CRITICAL THINKING

The Critical Thinking Consortium website has many relevant resources.

Lett (1990). A field guide to critical thinking. Skeptical Inquirer offers a concise summary of several elements involved in thinking critically.

Mission: Critical. David Mesher (San Jose State University) developed this fun introduction to critical thinking through a series of interactive tutorials.

EDUCATIONAL TAXONOMIES
Education is not just about learning facts and figures. In fact, that is probably the least of it. Real mastery of the material means that you can use it and evaluate it. Educators have long used Bloom's taxonomy to identify these different goals. Your written assignments emphasize your ability to apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate course material. Here are two summaries to help you better understand these goals:

A summary of Benjamin Bloom's Educational Taxonomy from the University of Victoria, British Columbia's Counselling Services website.

Another description of Bloom's Taxonomy (with extensive links and references for further study) by Günter Krumme, Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington, Seattle.

PLAGIARISM
Students are sometimes confused as to the boundaries of good scholarship. You are told to "build on the works of others" but that you should also "produce something original." These links should help you draw the line between legitimate scholarly use and intellectual theft. Remember, when in doubt, cite!

Official MU statement on academic integrity lays out the University policy on fair academic use. All MU students should be familiar with it.

The MU Campus Writing Program (CWP) also has an excellent page on avoiding plagiarism.

Finally, Martha Davis Patton (Asst. Dir. of MU's CWP) has another excellent summary of what does and does not constitute academic dishonesty.

ACADEMIC WRITING

University of Missouri's Campus Writing Program contains several useful materials and links.

MU's Writing Lab also maintains their Online Writery, which has many resources AND offers help to MU undersgraduates.

Other schools and organizations have developed significant Internet resources for student writers. Here are a few of the best that cover a wide range of topics from focusing your topic, outlining, writing a thesis, constructing your argument, and editing and polishing. Some of their more personalized services are only for students enrolled at their schools, but each also has many resources to share with anyone.

• Indiana University's Writing Tutorial Services.
• Purdue University's Online Writing Lab.
• Universit of North Ccarolina-Chapel Hill's Writing Center.
• St. Cloud State University's Literacy Education Online and The Write Place Catalogue.
• University of Washington's Political Science Writing Center.
• Webster University's Writing Center.
• Cambridge Rindge and Latin School Research Guide.
• Internet Public Library Guide to A+ Research & Writing.

Gopen & Swan (1990). "The science of scientific writing." This article clarifies many concerns particular to technical academic writing. The examples are from the natural sciences, but the principles hold for the social sciences, as well.

Strunk & White's Elements of Style is the classic guide for clear writing. This 1918 version is available free online, but the new fourth edition (2000) is under $8.00 at most bookstores and well worth owning.