Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Chapter 7 - TFY


Evaluation

Evaluations make judgments about worth on the basis of standards that may be conscious or unconscious. It can help us react quickly to situation where our survival is a stake. Evaluations are not facts. Factual reports keep the distinction between facts and evaluations clear. Connotative words convey evaluations that can be used to sway our opinions. When we think critically, we recognize how these connotations affect our feelings so that we can choose or not choose to accept the opinions they contain.
Discovery Exercises - Evaluations: What's Judged?
Judge - determine the result of (a competition), a public official authorized to decide questions brought before a court of justice.
Appraise - to estimate the value of real estate.

Estimate - an approximate calculation of quantity or degree or worth; "an estimate of what it would cost"; "a rough idea how long it would take".
Value - a numerical quantity measured or assigned or computed; the quality (positive or negative) that renders something desirable or valuable.
Evaluate - In this final stage of multimedia development, the focus is on evaluating the presentations effectiveness in light of its purpose and the assessment context.

CRCB - chapter 7

Chapter 7 is about Using Inference to Identify Implied Main Ideas

In order to fully understand a reading assignment, you need to read the material and combine what is stated with the additional information you generate using inference as tool. While inference is a skill you practice every day, inferring meaning from textbooks and other college reading material requires you to use specific strategies such as detecting an author’s bias, nothing comparisons, and recognizing information gaps.

Chapter 6 - TFY


Opinion can be substantiated or not. They can be based either on reason or solely on whim, feeling, emotions, or prejudice. It should be not confuse with facts. Critical thinking requires that we recognize the difference between responsible and irresponsible opinion.

Quiz Opinions: What's Believed?


1. Expert opinion calculates the risk involved in spacing the gap between the known and the unknown for a particular situation. True
2. Giving advice is not a way of offering an opinion. False
3. The result of public opinion polls are equivalent to votes in elections.
False
4. Opinions in the forms of judgments state what is right and wrong, bed and good.
True
5. Some opinion are based on generalizations, such as stereotype, as in the statement " All Chinese look alike."
True
6. Responsible opinions are based on a careful examination of the evidence.
False
7. Opinion are the same as facts.
False
8. Gossip is opinion sharing without any requirement for substantiation.
True
9. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion because all opinion carry equal value. 
False
10. Prevailing sentiment refers to popular opinion that changes with the times.True

CRCB - chapter 6


Summary

Chapter 6 is about Using Inference to Identify Implied Main Ideas

In order to understand a paragraph, you need to be able to pinpoint the topic and locate the main idea. The main idea is the "key concept" being expressed. Details, major and minor, support the main idea by telling how, what, when, where, why, how much, or how many. Locating the topic, main idea, and supporting details helps you understand the point(s) the writer is attempting to express. Identifying the relationship between these will increase your comprehension.

Chapter 5 - TFY


Assumption
An assumption is something we take for granted, something we accept prematurely as being true, something we don’t check out carefully.It can be conscious or unconscious, warranted or unwarranted. Unconscious and unwarranted assumptions can lead to faulty reasoning, whereas conscious and warranted assumptions can be useful tools for problem solving.Another form of hidden assumption, where we try to fit new experience into old or prejudiced categories is the stereotype assumption.

Discovery Exercise
Assumptions: What's Taken for Granted?
 What Is an Assumption?
Assumptions-premise: a statement that is assumed to be true and from which a conclusion can be drawn; "on the assumption that he has been injured we can infer that he will not to play"; a hypothesis that is taken for granted; "any society is built upon certain assumptions" the act of taking possession of or power over something; "his assumption of office coincided with the trouble in Cuba"; "the Nazi assumption of power in 1934"; "he acquired all the company's assets for ten million dollars and the assumption of the company's debts"


