Analytical Thinking and Blog Writing Course

(For Middle and High School students)

ONLINE - ASYNCHRONOUS LEARNING with INSTRUCTOR CORRECTION & FEEDBACK

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This course helps develop your analytical thinking skills and guides you through the process to conduct an investigation on any topic of your interest and the writing process to help you effectively communicate your findings and analysis through a meticulously crafted blog post.

This on-demand asynchronous course is divided into six units, and each unit focuses on building specific thinking skills, followed by practice assignments for each unit. The assignments will be manually graded by an instructor and feedback will be given to the student.

Course Outline (Total time = 15 to 20 hours):

  • Unit-1: Introduction to Analytical Thinking – Time: 1 hr
  • Unit-2: The Scientific Approach to Problem Solving – Time: 1 hr
  • Unit-3: Rhetorical Analysis – Time: 1 hr
  • Unit-4: Causal Analysis – Time: 1 hr
  • Unit-5: Process Analysis – Time: 1 hr
  • Unit-6: Blog Writing – Using Scientific Approach – Time: 10 to 15 hrs (includes final project)

After developing and practicing the various Analytical Thinking methods, the student progresses to the last 6th unit in which they learn how to bring all the skills together and investigate on a topic of their choice. The student will then use the template provided to perform ideation and plan their blog post content, after which they can proceed to their final blog writing assignment.

The final project - blog post, will be manually graded as per the rubrics provided, measuring student performance in the following four areas:

Blog Writing – Grading Scale 1 to 5 (3 is the Passing Score)

Assessment will be done in the following four areas:

  • Overall quality of ideas about the issue and argument presented
  • Overall ability to organize, develop, and express those ideas
  • The relevant supporting reasons and examples used
  • Ability to control the elements of standard written English

Upon successful completion of the course, a certificate will be digitally issued to the student.

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Critical Thinking   vs   Analytical Thinking:

  • Critical Thinking – A person who makes reasoned judgments that are logical and well thought out.
  • Analytical Thinking — A person who can use logic and critical thinking to analyze a situation.

Benefits of developing Analytical Thinking skills:

  • Become aware of your thinking process
  • Pay attention to details, and keep reformulating questions and explanations
  • Make own insights and decisions

Benefits of Blog Writing skills:

  • Integrating blogging into the course, helps improve research skills, and often there is an increase in student engagement levels.
  • Enhances student writing skills and encourages purposeful communication with audience outside of the classroom
  • Promotes creativity and problem solving

Mastering both Analytical Thinking Skills and Blog Writing skills, is the key to success in the 21st century!

On-demand Platform:

  • After the registration, student will be given access to the course on Canvas for a duration of 30 days.
  • Student must plan to complete the course within the 30-day timeframe. No extension will be allowed.

COST: $200 – Includes grading and certificate

Instructor:

Shanti Balaraman
President & CEO, Children’s Innovation Center
Former President, Stanford University Chapter of Sigma-Xi-The Scientific Research Honor Society
Former Member of UN, USA Chapter for Transformative Education Forum

REGISTRATION PROCESS:

  1. Complete the form below
  2. Make the payment either via PayPal using the button here with 5% service tax OR you can Zelle to "510-894-1497" or "cicpay25@gmail.com" - no additional fees for Zelle