THE ELEMENTS OF REASONING is a concise and lucid introduction to the basic elements of argumentative prose and the conceptual tools necessary to understand, analyze, criticize, and construct arguments. This text is not only perfect for a college course in argument analysis, but also as a reference tool when confronted with arguments outside the classroom experience. While THE ELEMENTS OF REASONING covers the standard formal tools of introductory logic, its emphasis is on practical applications to the kinds of arguments students most often encounter.
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The Literature Web is a model designed to guide interpretation of a literature selection by encouraging a reader to connect personal response with particular elements of the text. The web may be completed independently and/or as a tool for discussion. Recommended use is to have students complete the web independently and then share ideas in a small group, followed by a teacher-facilitated debriefing. The web has five components:
Paul's (1992) Elements of Reasoning is a model for critical thinking and emphasizes the following eight elements: issue, purpose, point of view, assumptions, concepts, evidence, inferences, and implications or consequences. Teachers may wish to introduce these terms to students, using a familiar issue such as something being discussed in the school or community; teachers should then encourage the use of the terms and the model in approaching problems and issues.
Based on the elements and premise of the Paul model, this reasoning model should be used when analyzing a specific event where two or more people or groups of people conflict with one another and have a vested interest in the outcome of the event.
The Research Model provides students with a way to approach an issue of significance and explore it individually and in small groups. Its organization follows major elements of reasoning. Teachers are encouraged to model each stage of this process in class.
The intellectual standards that are to these elements are used to determine the quality of reasoning. Good critical thinking requires having a command of these standards. According to Paul and Elder (1997 ,2006), the ultimate goal is for the standards of reasoning to become infused in all thinking so as to become the guide to better and better reasoning. The intellectual standards include:
The critical thinking framework provides an efficient method for designers, design students, and researchers to evaluate arguments and ideas through rational reasoning. As a result, we eliminate biases, distractions, and similar factors that negatively affect our decisions and judgments. We can use critical thinking to escape our current mindsets to reach innovative outcomes.
Based on the above, the essential part of the critical thinking framework represents building clear, coherent reasoning for the problem, which will help ensure that the topic is addressed in the critical thinking stages.
In 2001, Paul and Elder introduced the critical thinking framework that helps students to master their thinking dimensions through identifying the thinking parts and evaluating the usage of these parts. The framework aims to improve our reasoning by identifying its different elements through three main elements; elements of reasoning, intellectual standards, and intellectual traits.
Whenever we have a topic or argument to discuss, we tend to use a number of thinking models to understand the topic at hand (i.e. Using Inductive Reasoning in User Experience Research). These parts are known as the elements of thought or reasoning. Our minds may use these parts over the course to think about the idea:
The above reasoning parts require a good quality benchmark to achieve its goals and ensure the accuracy of results. The intellectual standards are nine factors that can evaluate the equality of the reason parts mentioned above. These standards include clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, logic, significance, and fairness.Based on these standards, we can ask ourselves questions to evaluate the parts above. The below table provides examples of the questions that we can ask to assess the equality of our ideas.
Perseverance develops the need to have a proper insight about the situation regardless of the barriers faced against it, such as difficulties, frustration, and obstacles. This helps us to build rational reasoning despite what is standing against it.
The critical thinking framework can help us address topics and problems more rationally, contributing to building a clear understanding of topics. This can be achieved through having clear reasoning about the addressed topics. The Paul-Eder Critical Thinking Framework was introduced in 2001 to improve the critical thinking process by understanding the parts of the reasons and providing a method to evaluate it. You can learn more about the framework through the Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking published by the Foundation of Critical Thinking.
Understanding the thinking elements and how to evaluate our reasoning related to each part, we can improve our thoughts through time. Additionally, seven main advantages (intellectual traits) can be achieved.
The second edition of The Elements of Reasoning retains the accessible and succinct approach that made the first edition the best treatment of the essentials of argumentation. It presents the principles that govern the composition of effective argumentative discourse and includes brief examples, with analyses that show students the underlying structure of the argument presented and the ways in which the rhetoric was persuasive. For anyone interested in rhetoric and reasoning.
In November 2011, the State Board of Education approved the inclusion of a "Quantitative Reasoning" requirement to all diploma types, among other changes. A quantitative reasoning course is a high school course that advances a student's ability to apply mathematics in real-world situations and contexts and deepens a student's understanding of high school mathematics standards.
This theory, developed by Stanley Schachter and Jerome E. Singer, introduces the element of reasoning into the process of emotion. The theory hypothesizes that when we experience an event that causes physiological arousal, we try to find a reason for the arousal. Then, we experience the emotion.
Informed consent is the process in which a health care provider educates a patient about the risks, benefits, and alternatives of a given procedure or intervention. The patient must be competent to make a voluntary decision about whether to undergo the procedure or intervention. Informed consent is both an ethical and legal obligation of medical practitioners in the US and originates from the patient's right to direct what happens to their body. Implicit in providing informed consent is an assessment of the patient's understanding, rendering an actual recommendation, and documentation of the process. The Joint Commission requires documentation of all the elements of informed consent "in a form, progress notes or elsewhere in the record." The following are the required elements for documentation of the informed consent discussion: (1) the nature of the procedure, (2) the risks and benefits and the procedure, (3) reasonable alternatives, (4) risks and benefits of alternatives, and (5) assessment of the patient's understanding of elements 1 through 4.
It is the obligation of the provider to make it clear that the patient is participating in the decision-making process and avoid making the patient feel forced to agree to with the provider. The provider must make a recommendation and provide their reasoning for said recommendation.
Informed consent is mandatory for all clinical trials involving human beings. The consent process must respect the patient's ability to make decisions and adhere the individual hospital rules for clinical studies. Adherence to ethical standards in study design and execution is usually monitored by an Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB was established in the United States in 1974 by the National Research Act which called for regulation in human research that was prompted by questionable research tactics used in the Tuskegee syphillis experiments and others. Ethical and safe research standards have been an area of federal and presidential interest since then, with the development of many organizations and task forces since 1974 dedicated to this topic alone. Valid informed consent for research must include three major elements: (1) disclosure of information, (2) competency of the patient (or surrogate) to make a decision, and (3) voluntary nature of the decision. US federal regulations require a full, detailed explanation of the study and its potential risks.
Plenty of books dwell on the faults in our decision-making or offer advice on how to make better choices. The Elements of Choice goes one step further and explains how we can design better end-to-end decision-making processes. Going well beyond the familiar concepts of nudges and defaults, Eric J. Johnson offers a comprehensive, systematic guide to creating effective choice architectures, the environments in which decisions are made.
Authors@BCFG event with Eric JohnsonThe series Authors@BCFG will feature interviews with BCFG Team Scientists who have written new books aimed at a popular audience. 2b1af7f3a8