Using Validity and Critical Thinking On a Daily Basis

On a daily basis, we hear claims of how this product leads to weight loss, how we should support someone’s awe-inspiring cause, and where we should be spending our time. Invalid arguments are familiar and knowing how to determine whether or not an argument is truthful can help us make choices that lead to better outcomes.

Life is full of people who want you to buy something, sell something, get on a team, and convert to their cause. The list of invalid arguments are nearly endless. Most of us come across inaccurate and invalid arguments that are designed to stir our emotions but have little substance. Knowing valid from invalid arguments helps us see the truth behind the words.

An argument is valid if the premises are true, and the conclusion is not false. Main points should lead to and support the conclusion. In situations where the premises are true but the conclusion is false then the argument is invalid. The premise and the conclusion should hold true.

Even though logic and life may seem different, one leads to the quality of the other. Good choices offer greater outcomes. It is beneficial to try and find your way through arguments by using critical thinking and searching out counter arguments. If you can select counter arguments, the argument becomes open to questioning and more likely invalid.

You can see an example of a statement from a shifty used cars salesman:

“This is a great car because its style is modern. You seem like a guy with great taste, and if you buy this car you are going to be popular as well”.

While it might be true that buying this car is popular and could make you more popular there are many circumstances where this does not hold true. Perhaps you have a great sense of style and decide to buy the car but don’t want your friends to ride in it. If your friends can’t get a ride, they may not like you very much. Maybe the car is in style for people in your grandmother's age group.

The point being that popularity rests only in part on the type of car you drive and more heavily influenced by personality, style, and other issues that make one desirable. The car in and of itself won’t make you the most popular person in town.

It may have been more accurate for the salesperson to say, “This car has sold more models than any other car in the country. You seem to be a guy who cares about his social image. If you buy this car, it will make a statement about who you are.”

This statement is more accurate as the facts about the popularity can be checked with sales numbers. Likewise, research has backed the idea that when we buy a product we are saying a little bit about ourselves. Many of purchase choices are a direct reflection of our personality. The second argument makes it through the "smell" test.

Validity of arguments should maintain a level of internal consistency that helps us know that the premises justify the conclusion. Searching out alternative explanations helps us get a better grasp of what is going on. Flattery with emotionally driven words is not the same as having a logical argument with internal consistency.

Using your logic, reasoning, and fact checking ability, you will be less prone to the false statements that have become part of our lives. Whether it be advertising, a request for a donation, purchasing a car or political support for an idea it is important for you to use your critical thinking skills. It will help you make more accurate conclusions and decisions that lead to advantageous behavior that helps you fulfill your goals.

Why Industry Experts Won't Turn Their Back on Online Education?

Professionals wont turn their back on online doctorates because it provides them one of the only feasible ways to obtain a terminal degree. People with decades of experience don’t often go back to get a doctorate because of the years of time and investment that would pull them away from their business duties. Online doctoral education can marry professional experience and theory in ways that would be difficult for traditional schools to fulfill.

Online doctoral education has four purposes (Radda & Mandernach, 2013).:

1.      Prepare the doctoral community to develop knowledge and skills for the 21^st century.

2.      Capture the collective intelligences and knowledge of individuals.

3.      Deepen scholarship and practical application of that scholarship.

4.      To further the interests of scholar-practitioners.

Online education has come a long way over the past 20 years and research has shown that the modality is growing in terms of benefits and effectiveness. One of the reasons why traditional colleges are adopting the model is because of cost and reach. With online education they can draw in additional learners that would previously been unable to go back to school.

We should think about all the experience out there hidden in the boardrooms and office. Many of these people would offer valuable knowledge to both academic and fellow industry stakeholders. Getting them into a doctoral program not only helps to grow their businesses but also ensure that their knowledge can be applied by others.

One of the main purposes of higher education is to grow and expand knowledge in a way that furthers the interest of societal stakeholders. Sometimes theory is developed that is difficult to implement for practical use in business. People with knowledge from industry have a better shot at developing theory that has immediate application to industry stakeholders that furthers economic growth.

Developing useful theory has a wider benefit to the business community and society. As better theory is produced and more quickly implemented into business practices the economic fundamentals of society strengthen leading to higher levels of adaptation and development. Seasoned business executives won’t turn their back on online education because they understand that quality of learning and usefulness of solutions are more important than the name of the school.

Radda, H. & Mandernach, B. (2013). Doctoral education online: challenging the paradigm. Journal of Education Technology, 9 (3).

Bearing the Time it Takes to Learn New Skills and Become a Life Long Learner

Learning new skills is not easy and comes with a level of stress. It doesn't matter if discussing sports, work or college as the process of learning requires the ability to work to new levels of mastery. The difference between those who are successful and those who are unsuccessful are the ones that bear the difficulties of the learning process.

Think of when you started a new job or tried to do something you never did before. It took some time for you to learn how to complete the task. At first you were lost and then you were able to complete the function a few times with each subsequent time becoming easier. With more effort you will eventually reach a point where many of the actions became automatic.