CRCB - chapter 5


SUMMARY

Chapter 5 is about Locating Stated Main Ideas Being able to determine the main idea is like having the answer to a puzzle. In order to achieve this, you must first be able to tell the difference between the general topic and the more specific ones. A topic is the most general idea while a main idea is more specific in covering the idea of the piece of writing, such as food being a topic and fish being a main idea. Details are most specific and their job is to explain the main idea.Four things that help you accomplish this are question yourself (what is the meaning of what you’re reading?), locating clue words, searching in the usual places, and categorizing an author’s points. Doing these will help you find the main ideas more efficiently so the relationships between the topic, main idea, and details are more clear. Some main ideas are incredibly obvious, while others are more implied and need time to seek

Chapter 4 - TFY


Why we use Inference?
Inference: Is the act or process of deriving a conclusion based solving on what one already knows.Facts and inferences are linked together through generalizations. You will understand how observation helps determine facts imagination and reasoning to link the fact with explanation and how generalization ties all this information together into meaningful whole. Inference also can be use in addition as a strategy in planning and choosing alternative when it comes to solving problems.
TfY Chapter 4 Discovery Exercise
Inferences: What Follows?
Reasoning- act of using reason to derive a conclusion from certain premises.
There are two main methods to reach a conclusion. One is deductive reasoning, in which given true premises, the conclusion must follow (the conclusion cannot be false). This sort of reasoning is non-ampliative - it does not increase one's knowledge base, since the conclusion is self-contained in the premises. A classical example of deductive reasoning are syllogism.
Conclusion- decision: a position or opinion or judgment reached after consideration; "a decision unfavorable to the opposition"; "his conclusion took the evidence into account"; "satisfied with the panel's determination"; an intuitive assumption; "jump to a conclusion".
Guess- think: expect, believe, or suppose; put forward, of a guess, in spite of possible refutation.

Explanation- a statement that makes something comprehensible by describing the relevant structure or operation or circumstances etc.

Imagine - form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case.
Infer -deduce: reason by deduction; establish by deduction.

Inference - the reasoning involved in drawing a conclusion or making a logical judgment on the basis of circumstantial evidence and prior conclusions rather than on the basis of direct observation.

Interpret - make sense of; assign a meaning to; "What message do you see in this letter?"; "How do you interpret his behavior?"

CRCB - chapter 4


Summary Chapter 4- Critical Thinking for College and Beyond

Chapter 4 is about Managing Your Reading Time
When reading it’s more important to understand the material than to skim or attempt to read as fast as you can. There are several steps to better manage your reading time. First, develop a schedule that shows the times you study and the length it is better to choose times when you are more alert and have the length of study using your reading average for each different subject.Secondly, keep track of your reading rates so you can make a realistic daily reading plan. These steps will help you become a better reader in ways that allow you to manage your time most efficiently while reading.

Chapter 3 - TFY


Chapter 3 - What is a Fact?

Fact is something known with certain through experience, observation, or measurement. A Fact can be objectively demonstrated and verified. A couple characteristics that facts must express:-define their own limitations -objectively stated-use appropriately qualifies-state the obvious not inappropriately cautious-don’t include guesses or inferences-specific and offer their evidence for others to verify
Discovery Exercises p.75- Facts: What Real?
Definition: Know: be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about; know how to do or perform something.

Certain: certain(a): definite but not specified or identified;

certain(p): having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty;

certain(p): established beyond doubt or question; definitely known.
Verified: corroborated: supported or established by evidence or proof.
Existence: being: the state or fact of existing; is an ontological topic par excellence.

Real: being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory.
Fact: a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred.

CRCB - chapter 3


Chapter 3 is about Remembering What You Read.
Memory is the process of storing information, and as in any process, successive steps or stages is essential for it to work. To let new information permanently stored, you need to understand the main idea of the material you are been in contact with.
There are three primary stages in the memory process:
Sensory Memory (first stage of the memory process, enters by your sense, taste, smell touch, hearing)
Short-Term Memory (second stage of memory process, just for 20-30second)
Long-Term Memory (final stage. Information can’t be stored until it has passed the Sensory and the Short-Term Memory)
Some specific strategies examples to enhance the Sensory Memory are: visualizing information in your head, using your finger to point new words, read your text a loud, acting out a chapter in front of a mirror/ audience.
Moreover Thinking is an effective strategy, it works by condensing the amount of information you have to learn. That helps you to organize and remember new information so that it remains in your short-term memory long enough to transfer into your long-term memory. The most efficient way of storing information is to use such as organizing newly learned information, mastering difficult vocabulary, creating a memory matrix, connecting new information with information you already know, going beyond the textbook, reviewing, and teaching the new information to someone else. Mnemonic are recall techniques that can help you retrieve information once it has been learned and stored properly.

