What factors do you foresee getting in the way of, or at least making difficult, the prevention or resolution of this infraction?

Journals 1-2 Prompt Description:

This is a personal journal where students record, track, and process personal observations and reflections about critical thinking in their daily life. The students should be focusing on their own, internal infractions of critical thinking principles and those of others, such as family and friends in interpersonal interactions. Focus on infractions that are unique to your own, personal life, your inner reflection about your life and actions, your thoughts, your interactions with others, things your family or friends do. The point is to take note of situations in which critical thinking is not present and the effects of this are apparent. The purpose of this journal is for students to be more self-aware of the regularity of critical thinking problems in their lived, daily life so that those problems are less pernicious.

Directions: 1. In at least one paragraph, describe the critical thinking infraction as it occurred.

Think of the following points in your description: a. What, exactly, happened? Tell the story, paying attention to the

who-what-when-where-how details. This context matters for critical thinking infractions, both in provoking them and understanding them.

b. What, specifically, was the infraction? Thinking of critical thinking as principles of good reasoning, which principles were absent or violated?

In at least one paragraph, interpret the situation and the infraction. Think of the following points in your interpretation:

a. Why did the infraction occur in this situation? Attempt to form an explanation of the situation such that it produced this infraction as a result.

b. Of all of the possible ways for the situation to proceed, why did it proceed this way–where a critical thinking rule was broken or absent–rather than the other ways? What was the cause, in other words?

c. In your interpretation, how severe or consequential was the infraction? Aside from leading to irrationality and false beliefs, what else could occur as a result if anything?

In at least one paragraph, consider how to resolve the critical thinking infraction as best as you can. Consider the following points in this resolution:

a. If the situation were repeated, what measures would have to be taken in order to prevent the infraction from occuring?

b. Given that the infraction actually occurred, what do you do about it now, after the fact?