The Truth-Tables were a bit hard to chew. I would have enjoyed having you teach this one online via video or some other media so we can see you teach these concepts. Maybe we could have had some question and answer via online video, also.
The truth-tables are made up of symbols. For example,
and = ˄
or = ˅
not = ┐
if…then… = →
They remind me of math flowcharts or office flowcharts, e.g., if this, then that, and if not that then go in the direction the arrow is pointing towards. “How compound claims use them depend on the truth or falsity (truth-value) of the claims from which they are built.” Epstein, p. 359.
This was still the hardest to learn for me. I'm not even sure if I totally grasped these. But at least I was exposed to them and now know what they look like.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Favorite Things? Hmmm...
My favorite thing about the class was writing this blog. It helped solidify my learning. It made me think about what I had read and place some validity to it in my own head.
My other favorite thing was reading other blogs and making comments. I thought that was fun! Really!
However, my least favorite thing was(drum roll): HAVING TO WAIT 12 HOURS TO WRITE THE NEXT BLOG!!! That totally defeats the purpose of an online class which allows you the freedom to be anywhere and still be in class, and do your homework at any time you want, as much as you want so you can move on to the other things in your life. So, I really, really hated the 12 hour time limit. Probably didn't work for me because I am soooo busy. I would write my blogs early and then try to remember to post them at the right time. That was a total pain!! I would have much preferred to post them all at once.
How to improve this class? Remove the 12 hour rule; have the grades posted a lot sooner (maybe every 2-3 weeks) so students can see how they're doing sooner; be more lenient when a student gets sick. Just because a doctor's note ends on a certain date does not mean that the student can catch up a week's worth of homework in 3 days. :o)
My other favorite thing was reading other blogs and making comments. I thought that was fun! Really!
However, my least favorite thing was(drum roll): HAVING TO WAIT 12 HOURS TO WRITE THE NEXT BLOG!!! That totally defeats the purpose of an online class which allows you the freedom to be anywhere and still be in class, and do your homework at any time you want, as much as you want so you can move on to the other things in your life. So, I really, really hated the 12 hour time limit. Probably didn't work for me because I am soooo busy. I would write my blogs early and then try to remember to post them at the right time. That was a total pain!! I would have much preferred to post them all at once.
How to improve this class? Remove the 12 hour rule; have the grades posted a lot sooner (maybe every 2-3 weeks) so students can see how they're doing sooner; be more lenient when a student gets sick. Just because a doctor's note ends on a certain date does not mean that the student can catch up a week's worth of homework in 3 days. :o)
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
What Have I Learned?
I learned that there sure are a lot of names given to the different ways we communicate. Who knew? Many of the labels I already knew what they were, but without the label. So now I know what they are. The labels and definitions help me to recognize where someone is coming from (e.g., what is their angle?) so I can communicate better with people.
I learned that group communication takes work. And even if you're willing to try and understand everyone in your group they may not want to reciprocate. They just want to go about their business and get it over with. Sometimes, though, this attitude is a breeding ground for mistakes. It's better to take the time at the beginning and every step of the way to do things right, then to try and fix them in the end when it's just too late. I think having more than just a few meetings is also important to make sure the job gets done right.
I never knew there were so many symbols to communication. I had never heard of these Truth-Tables before. Now that was a new bit of information that took me by surprise. It was also all very interesting.
I learned that group communication takes work. And even if you're willing to try and understand everyone in your group they may not want to reciprocate. They just want to go about their business and get it over with. Sometimes, though, this attitude is a breeding ground for mistakes. It's better to take the time at the beginning and every step of the way to do things right, then to try and fix them in the end when it's just too late. I think having more than just a few meetings is also important to make sure the job gets done right.
I never knew there were so many symbols to communication. I had never heard of these Truth-Tables before. Now that was a new bit of information that took me by surprise. It was also all very interesting.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Responses to Assignment Two
Blog 3
FRIENDS AND FAMILY: RESPONSES TO ASSIGNMENT TWO
When you share a project from a class, it is difficult to get people to read it because they are not interested or they do not understand it. So I’m not sure this was a good thing to do. Maybe we could have been assigned a new group and make them read it and get their feedback because people in our class will know more about the subject and can catch any errors in the critical thinking process.
