The Halpern Critical Thinking Essay - Definition, Importance, And Strategies.

Part A-Critical Thinking

Describe about The Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment.

Part A-Critical Thinking

I would define critical thinking as an ability to think rationally and clearly in order to understand logical connection that is in various ideas. In the process of thinking critically, an individual has to engage in independent and reflective thinking. Unlike in other forms of normal thinking, a person who engages in critical thinking keeps revisiting the information or ideas on which they are acting on in order to establish the logic behind them. Anastasi (2013) argues that Critical thinking is an art for making analysis as well as evaluations in order to improve on it. I agree with the author because one has to analyze and evaluate while in the process.

Critical thinking is important in every part of an individual’s life. While doing studies, there is a lot of information that an individual comes across. However, in order for that information to be of importance, one has to study while rigorously questioning the assumptions and ideas within the texts rather than accepting them blindly. I do not have ICT work experience but in the organization I worked for in the past, I realized that one is not fed with every detail of their job positions. There are situations that require one to critically think before making decisions. I need to be a critical thinker to be well prepared while making decisions in the job environment.

Part B- ICT professionals

Information communication Technology (ICT) is now the center of life. Everything currently requires ICT professionals to be involved. Examples of fields that define life and are actively using ICT include education/learning, business, entertainment, social life and many different events. Such sections involve large numbers of individuals and if anything goes wrong, many people are affected. ICT professionals in all these spheres are supposed to be critical thinkers so that they are able to make quick decisions that are right.

The field of ICT is evolving rapidly and individuals involved are supposed to be in tandem with new changes. Rapid changes involve making decisions that are sometimes risky. As ICT professionals adapt to the rapidly changing ICT environments, they should do so with a lot of care and be quick. Critical thinking enables an individual to understand the logic connections between ideas. ICT professionals should be critical thinkers so that they are able to make quick connections between ideas. This enables them to even predict anything that would evolve next.

Part B- ICT professionals

Critical thinking involves identifying, connecting and evaluating arguments. Once an individual learns to identify, connect and evaluate arguments, they are bound to make the right conclusions. ICT involves a lot of data analysis. It is therefore important for ICT professionals to be critical thinkers so that they are able to make data analysis in the correct manner. Critical thinking skills equip the professionals with the ability to understand the information that people require. For example, data analysis based on critical thinking would be enable investors acquire demographic information that they may require for various reasons such as the size of youths within the market.

Week 5 – SWOT Analysis

Strengths 1.      While making presentations, I am good at maintain eye contacts. Since I was a child, I was trained to always maintain eye contacts when speaking to a person. The skill of maintaining eye contact with the audience enables me understand whether the audience captures what my presentation. 2.      Confidence is also a skill that I always have once I finish introductions.

Threats 1.      Lack of enough experience in presentations would be a threat to my professional presentations. 2.      The type of information in relation to the type of audience would also be a threat to my presentation. For instance, my presentation may be too complex for the audience or too basic.

Weaknesses 1.      One of my major weaknesses is continually looking at my watch or a clock if there is one in the room. Sometimes this destructs me and may lead to errors when presenting or cause me to leave some content. 2.      Stage freight is also a weakness that appears immediately I stand before a crowd. This affects the initial part of presentation which is usually the introduction. However, it ends within minutes and I regain the confidence I require for presentation.

Opportunities 1.      My opportunities in presentation lie in my ability to make good summaries and notes. While making presentations with tools such as slides, I would come up with a few that have all the information I need. 2.      In addition, the ICT profession may allow for interaction during presentation. This would turn the platform into a type of discussion/debate that I am good at.

Most presentations are usually timed. Sometimes an individual is not supposed to use more time than the necessary. I have gotten used to the idea of looking at my watch or wall clock during presentations. However, there are strategies that can overcome this weakness. First would be to ensure that I do not have a watch on my wrist during presentations. This is one way of avoiding such destructions. In case I am not supposed to go past certain durations, I would ensure that there is an individual behind the audience who would signal me a few minutes to the end of my presentation.

The other strategy to overcome the weakness would be to keep the audience involved. If I would manage to keep the audience active, I would be destructed from looking at my watch since I would be forced to look at them. I think this can happen best if I ask them questions and appoint some of them to present their views.

Week 7- Reflective writing

I am among individuals who love social networking through technology. Some of the social networking sites that I use include Facebook, tweeter, LinkedIn and Instagram. Facebook was the first social site that I joined before joining the others and I have actively used it for several years now. I had a habit of logging in to Facebook whenever I got a chance to, that is, so long as there was a computer or a phone with internet around, I would log in, do a few things and then leave it. Some years ago, I logged in a different device and found out that someone had got into my account and changed my name to “Priest Daily Christian”. It was difficult to change the name again immediately.

Week 5 – SWOT Analysis

I thought about the situation and realized that I was the cause of everything that had happened. Every time I logged in using devices that were not mine, I never logged out. I just closed the browser and left. Sometimes while logging in, the browser would request to remember my password and I would grant that permission without realizing what I was doing. I tried to change the name but I found out that according to Facebook policies, one cannot change the name again until a period of sixty days elapses (Facebook, 2016). I was lucky that my username and password had not been changed. I changed the password that I was using at that time and started the long wait of sixty days to expire.

