CHAPTER 14 EVALUATING INTERNET RESOURCES

Evaluating Internet sources of info helps you determine if they are reliable and useful. Use the Internet source evaluation system as a tool for assessing websites. As a reader and thinker, become open minded and consider each website's Relevancy, Reliability, Credibility and Accuracy using the following seven steps: 1. Know your purpose. 2. Double check facts and sources. 3. Consider the source. 4. Evaluate content. 5. Determine intended audience. 6. Evaluate the writing. And 7. Use what you already know.

CHAPTER 13 READING BEYOND THE WORDS

Critical thinking comprehension involves challenging yourself to understand what you read at different levels of complexity. Bloom's taxonomy lists six levels of critical thinking; knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation that you can use to deepen your understanding.

CHAPTER 12 IDENTIFYING AND EVALUATING ARGUMENTS

Recognizing arguments as you read lets you critically examine an author's line of resoning. Arguments always have atleast one reason and one conclusion. One ways to find them is to look for the conclusions and then track the reasons they used to reach them. When you find an argument, you should break it down into parts so that you can figure out whether it's well founded and logical. The two primary types of arguments are deductive and inductive. Deductive arguments have at least one premise that logically leads to a conclusion. If the premise or premises of a deductive argument are true, then the conclusion is true. Inductive arguments begin with series of specific observations and conclude with a generalization that logically flows from them. Being able to detect and evaluate arguments, and to create arguments using your textbook, makes you analyze the logic of what you read and helps you present your own ideas.

CHAPTER 11 READING, UNDERSTANDING, AND CREATING VISUAL AIDS

Textbook author often use visual aids to help their readers understand better the info they are presenting. Some visual aids are mind maps, outlines, charts, diagrams, graphs, illustrations, photographs, and time lines. Learning how to read visuals will help you to understand and remember the information. To create an effective visual aid, you have to recognize the important elements in what you are reading and be able to prioritize and organize them in a logical and useful format. An effective visual well save you from taking s many notes from your texts or in lectures.

CHAPTER 10 TEXTBOOK MARKING

Textbook marking is a systematic mak and label reading tool that helps distinguish important ideas from less important ones. You should try to mark and label the main ideas, important details, and new vocabulary in the textbooks. Always mark information that is unclear, to remind yourself to find out what it means before you are tested on the material.

CHAPTER 9 USING PREVIEW, STUDY-READ, AND REVIEW (PSR) STRATEGIES

The PSR technique which means (preview, study-read, and review) requires that you question yourself before, furing, and after you read. It encourages you to participate in a reader-author conversation. In this conversation, you assess what the auther says and decide if it makes sense to you. The PSR technique also requires you to respond to readings by writing in your journal. Commenting in writing helps you understand an author's ideas and create your own. By knowing exactly where you get confused in a reading, you can return to that part and reread that section. This will help you understand the material on your own.

CHAPTER 12 DEDUCTIVE REASONING: HOW DO I RESON FROM PROMISES?

Deductive reasoning is the process of starting with one or more statements called premises and investigating what conclusions necessarily follow from these premises. Deduction is the subject of formal logic, whose main concern is whith creating forms that demonstrate reasoning. Syllogisms allow logicians to determine what is being said, to identify hidden premises, and to find out if the argument makes sense. Deductive and inductive resoning are not isolated pursuits but are mentally interwoven both in major and mundane problem solving.

CHAPTER 11 INDUCTIVE REASONING AND INDUCTIVE FALLACIES: HOW DO I REASON FROM EVIDENCE?

Inductive reasoning is the process of thinking that you used in describing anything. The inductive method is also called the empirical or scientific method. Induction can be done through sensory observation, enumeration, analogous reasoning, causal reasoning, and from pattern recognition. Inductive reasoning is as a method for obtaining info when it would be impossible to examine all the data available. Hasty generalization is the fallacy of basing a coclusion on insufficient evidence. Inconsistency in evidence is the fallacy of offering evidence that contradicts the conclusion. False cause is the fallacy of claiming there is acausal connection between events without reasonable evidence to support the claim. The slippery slope is the fallacy of claiming without sufficient proof that permitting one event to occur would lead to a chain reaction that cant be stopped. It ignores the many variables or unknowns in the situation.

CHAPTER 10 FALLACIES: WHAT'S A FAULTY ARGUMENT?

Misleading euphemisms are words that hide meaning by wrappping a less acceptable idea in positive or neutral connotations. The use of euphemisms is fallacious in an argument when the goal is to be evasive, to mislead, or to disarm awareness and objections. Appeals to fear and pity seek to persuade through affecting emotions rather than through sound rational support for an argument. Appeal to false authority seeks to influence others ny citing fake or inappropriate authorities. This false authority might be a person, a tradition, or convetional wisdom. Personal attack refutes another argument by attacking the opponent rather than addressing th argument itself. The red herring is a ploy of distraction. It makes a claim, then instead of following through with support, it minimizes the issue or/diverts attention into irrelevent issues.

CHAPTER 9 ARGUMENTS: WHAT'S A GOOD ARGUMENT?

The critical reading of arguments is something that requires involvement, interaction with questions, and evaluation. The conclusion of an argument is the last step in a reasoning process but it can be stated at any time during the argument or not at all. Reason includes data, evidence, and premises. Reasons support conclusions. Once the argument's main conclusion is uncovered, the reasons offered in support becomes clear. Arguments state and defend a claim. Reports that only relate events or state facts cant be analyzed as if they were arguments.