Business Academic Skills

Session 3
Critical thinking and source
evaluation

Lecturer: Anna Loseva

anna.loseva@isb.edu.vn
Today we will...
● Present our group essay outlines and receive
feedback
● Discuss & practice critical thinking
● Practice in-depth source evaluation
Group essay outline presentations
3 pods of 2-3 teams
 LISTENERS:

1. As the team presents, complete

the checklist and take notes
about the team’s outline in the
session handout
Take turns to present/explain 2. After they finish, explain your
your essay outline feedback:
successful work + areas for
13 minutes for presentation
improvement based on the
& feedback
checklist!
(Anna will time!)
Group essay outlines: Checklist for student feedback
❏ Slide 2: Topic + focus + task words are correctly identified.
❏ Slide 3: Research focusing questions make it clear which specific areas will be researched.
❏ Slide 3: Research focusing questions refer directly to the topic, focus and task of the essay.

❏ Slide 5: Thesis statement is presented as one complete sentence.

❏ Slide 5: Thesis statement gives a response to the essay question/task (see next slide for an
example).

❏ Slide 6: The outline suggests at least 4 body paragraphs.

❏ Slide 6: Each body paragraph is related to the thesis statement and develops it in a logical way.
❏ Slide 6: All body paragraphs are clearly linked to the essay question.
❏ Slide 6: All body paragraphs are logically connected with one another.

❏ Overall: The outline shows that the team correctly understands their essay task and has a clear
plan.
Thesis = a full sentence that answers your essay
question.
E.g.

Essay question/topic:
How do traditional gender stereotypes affect the modern business environment?

Essay thesis statement:

Traditional gender stereotypes negatively affect the modern business environment.
 Your Google Slides should follow this structure:
1. Slide 1: Group, your big topic; explain the choice.
2. Slide 2: Specific essay question. Topic words, Task words, Focus words. (Unistep
Chapter 3)
3. Slide 3: Research focusing questions (see Unistep p.62). Highlight the most important
ones that you think will help you guide the research.
4. Slide 4: Relevant critical thinking questions (see Critical thinking cheatsheet): At least 1
question per question word.
5. Slide 5: Essay question + your tentative thesis statement (main argument for the
essay, general response to the essay Q)
6. Slide 6: Arguments that you plan to develop in the body paragraphs. Your essay
should have at least 4 body paragraphs (outside of intro and conclusion).
1. Thesis statement answers the essay question.
2. Body paragraphs develop thesis statement.
2. DEFINE key concept(s)
- In the intro briefly
- OR in the first body para
3. One body para = 1 specific idea/argument.
 IMPORTANT!
this is a tentative outline → changes are welcome
(and necessary!)

● Your essay will be 1300-1500 words. One paragraph is around 250 words.
● 1 para = 1 point developed in depth
Anna will check all outlines and leave comments in your slides.

HOWEVER!

● Missing, wrong or incomplete outline → no feedback from Anna. Do your

work on time to receive proper feedback as planned!
 Looking ahead:
First draft of group essay:
by Session 5
● Missing draft → no feedback from Anna
To think critically is to
RULE #1 of
critical
thinking
according to Anna
Critical thinking process
KNOWLEDGE: What do you know? What have you learnt?
COMPREHENSION: What do you understand?
APPLICATION: How can you put it to use?

● ANALYZE: break down the information, examine it

● SYNTHESIZE: put it back together, create something unique
● EVALUATE: based on the above steps, make judgements,
produce and defend your own opinion
We should remember to recognize...

● bias
● emotive language
● fact vs opinion

Image source: https://flexiblelearning.auckland.ac.nz

1. objective statement
2. subjective statement
3. can be confirmed by
evidence
4. expresses someone’s
belief/feeling
5. is different for different
people Image source: https://www.literacyideas.com
 BEWARE!
! a false fact is still a fact, but needs to be → The USA was founded in 1865.
proven incorrect

! Opinions may look like facts if they use → A majority of experts agree that
professional language, jargon, or terminology. smoking daily can lower blood
pressure and overall improve health
conditions.