However, most of my friends and family found it a bit boring, some found it interesting. They said that they never thought about analyzing the validity of the American Red Cross’ claims. Most people tend to trust them because they have been around for sooooo long, and it is such a worthy cause, that they never even thought twice to question them. There was one exception: they have thought about things like how much money are they receiving and how much of that is actually spent on helping people versus running the organization.
FRIENDS AND FAMILY: RESPONSES TO ASSIGNMENT TWO
When you share a project from a class, it is difficult to get people to read it because they are not interested or they do not understand it. So I’m not sure this was a good thing to do. Maybe we could have been assigned a new group and make them read it and get their feedback because people in our class will know more about the subject and can catch any errors in the critical thinking process.
However, most of my friends and family found it a bit boring, some found it interesting. They said that they never thought about analyzing the validity of the American Red Cross’ claims. Most people tend to trust them because they have been around for sooooo long, and it is such a worthy cause, that they never even thought twice to question them. There was one exception: they have thought about things like how much money are they receiving and how much of that is actually spent on helping people versus running the organization.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, IF YOU ASK ME! JK
NOT BAD!
This website wasn't too bad at all! Although I thought the first page was a bit long and had way too much detail. But I felt that the exercises were a whole lot easier than reading that first page! :o)
I did not like the formatting of the first page of the website. I tend to not like the way a page is formatted if everything is scrunched up together and the margin is unbelievably wide, because it tends to make the page look cluttered and like they didn’t take the time to make it look nice. Of course the content is more important than the look. But it just looks bad to me. They should have formatted it like a normal 8 ½ by 11 paper with a 1” margin or even a .5 margin all around. The font looked really old-fashioned, too. It probably sounds weird, but I’ve been formatting documents for most of my life and I notice IMMEDIATELY when someone forgot to right justify, or got lazy and didn’t care about the look of the paper. This website reminded me of that. Sorry!
WHAT I LOVED ABOUT THE WEBSITE
The exercises take you step-by-step and give you immediate feedback. It feels like you're taking a short quiz, but one that helps you gain more understanding as you go through each question. I love it! I mean I love immediate feedback because it lets you know if you're doing well or not. I also like the fact that you can go back and try again, if you didn't get it right the first time. The website was much quicker to get through than some chapters of the Epstein book.
P.S. I right justified this in Word only to have blogger undo it! Ugh! ;o)
This website wasn't too bad at all! Although I thought the first page was a bit long and had way too much detail. But I felt that the exercises were a whole lot easier than reading that first page! :o)
I did not like the formatting of the first page of the website. I tend to not like the way a page is formatted if everything is scrunched up together and the margin is unbelievably wide, because it tends to make the page look cluttered and like they didn’t take the time to make it look nice. Of course the content is more important than the look. But it just looks bad to me. They should have formatted it like a normal 8 ½ by 11 paper with a 1” margin or even a .5 margin all around. The font looked really old-fashioned, too. It probably sounds weird, but I’ve been formatting documents for most of my life and I notice IMMEDIATELY when someone forgot to right justify, or got lazy and didn’t care about the look of the paper. This website reminded me of that. Sorry!
WHAT I LOVED ABOUT THE WEBSITE
The exercises take you step-by-step and give you immediate feedback. It feels like you're taking a short quiz, but one that helps you gain more understanding as you go through each question. I love it! I mean I love immediate feedback because it lets you know if you're doing well or not. I also like the fact that you can go back and try again, if you didn't get it right the first time. The website was much quicker to get through than some chapters of the Epstein book.
P.S. I right justified this in Word only to have blogger undo it! Ugh! ;o)
Friday, August 6, 2010
Cause and Effect
The website and the book coincide together in that they both speak about causes and effects, that the cause precedes the effect, the cause makes a difference, and we should trace the cause backwards in order to see what really caused the effect.
The website states that:
"1. The cause must precede the event in time. On one hand, arguments that have the effect before the cause are examples of the relatively rare fallacy of reverse causation. On the other, arguments whose only proof of causation is that the effect followed the cause are examples of fallacious post hoc reasoning.
