Thinking Critically

"Thinking Critically, "8/e, teaches the fundamental thinking, reasoning, reading, and writing abilities that students need for academic success. The text begins with basic skills related to personal experience and then carefully progresses to the more sophisticated reasoning skills required for abstract, academic contexts. "Thinking Critically "introduces students to the cognitive process while teaching them to develop their higher-order thinking and language abilities. A number of distinctive characteristics make the text an effective tool for both instructors and students. Exercises, discussion topics, and writing assignments encourage active participation, stimulating students to critically examine their own and others' thinking.The enduring themes surrounding the events of September 11 have been infused throughout the text, encouraging students' (and faculty's) critical reflection and analysis. Themes and dilemmas explored include patriotism, individual freedom versus national security, and the ways in which different cultures perceive each other.Two portfolios of color images--"Thinking Critically About Images: Truth and Reality in Popular Culture" and "Thinking Critically About Images: Truth and Reality in the Media"--help students improve their ability to think critically about visual information. From advertising to current events to web sites, these sections provoke careful and creative analysis of the ways our values, beliefs, and perceptions are influenced (and, occasionally, manipulated) by visual information."Thinking Activities" appear in the text and link students to the book's companion Web site. These activities encourage students to move seamlessly from theclassroom to the world beyond, offering additional links and web-based activities to enhance their critical and creative engagement with the exercises.In-text readings--and dozens more on the companion web site--reflect the latest thinking on cross-disciplinary topics such as human cloning, globalization, the environment, and challenges to civil liberty, giving instructors choice and currency.John Chaffee is the author of 'Thinking Critically', published 2004 under ISBN 9780618536481 and ISBN 0618536485.