For Digital Project III (due right after Thanksgiving), the students were tasked to help a couple of acquaintances to think (more) critically about a case that we had covered in this class. They were given the following prompt.
- Review the materials covered, the notes you’ve taken, and the assignments you’ve completed since Oct.18.
- Select one case that involves faulty or deceptive – but not obviously so to untrained eyes – scientific reasoning and/or data use.
- Show the example to two willing acquaintances from different backgrounds (consider variations in age, gender, education, etc.), who you know have not received training in scientific reasoning or proper uses of data. Solicit and take note of their reactions.
- Using the critical thinking tools that you’ve acquired so far, help them to think more critically about the given case. Take notes and keep track of (a) which tools you used, (b) how you presented your analysis of the case to each person (ideally, your approach should be informed by an understanding of your audience), and (c) each person’s response afterwards.
- Add a brief reflection on your experience working with your subjects.
Several students chose the topic of climate change. The following are 4 attempts to communicate about this subject. The take aways can be humbling.
communicating-climate-change-1 communicating-climate-change-2 communicating-climate-change-3 communicating-climate-change-4