Instructions
Please select File → Download → Microsoft Word (or your preferred file type) to save your own version of this document.
Read each of the questions carefully, then respond using detail and description. Once you’ve completed all of the questions, please upload your file(s) to the Assessment One Dropbox located near the bottom of our Weeks Two & Three: Thinking about Thinking unit.
Success Criteria
The scoring for each question is indicated in brackets after the question text. As an example, if a question is graded out of 4 marks, that means I expect at least four complete sentences that directly respond to the question prompt. This is a course about thinking, reasoning, and relating, so I need to see evidence of this in your answers!
- Exceptional responses (perfect score) are highly detailed, directly and critically responding to the question prompt using illustrative examples and descriptions, demonstrating a high degree of effort.
- Satisfactory responses (one or two marks deducted) will be detailed and will directly address the question prompt using at least one specific example, demonstrating an adequate degree of effort.
- Developing responses (several marks deducted) will be extremely superficial and/or lacking coherence, demonstrating minimal effort.
- Unsatisfactory responses (all marks deducted) will be incoherent, unrelated to the question prompt, generated using an article spinner, translator or other forms of academic dishonesty, or are left unanswered, demonstrating minimal to zero effort.
Part One: Critical Thinking and Reflection
Responding to “The Role of Reflection in Learning” Video
1. Complete the chart below to help you compare and contrast reflection and critical thinking as described in my “The Role of Reflection in Learning” video. Please respond in complete sentences. ( /4)
| Reflection | Critical Thinking | |
| Define each concept: | Reflection is… | Critical thinking is… |
| Describe the similarities between the two concepts: | Reflection and critical thinking are similar in the following ways… | |
| Describe the differences between the two concepts: | Reflection and critical thinking are different in the following ways… |
2. Next, please complete the chart below to help you reflect on your experiences from last semester from a variety of perspectives. ( /5)
| Personal Reflections re: Last Semester | |
| Academic | Thinking back to last semester, how did things go for you academically? What courses did you excel in, which did you struggle with? Why? |
| Personal | Personal development includes your identities, talents, potential, quality of life, dream fulfilment, self-awareness, and self-knowledge. Thinking back to last semester, in what ways did you develop personally? |
| Interpersonal | Interpersonal engagement is all about interacting positively and working effectively with others. Skills include communication, listening, task delegation, and leadership, to name a few. Again reflecting back on last semester, in what ways did you develop your interpersonal engagement skills? |
| Social Justice | Social justice in this context means learning about human rights, access, participation, and equity in society. Often, learning about social justice also involves learning about existing inequalities, discimrination, and biases that operate within our society. How did you deepen your understanding of social justice issues last semester, either in your courses or in your own personal development and learning? Please describe. |
| Professional Development | Professional development is about gaining the knowledge and skills you need to succeed in your career. Sometimes, professional development is about learning what’s NOT for you and forging a different path! In what ways did you develop professionally last semester? |
3. Please take a few minutes to reread all that you shared in your response to question two, above. Based on what you shared, what are THREE goals that you can set for yourself for this Spring 2022 semester? Please list them below, along with a rationale explaining why each goal is meaningful for you ( /6).
Responding to the reading “Critical Thinking” by bell hooks
4. Do you remember an experience from your childhood that created intense, deep thoughts for you at a young age? Please describe your memory. ( /3)
Here’s an example from my own life: When I was very young, my mom used to read me a Little Golden Book titled It’s Bedtime (see image, right). The book is written for young children and is about a little boy getting ready for bed. He picks out a bedtime story, and the cover of the story is the same cover as the book itself – somehow the little boy in the story is reading It’s Bedtime, a story about him.
This blew my little mind. I remember spending what felt like hours
looking at the cover of the book, then flipping to the page that showed the boy holding the book (see second image, below). I imagined that this went on infinitely. An infinite number of identical little boys reading identical Little Golden Books. I wondered how this was possible. How did the boy feel about this infinite feedback loop? I remember arranging my stuffed animals and putting on pyjamas that looked like his, holding the book in the exact same way as the little boy, so that I could be part of the infinite loop too.
I’m 36 years old now, and I still remember the awe, the wonder, the confusion and the possibility that this one random choice made by a random illustrator of a children’s book had on my developing mind.