CRCB - chapter 2


Chapter 2 is about Developing Your College Vocabulary by learning new vocabulary you are building important reading strategies. Also by increasing your vocabulary, you increase your understanding of textbook information. In addition you will increase your ability to speak and write well- to communicate effectively.Developing Your Vocabulary; reading and listening comprehension will improve more words. You can use these important strategies to help you figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words: context clues and word part analysis, writing in your textbook, creating word maps, understanding denotation and connotation, journal writing, and the card review system (CRS). One of the best way of making word a part of your vocabulary is the use of it in your daily life.
Exercise 2a)
1. The child was able to assuage his irate father with a smile and a small kiss on this cheek. A grin slowly replaced the father's angry frown. Answer: b. Soothe
2. She was so overcome with joy by the birth of her baby that she was able to say nothing other than that the whole experience was simply ineffable.
Answer: c. Incapable of being expressed in words.
3. Most of us eventually reach our goals, but life's path to success is often a circuitous one. Answer: a. Straight and certain.
4. The preacher took a pedagogic approach with his sermon, hoping that those attending would learn something meaningful from it. Answer: a. Instructional
5. Although teaching is not a lucrative profession, I know that I wouldn't want to do anything else. Helping others learn is far more important to me than money. Answer: c. well paying
6. Buying a lottery ticket is a very capricious way to plan for your future. The chances of winning are 1 in 10,000,000. Answer: d. Unpredictable
Exercise 2b)1. Alcoholism exacts a horrible toll on the drinker and on the drinker family, but the damage doesn't stop there. Drunk driving, workplace losses, and overburdened health care systems are only some of the larger-scale loss issues related to alcohol abuse. The search of effective methods of interventions has never been more intense.Answer: b. Forces.
2. The natural circadian rhythm of most animals, including humans, is 25 to 26 hours, but our internal clocks easily adapt to the 24-hours rhythms (light, sounds, warmth) of the turning earth. When we are isolated from environmental cues, our sleep/wake cycles continue to be rather constant but slightly longer than 24 hours. Answer: b. Seasonal cycles.
3. When the Commissioner of Indian Affairs took office in 1933, he vowed to defend Indian rights. The conciliatory attitudes of the Commissioner and the Indian Office, regarding Indian rights, conformed to legal precedents established by state and federal courts. Answer: b. Agreeable, accommodating.
4. Our own daily rhythms can become desynchronized when we take a cross-country or transoceanic flight. If you fly from Los Angeles to New York and then go to bed at 11 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, you may have trouble falling asleep because your body is still on West Coast time. Answer: broken or full apart
5. If my argument so far has been sound, neither our distance from a preventable evil nor the number of other people who, in respect to that evil, are in the same situation as we are, lessens our obligation to mitigate or prevent that evil. I shall therefore take as established the principle I asserted earlier. As I have already said, I need to assert it only in its qualified form: if it is in our power to prevent something very bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything else morally significant, we ought, morally, to do it. Answer: seize; stop
Exercise 2c)
Root: aqua Definition: water - Example: aquarium
Root: cur Definition: run - Example: current
Root: vis Definition: see - Example: vision
Root: sent Definition: feel - Example: sentimental
Exercise 2d)
Roots + Definition
1. equ equal equinox- time when the sun crosses equator, making night and day of equal length in all parts of earth
2. um circumscribe circumstance- a fact or event/ situation
3. pre predict present- girt
4. un untenable undue- excessive
5. cur current currency- money
6. ex extend expand- to make greater
7. ex extensible expensive- or great of high value
8. sc scribbles scribe- one who write or copies writing
9. re retentive retriever- recover10. re remit remind- remember
Exercise 2e)
Prefix: anti Definition: against Example: antitrust
Prefix: auto Definition: self Example: autobiography
Prefix: bi Definition: two Example: bisexual
Prefix: co Definition: together Example: cooperation
Prefix: de Definition: away from Example: deactivate
Prefix: dis Definition: apart Example: dismiss
Exercise 2f)
Prefix- Create a Word
1. A prefix that means 'good' or 'well' is bene - benefit, benediction
2. A prefix that means 'out' is ex - exit, exfoliate
3. A prefix that means 'skill' is techn - technology, technical
4.A prefix that means 'bad' is mal - malevolent, malicious
5. A prefix that means 'against' is anti - antibacterial, antivirus
6. A prefix that means 'half' is semi - semicolon, semisweet
7. A prefix that means 'after' is meta - metabolic, metallic
8. A prefix that means ' many' is multi - multiple, metallic
9. A prefix that means 'more than usual' is hyper - hyperactive, hyperventilate
10. A prefix that means 'before' is ante - antecedent, antemeridian
Exercise 2g)
Suffix: able Definition: able to be Example: exceptionable
Suffix: ful Definition: full of Example: beautiful
Suffix: ious Definition: characterized Example: fictitious
Suffix: less Definition: without Example: hopeless
Exercise 2h)
Create Words with Suffix1. One who professes knowledge 'professor'
2. Able to mend 'med able'
3. Full of spite 'spiteful'
4. Like a mother 'motherhood'
5. Characterized by harmony 'harmonious'
6. A beginning; start, a graduation 'preparation'
7. Sad at feeling alone 'sadness'
8. A scientist who specializes in chemistry 'chemist'
9. The act, practice, or profession of instructing 'instructor'
10. Unable to manage by oneself; dependent 'dependant'
Exercise 2i)
Identify the Roots
1. harmlessly - harm
2. controversially - controversy
3. commercialization - commercial
4. talkatively - talk
5. mindlessness - mind
6. simplistically - simple
7. neighborliness - neighbor
8. wakefulness - wake
9. peacefully - peace
10. sinfulness - sin
Exercise 2j)
Define the Following Words
1. maltreat: to treat badly; to abuse
2. autonomous: self worth
3. emit: to duke away
4. fidelity: to be faithful
5. convey: to agree to give6. equivocal: equal
7. posthumous: after
8. carnal: flash
9. misogynist: wrong
10. synchronized: with, together