From that experience, I learned to always log out of every site I used and to avoid leaving usernames and their passwords in devices I used. Whoever changed my profile name had ether opened the browser and Facebook site in the device I had used or he/she went through the saved usernames and passwords to commit the act.

In future, I would handle such a situation by changing my password and remaining silent until I change the profile name. My activeness with that name was one thing that made most of my friends to realize that I used a different name.

Even though the experience negatively affected my Facebook status, the positive thing about it is that it taught me a great lesson. Later most of my Facebook friends would tease me and inquire why I was using such a name and I had to tell them that someone hacked into my account.

Week 11- Personal Ethical Framework

ICT professional

A good ICT professional is one who upholds and advances the dignity, honor as well as the effectiveness of being an ICT professional in accordance to the Australian Computer Society (ACS) code of ethics. The professional must act within the law and always be a good citizen. According to Australian Computer Society (2014), a good ICT professional should be an ACS member who adheres to certain values of the society. The professional safeguards the interests of the public before their personal and private interests. The individual must be an observer of utmost integrity and honesty in all their professional activities and decisions and they should be aware of their limitations so that they always accept the works that they are competent in. in addition, good ICT professionals are those that keep themselves informed of new practices, technologies as well as standards that are relevant to their ICT work.

Strategies to address the Weaknesses

Work ethic and values

Work Ethic Statement

I believe in doing what I am competent in. When one engages in works that they are not competent in, they breach their personal honesty and endanger the lives of the public by putting their health and environment and risk of damage. Personal development is an important ethic, I will always take the necessary measures to remain informed of new practices, technologies and standards in order to be competent in my work. I will also recognize the role that ICT plays in peoples’ lives so as to enhance their lives’ quality.

Important Values

Honesty is one of my important values. I always believe that when I am honest to myself and to the larger public, I am able to act within the law and remain a good citizen. Acting within honesty would make the public and my other stakeholders trust me with my ICT profession and would also enable me to avoid breaching their trust. In addition, I believe in considering interests of other people before my own. This value enables me to avoid a wide range of conflicts.

Communication with colleagues

It is important to maintain a good relationship with colleagues. This is done by respecting the values of each individual and respecting their decisions. Communication is very important. In cases that I may find difficulties in activities within my work or areas of competency, I would always approach colleagues who are good at it and request for advice or help. While working with my colleagues, I would also ensure that I enhance the integrity of the ACS society by taking any appropriate action against colleagues who may be engaging in behaviors that are contrary to codes of ICT professionalism.

Diversity in the workplace

The workplace is very diverse with individuals with differing cultures. It is important for an individual to understand that not everyone in the workplace may have been brought up in the same cultures that they grew in. Understanding this would enable me create good work relationships with colleagues from diverse cultures. It would also ensure that cultural conflicts do not arise in the course of work.

Week 12- Successful Completion

Part A- Justification

The course involved me in comparing a wide range of skills thereby enabling me to learn and practice the important interpersonal communication and listening skills.

ICT professionals always work in teamwork. The course engaged me in a research that enlightened me on how to enhance teamwork and solve conflicts that arise form team members.

Week 7- Reflective writing

By pointing out the errors that most people make in communication, the course taught me how to communicate effectively verbally and in writing.

Through a wide range of practice, the course enabled me learn how to Create and deliver effective oral presentations.

The course outlined a wide scope where ICT is applied. I also realized that ICT is used in every sphere of life today. Since ICT is the centre of everything, the course taught me the importance of ethics, codes of behaviour, and societal, privacy and legal issues within the ICT industry.

By indicating how the workplace is made of individuals from diverse cultures, the course taught me the common work practices and values operating in the Australian workforce.

The course engaged me in critical thinking so that I can make connections between ideas and come up with ways to improve organizational processes.

The course engaged me in research that enabled me be able to evaluate the application of emerging technologies to communication.

Why I like the Course

First, I like the course because it is structured in such a manner that one has to think outside theory in books. I liked this because it prepared me on how to think while in the workplace. Most of the time I will be involved on thinking but not going back to books to make decisions.

I also liked the course because of teaching me the code of ethics for ICT professionals as laid out by the Australian Computer Society (ACS). As an ICT professional, these are some of the things that I would be ensured to be in tandem with while carrying out my professional duties.

The course should have a section where it mentions on the issues arising in the ICT profession. This can help an individual to be prepared on what has been in the field and the changes they expect to face once they join the workforce.

Apart from futures arising, the course should be improved by including a section where individuals carry out research on future expectations in the ICT profession. This would enable individuals more involved in technological innovations especially after learning about critical thinking within the course.

References

Anastasi, J. (2013). The Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment. Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across The Disciplines, 28(3), 13-17. https://dx.doi.org/10.5840/inquiryct201328314

Australian Computer Society, (2014). ACS Code of Professional Conduct, 1-8. Retrieved from https://www.acs.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/4901/Code-of-Professional-Conduct_v2.1.pdf

Facebook, (2016). Redirecting.... Web.facebook.com. Retrieved 27 May 2016, from https://web.facebook.com/legal/terms