Learning comes with stress and frustration for many because it requires significant energy to continue trying after failure. Yet failure is not really failure unless you stop trying. Each time you put effort toward something you will learn from that effort regardless of the outcome.

With enough effort and time you will eventually succeed but this success comes with a cost. That cost is in terms of choices and alternative routes. People should try and put their energies where they have natural skills that will complement their effort and create the greatest chances of success. Frustration will be less if you are learning something you have an innate skill in.

It is also beneficial to consider where your interests lay. Doing something you have no interest in simply because your family did it, your friends like it, or society expects it is a sure way to boredom and burnout. You have to chart your own course in learning these skills and the paths you take. It will benefit you in the long run.

Believe in yourself. Learning is not easy and takes time. The biggest failure that occurs is when people give up. Some people give up because of poor self-efficacy that leads to self-doubt. It may be hard but if you push yourself, continue to focus on your goals, and do the work everyday you will get where you want.

Learning isn't easy but it does provide benefits of development for us as individuals and we as society. Becoming a life long learner can help you overcome challenges, find employment, and live a better life. It is more of a way of thinking that manifests itself into a way of life. Find what interests you, set some goals, and continue to seek out new information and understanding until you get where you want.

The Footprints to a Solid Career

Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will your career. Successful careers take a consider amount of effort and time to develop and may not always end the same way you planned when you started. As the market changes and adjusts it is beneficial to roll with the changes and seek out opportunities to learn and develop. At various stages of your life you will be in different career positions that can contribute to your professional development.

Young graduates often assume they are going to conquer the world solely through elbow grease. This enthusiasm manifests itself in excitement, motivation, and participation. Even though the pay is not high the new job offers a level of independence, a new apartment, a car, and lots of other goodies that were previously out of reach.

Eventually that enthusiasm will wane as they become accustomed to their new money and find out that what they earn is not nearly to feed a family and still live a comfortable lifestyle. They may start to move out of their starter jobs to take promotions and raises in other companies. It is through this movement that companies loose talent and other companies gain new talent; the market shifts its resources.

During their mid career most professionals have worked for multiple companies and may have switched their careers at least once if not a couple of times. The knowledge gained makes them a valuable asset to any organization. Still young enough to learn and old enough to apply working knowledge they will be in the sweet spot for growth. Adaptability and knowledge are sufficient to get them that first management job or a higher paying position when warranted.

In the later part of a career position and power may not be the most important determinant of one's career. It is entirely possible that leaving a legacy for others and engaging in those activities that are intrinsically pleasing may have more appeal when compared to more of the same. Seasoned managers start to mentor and coach younger employees in an effort to leave some type of mark on the organization and society.

Throughout a career cycle a person will work for a number of different organizations and may even switch careers a number of times. It is necessary to be adaptable and continue learning in order to grow and develop. At the moment one closes their mind they will stop growing and it is important to ensure one is  more of a sponge that soaks knowledge than a rock that sinks to the bottom.

In your path don't fret about having to switch careers. It is a natural part of life in a fast paced American economy. The average person can expect to switch their career up to seven times in their lifetime (Bialick, 2010). A high number I agree but not necessarily implausible as I have seen Generation X switch at least 3 times by their late 30s.

The biggest challenge you are likely to face is being open-minded and continually learning. We get stuck in our ways, do the same things over and over, and live by a routine. Sometimes it is a great way to function but at other times it can lead us down a path where we become more disconnected from future employment opportunities. You don't want to someday lose your job you are stuck without the skills needed to find something that pays better. Make sure you continue to learn, adapt, grow, develop, and change toward improvement.

Bialick, C. (Sept. 4th, 2010). Seven Careers in a Lifetime? Think Twice, Researchers Say. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704206804575468162805877990

The Skills that Lead to Employment in Undergraduate Online Education

In higher education employability has come to the forefront of the debate. Arguments revolve around graduate success in finding employment.  Research by Silva, et. al (2013) helps highlight which skills seem to encourage employability in the market based upon the perceptions of students and teachers at a public university that offers online classes. The report indicates that the societal function of higher education is to encourage the highest employment readiness but cannot determine actual employment itself which is dependent on market factors. 

The study was based upon perceptions of employment skills needed for successfully navigating the market. Research subjects were drawn from an online learning center from the Universidade Alberta to help determine the most important employment skills and those skills to be developed in the online undergraduate system. 

It is beneficial to understand what the purpose of higher education is within society. Knowing how higher education fits within society will help provide a conceptual framework for determining proper skills. According to Harvey (1999) higher education should:

-Establish links to employers that assist them with developing strategies to overcome lack of qualifications.

-Contribute to solutions for education and training in highly-skilled areas with a lack of qualified workers. 

-Prepare graduates with effective skills ensuring that employability requirements are explicit within courses of study. 

Higher education follows the same supply and demand concepts within the market as other entities. Where there is a need for educated workers higher education can help fill the gap through adjusting their curriculum for maximum relevance. They cannot control the market but are able to respond appropriate to that market through understanding the needs of employers and reflecting those needs within their curriculum. 