CRCB - chapter 1


Summary Chapter 1- Critical Reading for College and Beyond

Chapter 1 it's about Reading in College.Reading is an active process that depends on both an author’s ability to convey meaning using words and ability to create meaning from them. You need to constantly connect what you already know about the information to the words the author has written.
Learning Journals is a technique that helps you to analyze reading strategies and assess your learning. Using a learning journal helps you remember 80-90% of what you read. It also helps you to
Concentration is a skill that can be learned with patience and perseverance. Like any reading strategy, concentration takes practice before it will kick in automatically every time you open a textbook.
Learning Styles, most of what we learn comes from what we hear (auditory learning) in lectures or on audiotapes; see visual learning) through reading or watching people, videotapes, or television; or touch and do (kinesthetic learning) by practicing techniques, drawing maps, creating outlines, or making models Concentration Blocks, to recognize what distracts you when you are reading is an important way to improve your concentration.
There are two kinds of distracters: Internal (comes from inside you) and external (comes from your environment).

Concentration Techniques, to improve your concentration there are five techniques:
1. Checkmark Monitor System; helps you monitor how many times you lose your concentration as you read.
2. Creating a Study Environment
3. Creating a Positive mental Attitude
4. Using your Journal as a Worry Pad or
5. Writing a Letter is especially helpful if you are distracted by internal or external distracters.