2. Even a strong correlation is insufficient to prove causation. Other possible explanations for such a strong correlation include coincidence, reversed causation, and missing something that is the cause of both the original 'cause' and its purported 'effect.'"
The book also tells us how to look for a cause:
“Conjecture possible causes, and then by experiment eliminate them until there is only one. Check that one: Does it make a difference? If the purported cause is eliminated, is there still the effect? Could there be a common cause?”
The website states that:
"1. The cause must precede the event in time. On one hand, arguments that have the effect before the cause are examples of the relatively rare fallacy of reverse causation. On the other, arguments whose only proof of causation is that the effect followed the cause are examples of fallacious post hoc reasoning.
2. Even a strong correlation is insufficient to prove causation. Other possible explanations for such a strong correlation include coincidence, reversed causation, and missing something that is the cause of both the original 'cause' and its purported 'effect.'"
The book also tells us how to look for a cause:
“Conjecture possible causes, and then by experiment eliminate them until there is only one. Check that one: Does it make a difference? If the purported cause is eliminated, is there still the effect? Could there be a common cause?”
Saturday, July 31, 2010
The Usefulness of Assignment #2
First, one mode of communication is not good. We communicated via email. Many assumptions were made and they only caused some of us grief.
Second, what I found useful was no matter how organized you think you are and no matter how hard you try to communicate well with others, it is not as good as 1) in person, 2) over the phone, or 3) both. So, communicate in person, over the phone and via email to avoid any misunderstanding.
Third, don’t freak out at the end because it causes you to make BAD CHOICES, like taking over and not letting your coworkers/cowriters in on the fact that you are taking over and rewriting everything. When you are at the last stages of the paper (that means lots of rewrites by everyone and it has all been approved up to this stage) and you have instructions to edit or fix a few things, then that is all you should be doing!! There are exceptions, of course, like if you see a huge error, then you should bring it to everyone’s attention and fix it. But, and here comes the next one….
Fourth, NEVER attempt to rewrite most of the paper at the umpteenth hour!! Bad idea, because you WILL run out of time. In my case, my cowriter decided to change what I had done only to have to change it back again because I was right. That was a waste of time. Why not instead ask questions for clarification and avoid wasting the group’s time. Working together and not against each other is better
Overall, though, I think our paper turned out pretty good. But there was no need for all of the stress that some people put us through. We could have avoided it by doing only what was needed to be done at the last hour instead of reverting to trying to rewrite everything. In the end, the paper looked almost the same and just a bit better. Not sure it was worth all of the pressure we were put through!
Bottom Line: Keep the communication lines open all the time. Don’t try and take over because that leaves the group out and defeats the purpose of a group assignment.
Second, what I found useful was no matter how organized you think you are and no matter how hard you try to communicate well with others, it is not as good as 1) in person, 2) over the phone, or 3) both. So, communicate in person, over the phone and via email to avoid any misunderstanding.
Third, don’t freak out at the end because it causes you to make BAD CHOICES, like taking over and not letting your coworkers/cowriters in on the fact that you are taking over and rewriting everything. When you are at the last stages of the paper (that means lots of rewrites by everyone and it has all been approved up to this stage) and you have instructions to edit or fix a few things, then that is all you should be doing!! There are exceptions, of course, like if you see a huge error, then you should bring it to everyone’s attention and fix it. But, and here comes the next one….
Fourth, NEVER attempt to rewrite most of the paper at the umpteenth hour!! Bad idea, because you WILL run out of time. In my case, my cowriter decided to change what I had done only to have to change it back again because I was right. That was a waste of time. Why not instead ask questions for clarification and avoid wasting the group’s time. Working together and not against each other is better
Overall, though, I think our paper turned out pretty good. But there was no need for all of the stress that some people put us through. We could have avoided it by doing only what was needed to be done at the last hour instead of reverting to trying to rewrite everything. In the end, the paper looked almost the same and just a bit better. Not sure it was worth all of the pressure we were put through!
Bottom Line: Keep the communication lines open all the time. Don’t try and take over because that leaves the group out and defeats the purpose of a group assignment.
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