Reference no: EM133413513

Question: Using the writing below, Explain how the career plans are of interest and comment constructively on how you see critical thinking playing a valuable role in their professional life. Demonstrate your awareness of as many elements of critical thinking as you can.

Case Study:

I plan to attend graduate school for either family marriage therapy or a role as a BCBA in Applied Behavioral Analysis. I am from Wisconsin, and currently live in Fort Wayne, Indiana with my 20 year old daughter; Mackenzie and husband; Brian. I have two dogs, a Maltese named Rocky and a Chinese Crested named Cullen. My favorite past time involves running and interior decorating. The importance of critical thinking skills to my personal and professional life are profound, as they give me the ability to juggle multiple tasks, and problems at the same time. For example, if you look at the definition of critical thinking in our text it reads; a collection of skills we use every day that are necessary for our full intellectual and personal development (Think:Critical Thinking and Logic Skills for Everyday Life, 5th Ed, n.d.). An example of how critical thinking helps me currently, is my ability to self-manage my time dispersement and self-manage my priorities, as I am working full time in a new job (personal development-career), taking three classes (intellectual development), exercising 4 times a week (personal development-physical), and being a mom and wife (personal development-relationships). After listening to SNHU alumnus Dwayne Griffin's video, he mentioned that critical thinking allows us to be innovative by simplifying the complex, through "thinking outside the box". (SNHU Alumni Conversations - (PHL 111) - Dwayne Griffin, n.d.).

Experience is the first level of critical thinking, and simply means we have firsthand experience along with information or empirical facts we receive from other sources. In my personal life, I have this type of experience with painting. I had never painted a wall in my life, until we bought our new home three years ago. I desired black accent walls, and my husband and I refused to pay the outrageous cost a contractor would charge. The empirical facts we found from sources included online tutorials from expert painters, to include how, what materials, drying time, etc. Interpretation is the second level of critical thinking and is described as trying to make sense of our experiences. In the example with painting, my husband and I learned that our roller was too thick. Apparently, we missed this detail in the online video, and we had to try and understand this is probably what caused mild streaking. Our interpretation, that if the roller had been a different material (referred to as nap), we would have had less streaks. Analysis is the third level of critical thinking and requires that we raise our level of thinking and examine our interpretations of an experience as well as those of others, refusing to accept either narrow interpretations of an experience or interpret too broadly. Our analysis in our painting adventures resulted in a comparing the best way to remove edging tape. In the same online tutorial we watched that provided how and what materials you need to paint, also suggested removing edging tape immediately after the second coat. To our own trial and error, we noted that this could be done after the first coat, as we did not see the need to keep edging tape on for second coat, and we realized a slight dry was necessary, in our situation, for best tape removal, so paint was to not flake. It was our own analysis that demonstrated a desired result, but it is important to note, not everyone uses the same level or type of paint we did, (black, eggshell semi-gloss), so it is best if not to narrow our findings as best, or be too broad in our analysis, to not do our way the next time, as it worked well (Boss, 2021, p. 21).
Next, determine whether the three following statements exemplify experience, interpretation, analysis, or some combination of those three elements. Explain your answers.

I failed the history test today because I couldn't find my textbook. This is an interpretation. The experience of misplacing the textbook might not have been the direct causation of failing the test, but alternatively, just a factor, along with potential other causes, like lack of studying. This is a very narrow claim. In life there are usually more to things than one fragment.
I lost my history textbook. This is an example of an experience. This person lost a book, but might have never lost a book ever before, but having his happen, equates to a new experience.
I am not sure whether I need the textbook or just online sources to do well in my history class. I will ask the professor about the best path to success. This is analysis. The reason this is analysis, is the individual is weighing options, not stating something as definite or narrow, yet indicating there are other ways to approach a problem. Asking the professor, is the individuals way of seeking others experiences, to see what has worked for them in the past.