First Day Slide Show

First Day Slide Show CRTW 201 Dr. Fike

Calling the Role • I do not take attendance until our 3rd class meeting. • But I will practice your names by calling the role.

Important Information • This course is on Blackboard. Your syllabi and calendar are available there. • Some of the course materials are available at http://faculty.winthrop.edu/fikem. • You are not required to print off the syllabus, calendar, or paper assignments. But you should read the syllabus soon.

Two Questions • What have you heard about this class? In other words, what assumptions do you bring with you? • What do you think critical thinking (CT) IS? Let’s talk about it.

Some Responses • Here is a sign that WU assigns great importance to CRTW: we are the only university in SC that has a CT course. Consider it a luxury or privilege that you get to take the course. • You are all critical thinkers already, but this course will give you a vocabulary of critical reading, thinking, and writing processes, along with many opportunities to practice. • It is a bit like the Eskimos and snow: if you increase your vocabulary, you will perceive fine distinctions.

Ludwig Wittgenstein • “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” • If you expand your CT vocabulary, the practice that this course offers should make you a significantly better critical thinker.

“So what?” • The course is not discrete (that is, separate from the rest of the curriculum). The university wants you to apply the elements, the standards, and various critical reading and writing techniques in your other courses. • Think of CRTW as follows: it provides a “toolbox” of critical reading, writing, and thinking techniques that you should implement in other courses and can carry into your non-academic life. • Note that “So what?” is one of the key questions that you must ask as you push toward interpretations.

Cost/Benefit Analysis • You paid lots of money for the course; therefore, you owe it to yourself to give it a fair shot. • Don’t say things like, “Everything I need to know about critical thinking I learned in high school AP English.” • Analogy to Zen story from HMXP. • If you have negative assumptions, let them go so that you can engage in the process that the calendar maps out. You can’t get out of it, so you might as well get into it. • If you can’t get into it, FAKE it. Eventually your doubts should fade away. Behavior precedes and colors belief.

FAQ • Q: What is the format of CRTW 201? • A: Discussion, group work, group presentations. I will hardly ever lecture about anything. • Q: What distinguishes this section from other instructors’ sections? • A: Three texts from Ways of Reading, various critical reading strategies from Writing Analytically, and The Future of Life. This section does not require more reading than others do, but some of the readings are more challenging than you would encounter in other sections.

FAQ, continued • Q: How many books to we have to buy? • A: Nosichand Wilson are required texts and you must buy or copy them. Ways and WA are on reserve at the library, but the three Waystexts are linked to the course calendar. There are no assignments in WA, though I will refer to it frequently. I assume that you already have a college-level handbook (Prentice Hall or some other); if not, buy one. • Q: What are my main assumptions in preparing this course? • A: You should read interesting, challenging texts. You should learn from each other. You should pass if you attend, participate, and do all the assignments. (Ten percent of your grade is for class presence. If you lose that because of absences and tardies, you may have to repeat the course.)

FAQ, continued • Q: What is the history of this course? • A: Long story. • Q: Tell us something about yourself. • Ph.D., University of Michigan, 1988. • From Holland, Michigan. • I do psychological readings of literature. • Full professor since 2011.

True or False or To What Extent? • “This is an English or writing course.” • If this is true, it is true only to some extent. You do have to read texts and write papers, but none of the readings are purely literary texts, and CRTW is a “skills” course rather than a pure “content” course. • To answer either true or false is to do what Nosich calls “black-and-white thinking.” Asking, “To what extent?” is a helpful tool from WA.

A Drawing Exercise • Write “Critical Reading, Thinking, Writing” in your notebook. Using the letters C, R, T, and W, draw the course. In other words, create a diagram that shows the relationships among reading, thinking, and writing. Some of you should do so on the board. Note: Various answers are possible.

Critical READING, Thinking, Writing • READING is the foundation for our thinking and writing. • If you want to do CT, you have to have something to do CT about. • The goal, in other words, is not to memorize what you read but to understand it.

What Not To Say • “The stories are boring!” • We’re not reading any fiction, first of all. Calling a nonfiction essay or a book chapter a story is like calling a symphony a song. • TRY! Get engaged. Be active, not passive. Bring notes, comments, and questions to class.

