and, perhaps, the learning will be more valuable.

Write your experience here.

The following questions are designed to help you organise your response.There are no word limits or length recommendations.

1. Describe the encounter, performance, or situation.What happened? Who else was involved (if relevant)? When and where did this happen. What was the result and why was it significant enough to write about here?

1. How (if at all) might this encounter, performance, or situation be similar to other experiences you have had (or observed or heard about)?

1. What do you believe went wrong and why do you think so? Why and how did this happen?

4a. What else was going on at the time or around you that may have contributed to the undesirable event, mishap, or situation?

4b. Were any of those things within your control? Explore.

1. What was it about other persons involved or circumstances that upset you or complicated things?

1. How did you behave at the time that may have exacerbated the situation (added fuel to the fire)?

1. What, if anything, did you do at the time (or immediately following) to repair the situation or address the shortcomings that allowed it to happen in the first place?

1. What do you wish you could have done differently? How might you have dealt with this more productively?

1. How might you prevent something like this from recurring?

1. What, if any, long-term consequences remain from the occurrence?

1. Are there residual effects that you feel worth trying to fix? Explain your reasoning.

1. Describe your life if you were master of the knowledge, skills, and behaviours that kept you out of trouble such as the experience you related. What would be different? How would you feel?

1. Having explored this experience thoroughly and objectively, what is your big "take away"? your main learning? Will you do anything differently in the future?

Part B.Going back through your responses should help you determine how well you are employing a critical stance to your experience, and may reveal useful insights about your behaviour or suggest skills to develop or approaches to try that may serve to improve your effectiveness.

Further critically reflective questions regarding the encounter, performance, or situation you explored above.

• How objective am I concerning this experience and its cause? How can I ascertain how objective I am being?
• What can I do to increase the objectivity of my analysis and conclusions? What data or other perspectives might help, and how can I obtain them?
• What beliefs or assumptions underlie my analysis and conclusions that remain implicit, taken as given, or subconscious, and need to be surfaced and tested for validity?
• What might I not be seeing or judging fairly?
• How is my behaviour undermining my effectiveness?
• How does my ego get in the way of healthy relationships? -of my need to learn and change?
• Might I be externalising the blame for something I don't like (not accepting responsibility for my own actions and disappointments)?

Add any parting thoughts here, and commit to returning to this exercise in the future to see if you have learned and are applying the fruits of your Critical Reflections.

Exercise 4 Parts A and B

Part A.This exercise has you listen to any speech, lecture, media report, or other spoken work with a duration of at least a couple of minutes. Almost anything can work, including a segment from a movie. The intent is to develop your Critical Listening skills. One way to check your work and make the task a little more interesting and fun is to have a friend, colleague, or family member listen to the same statement, report, or speech and compare what you heard and your assessments of what it meant, its logic, truthfulness / believability, and overall worthiness.

Part B.Answering the following additional questions as honestly and completely as possible should help you further develop your Critical Listening capacity.

1. What about the nature / character (background, mannerisms, appearance, body language) of the speaker influenced your perception, interpretation, and assessment of the message content (favourably or unfavourably)? Be specific.

1. How did the context affect your perception, interpretation, and assessment of the message content (favourably or unfavourably)? Be specific. This could be the place (surrounds) where the statement originated, or could be what else might be going on the world that could influence the speaker's motive or your evaluation.

1. What preconceived notions, previous knowledge, biases, beliefs, assumptions, or values of yours might have influenced your perception, interpretation, and assessment of the message content (favourably or unfavourably), why, and how? Be specific.

1. Was anything said that contradicts or conflicts with your understanding , beliefs, and values, and how did this affect your perception, interpretation, and assessment of the message content (favourably or unfavourably), why, and how? Be specific.

1. If you had a partner listening, how did what he or she "pick up" differ from you heard or how you interpreted it? What might explain any differences?

Exercise 5 Parts A and B

Part A.The first task in this exercise has you write a statement of 250-500 words. The statement could be a proposal, report, accounting, essay, editorial, product or service evaluation, or testimonial?anything where you have an opinion, conclusion, or recommendation.

Perspectivity 1 2 3 4 5 6 Thoroughgoingness 1 2 3 4 in 5 6 Veracity 1 2 3 4 x+ 5 6 7 7 8 7 8 00 9 10 9 10 6 8 6 10 p Evidence 1 Extension 1 22 3 4 5 in 3 4 5 Values, Morality, and Ethics 1 2 3 4 5 66 60 7 8 9 10 7 8 9 10 7 8 9 10 Big Picture 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Logic and Rigour 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Exploration and Speculation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Awareness of Subjectivity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Set Total