Introduction
Thinking critically is important for everyone and underlies a broad range of activities. Thinking both rationally and abstractly touches virtually all aspects of human life. Critical thinking involves analyzing arguments and identifying fallacies and biases. In this task, you will choose a case study and use critical thinking skills to analyze and evaluate the case study. The goal is to provide a neutral and informative analysis, without introducing personal opinions or biases.Requirements
Your submission must represent your original work and understanding of the course material. Most performance assessment submissions are automatically scanned through the WGU similarity checker. Students are strongly encouraged to wait for the similarity report to generate after uploading their work and then review it to ensure Academic Authenticity guidelines are met before submitting the file for evaluation. See Understanding Similarity Reports for more information.
Grammarly Note:
Professional Communication will be automatically assessed through Grammarly for Education in most performance assessments before a student submits work for evaluation. Students are strongly encouraged to review the Grammarly for Education feedback prior to submitting work for evaluation, as the overall submission will not pass without this aspect passing. See Use Grammarly for Education Effectively for more information.
Microsoft Files Note:
Write your paper in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) unless another Microsoft product, or pdf, is specified in the task directions. Tasks may not be submitted as cloud links, such as links to Google Docs, Google Slides, OneDrive, etc. All supporting documentation, such as screenshots and proof of experience, should be collected in a pdf file and submitted separately from the main file. For more information, please see Computer System and Technology Requirements.
Note: All task aspects must be answered using a word processor. Part C does allow you to draw or manually create an argument map, but that argument map must be integrated and added to your document. You may, but are not required to, use the “D265 Task 1 Template” in the Supporting Documents section.
A. Choose one case study from “Case Studies” in the Supporting Documents section of this task.
B. Identify the premise(s) and conclusion that make up a selected argument from the case study chosen in part A with clear labels (e.g., premise 1, premise 2 (if applicable), etc., conclusion) and do the following:
1. Explain why the argument is deductive or inductive.
2. Discuss how the argument is valid or invalid (for a deductive argument) OR strong or weak (for an inductive argument).
Note: Before starting part C, review Section 4, Lesson 4 in the course to understand argument mapping and see examples.
C. Create one argument map of the selected argument using numbered circles for propositions and arrows for support[KL1] .
Note: The argument map can be drawn by hand and inserted into your document as a JPG, GIF, or PNG or created by inserting shapes and text in your word processing document. See “How to Create and Draw an Argument Map” in the Supporting Documents section for directions.
D. Identify one information source in the chosen case study.
1. Discuss the reliability of the information source.
E. Identify one potential type of bias in the chosen case study.
1. Explain the impact of this type of bias in the chosen case study.
F. State the name of a fallacy in the chosen case study (e.g., hasty generalization, ad hominem).
1. Summarize the instance of this fallacy present in the chosen case study.
G. Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
H. Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.
