Critical Thinking about Critical Thinking

Midterm Video Project: “What is Critical Thinking??”


For this project, I want you to tackle the complex question of “What is Critical Thinking?”

What does the term mean, how is it defined in various academic disciplines, how is it used in educational and other circles? Generate specific examples. Why is Critical Thinking important? How can it be used in college and beyond? Generate specific examples of this too. Where do we find Critical Thinking at work on a college campus? In what ways do we, as a community, engage in it and to what purposes? Where might we need to inject a bit more Critical Thinking skills, practices, or principles? Try to be as innovative and distinctive as possible in your exploration of answers to these questions. Everyone starts with the same basic question, and the challenge is to go beyond the obvious or simple truths to craft unique answers.

We have begun to answer these questions in our INQ class, and other (sometimes similar, sometimes different) answers have been explored in your Critical Thinking class. Use all of this data as a starting point in addition to the readings, videos, discussions, etc. you have been exposed to in this class and others. In exploring your question and possible answers, start first with the ideas you’ve gathered from the reading and also find and use one book or article from the library (you will need to cite any sources you use so be sure to note where you’re getting your information from). Then add your own voice and ideas to the discussion.

Next, you will need to go out onto the campus and do some on-the-ground research. You will need to interview at least 2 faculty or staff members, at least 3 undergraduate students, and at least 1 older student/role model (a CC, a team captain, student leader of a club or organization, an OA or peer mentor, etc.). Ask all of the people you interview a short series of questions and take notes or video footage or both for use in the final video project.

The final step involves interpreting the findings and crafting them into an informative and interesting video project. The project should have a clear beginning, middle, and end that moves through the following elements:

1) framing the question and providing some context for the project,

2) exploring answers to your question from multiple perspectives,

3) providing some closure from your perspective, some “so what?” or “what have we learned?” to leave the viewer with at the end of the video.

This project requires you to create a short video, not a set of PowerPoint slides. It is not a presentation project; your video needs to stand alone and run on its own. It is possible to create such a digital project using PowerPoint, but it is much easier and more professional if done in iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, or other video creation software. The final video should be about 8 minutes long.

The first draft of this project is due Oct 13, but you will have much opportunity for revision and fine-tuning. The final version of this project is due Oct 25. It should be uploaded to YouTube and linked to on your blog. I would also like a hard copy burned onto a CD (and tested to make sure it works).