! Judgement/emotive language represents

opinions → bias

→ great, disgusting, terrible, lovely,

good, bad, amazing, etc.
! The word “SHOULD” signals an
opinion, too
 Watch this later:
How to Identify Fact vs. Opinion in Writing & Research
(link)
Reading effectively
➔ read selectively (skim and scan)

➔ read actively (engage with the text, make

notes, write questions, summarize)

➔ read critically (recognize the writer’s

purpose, argument, limitations of argument;
explore alternatives understand language
choices; recognize assumptions and underlying
values)
 Critical reading activity
TOPIC: IELTS writing
FIRST STEP in source evaluation:

Recognize YOUR OWN beliefs and opinions about

the topic.

Be ready to QUESTION them. Be ready to CHANGE

your position - with sufficient evidence.
 Sit down if you agree.

The IELTS exam prepares students for

academic writing in university.

Image source: http://abroadcorner.vn/

 Article title:
“The IELTS is not academic writing.”
What would this source look like in a reference list?
APA7

Gaston, J. (2020, October 5). The IELTS is Not Academic

Writing. EFL Magazine.
<https://eflmagazine.com/the-ielts-is-not-academic-writing>
Is it suitable as a
source for an
academic essay?
Image source: hhttps://blogs.iadb.org/
❏ personal experience doesn’t show the whole picture!
❏ even if the writer is qualified to write about the topic AND you agree
with their view (=convincing argument), it doesn’t make it a reliable
source!
❏ examine where the material is published
❏ look for hard data (=FACTS)
*** USE OF EVIDENCE (dig deeper!)
How skeptical should you be of the source and the author?

Image source: https://libguides.uccs.edu/

TO-DO LIST for Session 4, Part 2
HW3.1 (individual): CRAAP test

Critically evaluate 2 sources on the topic of your group

essay. Use the CRAAP test questions to guide your
evaluation (the file is also uploaded on Canvas).
→ Requirements:
(1) no article repeats for group members;
(2) BOTH articles must be from the UEH Smart Library search
Your HW3.1 file should follow the following format for EACH of the 2 sources:

→ reference information of the source, APA7 style

→ para 1: a short summary of the article content (2-3

sentences)
→ para 2-6: CRAAP evaluation (one para per criterion)

1 evaluation = 400-500 words

Total word count of HW3.1: 800-1000 words

Find useful materials for this HW on Canvas:
1. CRAAP test
2. APA7 guide
3. Critical Thinking WSU guide
 Primary or secondary
research?
❏ Information gathered
through personal
observations, experiences,
experiments, interviews,
surveys

❏ Information gathered
from library/database
For the group essay: ONLY secondary research

Learning to work with the UEH Smart Library

 How can I research
effectively?
❏ Learn the basics (watch
some YouTube tutorials,
for example this one)
❏ Narrow down your search
❏ Use ideas from Braun
p.244
❏ Use Boolean search
technique
Take notes when
you read or study
What methods do you use?
Try out different note-taking methods:
❏ Notion, Collanote, Goodnotes5, GoogleNote, ColorNote, and other
apps
❏ Cornell notes
❏ mindmapping
❏ outlines
❏ sketchnotes, colour-coding
❏ 3-column notes
❏ Journalling
❏ Other ideas
TO-DO LIST for Session 4, Part 3
HW3.2 (individual): Note-taking.
Part 1: Share a screenshot or an image of the notes you have made for one of WSU subjects. Write a
short description of these notes (What? When? Why?)
Part 2: Analyse your notes using PAIBOC.
P - What is the purpose of these notes?
A - Who is the audience?
I - What information is included/should be included?
B - What are the benefits of these notes?
O - What objections might the audience have about these notes?
C - What is the context in which these notes were written?

→ Submit the file on Canvas in your HW discussion group.

→ Read other students’ submissions and leave a meaningful comment for at least 3 classmates (e.g.
What is impressive? What are the similarities/differences in your notes?)
TO-DO LIST for Session 4, Part 1
READ for QUIZ: Unistep Chapters 6, 7 and 9
 Thank you
and
see you next week!
anna.loseva@isb.edu.vn