My Role: An SEE-I • State: A CRTW instructor is a facilitator of students’ learning. • Elaborate: In other words, his job is to create opportunities for students to interact. • Exemplify: For example, he sets up group work but does not lecture. • Illustrate (analogy, comparison): He’s like a coach—a coach knows a lot about his sport, but his job is to guide the team’s progress, not to lift the weights or run the ball down the field.

Another Analogy • If this were pottery class, it would be a pretty bad deal if you never got to throw a pot. • Like pottery class, CRTW is hands-on in its approach: CT is something you DO. • That is why you must bring the assigned materials every day—no exceptions. You may not just spectate.

Other Ways to Conceptualize CRTW WAY #1: • What questions do I need to ask? • How can I find the answers so that I can believe the results and act on my beliefs? • (Note that these questions point toward “deep learning”: transformational learning and learning that connects the classroom to the world outside the university.)

Process = The Wedge WAY #2: Information Evaluation CT Elements Analysis

In Other Words • We will slow the thinking process down so that you don’t make snap judgments as soon as you perceive information. • It’s like playing a musical instrument: if you want to play a piece fast, you have to practice it slowly.

Course Requirements • 10% - Paper 1 (world view) • 10% - Paper 2 (cultural artifact) • 20% - Paper 3 (research paper) • 10% - Paper 4 (global cultural event) • 10% - Group presentation (The Future of Life) • 10% - In-class essay (thinking in your major) • 10% - Final exam (personal experience) • 10% - Participation in whole-class discussion • 10% - Class presence (attendance)

Day Two Assignment • Nosich, ch.1; bring N1 to class; • Video, http://www.wimp.com/filterbubbles/(We will watch it in class.) • Paper One assignment (see Paper Assignments on Blackboard) • Tart's list (for your information) • Handoutfor our activities (I will project it, but the grid would be helpful to have) • Feedback on Paper 1(also part of the paper assignment document on BB)

Other Stuff • Get a turnitin.com account. • If you registered late, get on the listserv. (Read aloud the names on the listserv as of this morning.) • Begin thinking about which “global” cultural event you want to attend. Do not wait until the last couple of weeks. Find one now and put it on your calendar.

Critical Reading • Critical reading means marking your books. • Another cost/benefit analysis: As Dr. Bird points out, if you don’t mark your books, you might save a few dollars; but you’ll lose a lot of the value of the course for which you are paying hundreds of dollars. • As regards marking your books, I will not play “Gotcha” with you. 

SEE-I • S: “Gotcha” is a game whose purpose is to stick it to you. • E: In other words, its purpose is to set you up for failure. • E: For example, I could neglect to tell you something I expect you to do and then chew you out for not reading my mind. Or I could tell you what I expect but do so in a way that doesn’t sink in—and still chew you out. • I: Playing gotcha is like learning to sail: you don’t realize your mistake until there’s water coming over the side of the boat.

My Point • In a non-gotcha spirit, then, let me say this: I am telling you right now that I want you to mark your books and that I will check to see if you did so. • Read Dr. Bird’s CR handout. Critical reading is why I insist that you have a text in front of you every day. • An example from Tompkins’s essay, pages 632-33 in the 4th edition.

How To Mark • Pencil underlining—best to use a ruler. • Circle or highlight key terms (concepts). • Use red for really important points. • Write notes in the margins (summaries, comments, questions, elements, standards). • Use highlighting minimally or not at all.

Course Contract • TA training in graduate school: “You can never be tougher than you are on the first day of class.” • The first day is the right time to go over the policies in the syllabus. • You should read ALL the policies in the syllabus. • Right now we are going to go over the “Memorandum of Understanding.” It highlights policies that are essential to the smooth operation of this course on a daily basis. 

Rationale • I want to minimize conflict and confrontation. • In order to operate smoothly, this course must have some policies. • If you follow them, you are more likely to be successful as a student in this class and in other classes. • The “Memo” is linked to the course calendar.

Final Word • “The problem with this class is that people are negative and impatient. This class is a process and the content takes a while to seep in and people don’t want to take the time to learn. They want everything spoon-fed to them and that’s not what this class is about. I’ve seen other assignments for other CRTW classes and the other students don’t have the understanding we do. Dr. Fike is very particular in what he wants, but the way he teaches is more effective in the long run.” • As we go forward, it may be helpful to you to keep this student’s remarks in mind. END

First Day Slide Show