Critical Thinking Strengths

In UNI 110 Critical Reading and Thinking my critical reading and thinking has grown vastly. In September my understanding of critical reading and thinking was a bear minimum of problem solving questions with one unique answer, after September I now understand critical reading and thinking requires precision, viewpoints, and facts. My strengths in critical reading and thinking are now strengths of understanding, deciphering, and argumentative skills.

Before beginning UNI 110 Critical Reading and Thinking my writing, reading, and thinking was that of a basic high school student; I could write a paper on any topic but I would not fully understand the topic. A prime example of this was a paper I wrote on the Catholic Faith in high-school, I only wrote the

paper with the viewpoint of a Catholic parishioner; I did not even think to account for the general publics view of the Catholic Faith and Catholic stances on controversial topics. In college when I had to write the paper on government surveillance I not only incorporated the affirmative side but I also the negative side; by writing both sides of these papers, I showcased I understand, research, write, and provide evidence for both sides of any topic with vast understanding.
Writing outlines and rebuttals for debates were an monumental help for me writing, thinking, and reading in this semester.

Working with a group of individuals was a huge help as it showed me how to think and write with a group of people not just myself. Working with individually allowed for flexibility and adaptability in my writing and working process.

Presenting the information in a debate was also a large sign of growth. Debating was a large part of growth for me as I learned how to present research and critical thinking. During debates, one had to learn how to counter and present in-front of audience and judges, in pressure situations. Debating also showed us that we can't argue based on our emotions but logic. Logical understanding of a topic is a strength where I massively grew and proclaimed my knowledge of growth in critical reading and thinking.

Open minded skepticism is also an area I grew during my time in UNI 110, I now look at everything in life with an open mind but reserved, which is something I hadn't done before. Previously I would either accept something or not, there was no in-between today, I live in the in-between and always research any and all topics until I come to a calculated

conclusion.
UNI 110 also promoted my creative problem solving skills. UNI 110 pushed its students to come up with creative and unconventional yet logical solutions to interesting problems, a prime example of this was the boating activity we did this semester. UNI 110 showcased every thing is open to question in all situations, including authority! Questioning everything may change not only my academics and my beliefs as an individual looks at everything from a new perspective.
Lastly, UNI 110 required me to enhance my effective communication. In all aspects whether reading, thinking, writing, and communicating UNI 110 pushed its students to communicate everything effectively to both students and teachers. This effective communication has been shown in proof through the group debates this semester for both topics, without effective communication; these projects would have failed due to the complexity of the tasks. The opinion assignment is the last example of effective communication and how my communication has grown, as in the opinion assignment I didn't communicate why I believed what I believe well, rather today that paper would have evidence, examples, and questions. In UNI 110 Critical Reading and Thinking my critical reading and thinking has grown vastly through creative problem solving, open minded skepticism, effective communication, and many more facets in my daily life.