Assignment task:
Critical Thinking, Communication, & Value Clarification
SLO: Justify values, determine how they develop, and decide how they affect you. Develop small group collaboration skills. Develop critical thinking skills. Illustrate effective communication skills.
This assignment is an opportunity to practice critical thinking skills, apply reflective listening, develop emotional intelligence, and improve value clarification. Utilize many of the skills/concepts you have learned throughout the course like using "I" statements, exhibiting empathy, interpreting body language, and watching for defense mechanisms.
1. You are to think about a concern/issue that you have in one of the following areas: social, moral, political, family, work, cultural or current news stories. Think about what aspects of the issue or concern that you believe need to be changed.
2. Research background information about your concern; find the history behind it, and what events led up to this point.
3. Find arguments that both support and oppose your view. (CQ Researcher from the online library databases would be a great source.)
4. Try to find 3 people who have a different perspective from you on your issue. Ask their views about your concern and use reflective listening and empathy to understand their stances.
- This is about having a mature conversation. Always show respect even when you may not agree with someone's words. Do your best to put yourself in their shoes and understand the world from their viewpoint.
5. Prepare a PowerPoint presentation of the research you accumulate. Make sure to cite your sources throughout the presentation using APA formatting and provide a slide with your list of references in alphabetical order at the end of the presentation.
In the presentation:
- Provide a title page with your name and presentation topic.
- Explain your topic, define terms that may be unfamiliar to others, provide background about the issue.
- Provide slides with researched information with a minimum of three points that supports your stance and slides with information with a minimum of 3 points that opposes your viewpoint.
- Explain your personal perspective on the topic
- On 3 separate slides, generally describe each individual you interviewed (approximate age, gender, status, etc.) and summarize their key points.
- Provide a conclusion summarizing what you gained from this project.
- Don't forget that reference page.