That is, because students think that everything has a right and a wrong answer, thesis statements are incredibly difficult to articulate. The students do not understand how to argue, nor do they understand why this must be done. For me, this point stood out as most important because it is cross-departmental. Students coming into their undergraduate careers for the first time are often not taught to reason like a

Students do not want to write because it is boring or tedious to them. But most of all, students do not want to write because they are afraid that they cannot do it. They have been given years worth of papers marked up in red where the teacher was trying to take their voices and make them her own. If teachers understand that writing can be learned by every

Practice was paying off and my confidence with new and challenging subject matter began to grow as well. This was evidently displayed in my series of writings about the poet Charles Simic. Simic, known as an elaborate and often obtuse poet, provided some serious challenges to my ability to read a piece of writing and apply my critical thinking skills to this selection. In order to successfully accomplish this task,

Brevity is also necessary because reading for content and for linguistic problem solving is the focus" (Kruger). In contrast to the brevity of the intensive program the extensive program "consists of longer selections, that are assigned to be read outside of class, like novels or short stories" (Kruger). Of course a major goal of the program was English language knowledge and reading comprehension, but "Vocabulary building is an intrinsic part

The anxiety is compounded based not only on choice, but also on taste and preference. Because of technology, we humans are capable of doing tremendous damage to the planet based on the decisions of what to eat. In fact, this is so serious, that Pollan notes that we now have the added dilemma of potentially devastating the ecology of some areas simply to provide a certain "taste" for x

Why Leaders Should be Excellent in Critical Thinking Introduction Critical inquiry in writing requires one to be able to gather, process, and assess ideas and assumptions from multiple angles and perspectives. It requires that one have a high degree of curiosity, as critical thought cannot be engaged without asking questions and seeking as much information from multiple sources as possible to answer those questions. The goal of critical inquiry is produce well-reasoned