5. hooks writes, “the heartbeat of critical thinking is the longing to know – to understand how life works” (2010, p. 7). Would you describe yourself as an intellectually curious person? Would you say you are more or less curious than you were when you were younger? Why do you think that is? ( /3)
6. hooks explains that most students come to college either dreading thinking, or assuming that rather than critically think, they’ll just need to consume and regurgitate information (2010, p. 8). Is this statement true for you? Please explain. ( /3)
Responding to “The Legend of the Shut Eye Dance” Video
7. In a longer paragraph, short audio recording or video response, please make some connections between the teachings of the Legend of the Shut Eye Dance and the importance of critical thinking and reflection. What did the Legend make you think about? What meanings and symbols did you notice in the Legend? Do you think that the Legend provides any lessons or insights about how we should or could act in the world? ( /5)
Part Two: Mental Health
Responding to the “Mental Health 101” Video
8. How does the continuum model of mental health help us to understand the relationship between mental health and mental health problems (see image, right)? ( /3)
9. Describe how the thermostat metaphor helps us to understand why a “just get over it” mentality is unhelpful and unrealistic. ( /3)
10. How can sharing lived experiences such as the “simulated anxiety attack” video impact conversations related to mental health? ( /3)
Responding to the “How I Use the Teachings of the Medicine Wheel in My Healing Journey” Reading and the “Living the Good Life (Mino-Bumaadiziwin) Video
11. Based on the descriptions provided by Christina Miskonoodinkwe Smith and by Ghislaine Goudreau, (and your own Medicine Wheel teachings if you carry on!), please complete the chart below to describe the four aspects of wellness. ( /4)
| Holistic Wellness | |
| Physical | Physical wellness involves… |
| Mental | Mental wellness involves… |
| Emotional | Emotional wellness involves… |
| Spiritual | Spiritual wellness involves… |
12. In what ways do the teachings of the Medicine Wheel resonate for you? What in the article and in the video felt important and meaningful for you, personally? ( /3)
Responding to “The Truth About Improving Your Mental Health” Video
13. Describe then examine some of the innovative interventions introduced in the documentary video by completing the chart below. ( /17)
| Description and Analysis | ||
| Sensing and Controlling Heart Rate (5:20) | What does it mean to control your heart rate? | |
| Why might controlling your heart rate help with anxiety? | ||
| How do you think you’d perform on a similar test? | ||
| Psychobiotics Research (12:15) | What is psychobiotics research, in plain language? | |
| What were the overall results of the study? | ||
| Is psychobiotics an emerging or well-proven area of research? Explain. | ||
| Exercise and Blood Flow to the Brain (18:30) | What is the purpose of the “checkerboard” test? | |
| What are some of the activities suggested to maximize brain activity during exercise? | ||
| Social Media and Mood (27:30) | Describe the differences between passive and active social media use. | |
| What were the changes in study participants’ overall mental states after passive then active social media use? | ||
| What can you learn from the study in terms of your own social media use (what should you stop, start, continue to do)? | ||
| Social Prescribing (34:00) | What is social prescribing? | |
| What are some of the preliminary outcomes of social prescribing programs operating in the UK? | ||
| If you were to write yourself a prescription for socializing, what sorts of social group activities feed your spirit the most? Have you been engaging in those kinds of activities? Could you be? | ||
| Electrical Wave Stimulation for Improved Sleep (41:30) | What are Alpha waves and High Beta waves? | |
| How is triggering increased Alpha wave activity suspected to aid with improved sleep quality and duration? | ||
| What are some lower-cost alternatives for increasing Alpha wave brain activity to aid in sleep? |
Responding to the “Let’s Work on Our Wellness!” Prompt
14. a) Describe at least one activity that you can engage in to support your physical health, helping you to create an inner awareness between your mind and your body. ( /1)
14. b) Describe at least one activity that you can engage in to support your mental health, helping you to treat your brain well by encouraging creativity and the pursuit of knowledge. ( /1)
14. c) Describe at least one activity that you can engage in to support your emotional health, helping you to gain a better understanding of your emotions and thoughts. ( /1)
14. d) Describe at least one activity that you can engage in to support your spiritual health, helping you to restore or maintain a positive mindset and strengthen your spirit. ( /1)
Final Word to You
15. Overall, how was this unit for you? Any and all feedback is welcome! Consider what you’d like me to STOP doing, START doing, and CONTINUE doing. ( /4)
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