The development of students naturally has an impact on the development of a nation. When job needs are fulfilled the employer is able to move closer to maximum productivity. Think of how low I.T. skill availability is forcing companies to outsource operations or hire foreign workers. Reich, cited by Knight, discusses the need for higher education to enhance natural skills (Knight, 2003):

-Abstraction: Theory and empirical analysis that includes formulas, equations, models, and metaphors. 

-Systems of Thought: The way the brain processes information. 

-Experimentation: Intuitive experimentation and analytical experimentation. 

-Collaboration: Using communication and teamwork to solve problems. 

The study highlights how students and faculty have a slightly different impression of the skills needed to find jobs. Both groups agree that the concepts of problem solving, planning, decision-making, and willingness to learn as fundamental skills that guild them in their careers. Adaptable and transformative profiles should be enhanced. Adaptive employees are able to learn new skills and apply them to their workplace while transformative people are able to move beyond the rules to change the workplace into a higher functioning entity. Higher education has the responsibility to improve upon the process of knowledge attainment and job skill competence but the specific employment opportunity is the responsibility of the graduate and the employer. The closer schools are to businesses and their needs the more likely relevant market skills will be developed.

Harvey, L, (1999). New realities: The relationship between higher education and

employment. Birmingham Centre for Research into Quality.

Knight, T. P., & Yorke, M. (2003). Assessment learning and employability. England:

SRHE and Open University Press Imprint.

Silva, A., et. al. (2013). Employability in Online Higher Education : A Case Study. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 14 (1).

Constructing Knowledge Through Experience-A Teaching Method

Constructivism is a concept that entails all learning as a building process that creates knowledge through mental processes derived from the social and communicative process. When students are reflective they are able to learn from their experience and apply new information to these concepts. A paper by Abdulla Al Mahmud moves into the concept of learning through a constructivist perspective by fostering knowledge building through experience to create better student learning (2013). 

In a constructionists perspective all learning comes from experiencing the world and reflecting on those experiences.  The concept was mention by John Dewey in his 1910 book How We Think, “Only by wrestling with the conditions of the problem at hand, seeking and finding his own solution [not in isolation but in correspondence with the teacher and other pupils] does one learn.” People live within a social environment and use their experiences and the knowledge of others to learn.

To understand a person you must understand what they know and how they know it. Jean Piaget (1985) believed that knowledge is the result of accurate internalization of information and reconstructing that information into cognitive meaning. People must take in information, reflect on it, and build better models of the world to engage in the process of learning. Teachers must find ways of relaying information to fit within existing student models.

Social constructivism occurs when people learn from each other to create sociably acceptable models of understanding. They use language and their social networks to construct the meaning of their environment. Most individuals experience and negotiate that experience with others to create an understanding that is shared among a group of individuals. That does not mean that the experience or its socially constructed definition is accurate but only that it is shared.

The best learning occurs when reflection is part of the process. Critical thinking requires reflection of past and current situations to develop stronger ways of viewing the world. This can take the effective of reflection-in-action or reflection-on-action. Both methods offer some advantages to the development of knowledge.

Reflection-in-action occurs during a situation when an individual adjusts and moves to events as they occur.  “The competent practitioner learns to think on his/her feet and is able to improvise as

s/he takes in new information and/or encounters the unexpected .”(Pickett, 1996,p. 1). They use past knowledge and current information to build stronger models as the events unfold.

Reflection-on-action occurs when a person looks back at past performance or situations and learns new knowledge. Students may take case scenarios and match then to their models to expand those understandings. They may review and reflect on their actions to determine if these actions were successful or unsuccessful. Reflection creates opportunities to do things better in the future.

Eight factors can be derived from constructionist pedagogy (Brooks & Brooks, 1993):

1. Learning should take place in real-world situations.

2. Learning should involve social negotiation.

3. Content and skills should be relevant to the student

4. Content and skills should fit within the student’s previous knowledge

5. Assessments should be formative

6. Students should be self-regulatory, self-mediated, and self-aware

7. Teachers are guides

8. Teachers should encourage multiple perspectives and representations of issues.

The author leaves the reader with three concepts learned in his analysis. Each of these concepts can be applied within the constructionist learning method. Students should come with Open-mindedness, Sincerity, and Responsibility. Open-mindedness analyzes multiple perspectives and possibilities. Sincerity allows for self-reflection on themselves, their work, and structures. Responsibility will lead to greater concerns of seeking out the truth in order to solve problems and extract information to create new learning for others.

Al Mahmud, A. (2013). Constructivism and reflectivism as the logical counterparts in TESOL: learning theory versus teaching methodology. TEFLIN Journal: A Publication on the Teaching & Learning of English, 24 (2).

Brooks, J. & Brooks, M. (1993). In search of understanding: The case for constructivist classrooms. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Piaget, J. (1985). The equilibration of cognitive structures: The central problem of intellectual development. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Pickett, A. (1996). Reflective teaching practices and academic skills instruction. Retrieved from http://www.indiana.edu/1506/mod02/pickett.html