Exercise 1a)
Concentration Survey
1. I know that concentration is a skill that can be learned.- yes
2. I have a study area, complete with study supplies, and this area is used only for studying. - yes
3. I try to concentrate as I read, but my mind usually drifts to other things, such as bills I have to pay or people I have to call. - yes
4. If I get angry, I am unable to concentrate on my reading. - yes
5. I know how to minimize all distractions. - yes
6. I cannot read unless my house, or study environment, is immaculate. - no
7. I have a system to let others know when I'm reading and that I do not want to be disturbed.- no
8. I lose concentration easily when I'm bored with what I'm reading. - yes

Exercise 1b)Active and Passive Learning Strategies
1. Copying down everything your professor says. (P)
2. Revising lecture notes. (A)
3. Reviewing sections of your textbook by summarizing and reciting information. (A)
4. Reading each chapter straight through. (P)
5. Always begin reading by previewing each chapter and developing questions to help you focus. (A)
6. Testing yourself on the information in your notes. (A)

Exercise 1c) External Distracters: Come from our environment and can include television, loud radio music, constant phone calls, or unexpected visitors.
Internal Distracters:Preoccupation with boy or girlfriend, family problems, worry about rent and tuition bills for next semester, or excitement about an upcoming event....
Exercise 1d)Finding Your Concentration Baseline I read my International topic for 30 min. and lost concentration a lot of times. A lot of difficult and new definitions made me bored. The checkmark technique remind me how many time I lost my concentration as I read. And after I put my checkmark in my journal I began reading again.

Exercise 1e)Worry Pad ( Writing a Letter)This technique writing down my worries in a letter and than throw it away let me feel I throw my worries away. So I can focus on my study

Chapter 2 - TFY


SUMMARY

Clear thinking depends on a clear understanding of words we use. Words confusion leads to less consciousness, or disequilibrium, which can only be restored through word clarification.The test of our understanding of a word is our ability to define it. This ability is particularly important for words representing key ideas that we wish to explain or defend. Taking the time to define the words we use is an essential preliminary to genuine communication.



Discovery Exercises p.46 - Word Precision: How Do I describe It?
1. Dictionaries are like phone books; basically, they all offer the same information.
False
2. If a dictionary is named Webster's, that means it is one of the best.
False

3. Exports who decide how we should speak English write dictionaries.
False
4. Small, pocket dictionaries are the best kind to use for in-depth word study because they eliminate unnecessary, confusing information and make understanding easier.
False

5. Since a dictionary can confuse us with so many definitions for any single word, it is better to try to figure out a word's meaning from its context or are someone else.
False
6. Dictionaries are like cookbooks; a family needs to buy only one for the family's lifetime.
False
7. Dictionaries gives us information about spelling and definitions, but that is about all they offer. False

Monday, October 20, 2008

Chapter 1 - TFY


SUMMARY

Observation is a process of sensing, perceiving, and thinking.Careful observation can help us see details that conyain the key to unlocking problems or arriving at insights. It also help us discover new knowlege.it also requires us to stay awake, take out time, given full attention, suspend thinking in an attitude of listening.


TfY Chapter 1 Quiz p.38- Observation Skills: What's out There?

1. Observation skills are learned mainly through book learning. Support for Answers. On the contrary, observation is learned from participation, which is more active and spontaneous than reading. Samuel Scudder learned observing through the active coaching of his teacher Agassiz as well as from his own efforts, curiosity, and persistence in studying his fish.
False
2. The standard academic study of all the physical sciences requires observation skills, whether in the field or laboratory.
True
3. In thinking, the correctness of our conclusions usually depends on the clarity of our
perceptions.
True
4. Observation skills can be extended to observing how you observe.
True
5. An insight is an experience of understanding that can occur spontaneously after we observe something intently for a while. One illustration of this experience is the story of Archimedes, who, while in his bath, discovered the means of measuring the value of an irregular solid by the displacement of water.
True
6. Agassiz was simply too busy to give his student all the assistance he needed.
False
7. Perception and sensation are synonyms.
True
8. It is difficult to feel sensation and to think at the same time. If we want to feel whether a pair of new shoes fits properly, we have to pay attention.
True
9. Assimilation, according to Piaget, is an experience of easily understanding something that readily fits into our preexisting schemes or world view.
True
10. The word thinking, according to the dictionary, has only one meaning.
False