Task 2. Academic Writing and Plagiarism

1.    Is critical thinking about being critical in the usual sense of being negative, or is it about “thoughtful thinking”? Please explain.

In my opinion, I believe that the definition of critical thinking is thoroughly based on “thoughtful thinking” more than a sense of being negative. Critical thinking is about taking an idea and challenging it, looking at the wider spectrum of the idea to consider the different approaches towards that initial idea. Critical thinking may contain a personal view with a past event or experience thought of when challenging the idea and used to evaluate different avenues of approaches within the critical thinking, however different sources of information need to be seen as important as a personal opinion/event. A person must look at all of the facts present, using time to develop their own analysis and finally, a conclusion on the idea.  

2.    After reading Jennifer Moon’s chapter, do you think you knew what critical thinking was? Do you think you could use critical thinking as a learning tool?

Before reading Jennifer Moon’s chapter, I believed that I had a high perception on what the meaning of “critical thinking”, while reading this chapter, I felt it reinforced the knowledge that I already obtain on the matter. Previously I had done several of my own art papers which involved critical thinking; engaging myself in a piece of work, looking at the facts surrounding the work and producing my own conclusion and evaluation of the work. I do believe that critical thinking can be used a very powerful and knowledgeable tool, especially in the working environment. Critical thinking engages a person to not just summarise an idea quickly, but to take the time to first think about it the idea and challenge it with different approaches.

3.    Write a short report on plagiarism based on the following literal quote:

“Plagiarism is intellectual theft” (Breach, 2009, 124).  Please finish your report by including your own experience regarding plagiarism and using a reference system. Were you aware of the relevance of acknowledging sources?

I see plagiarism as a person’s sluggish nature shining, someone who has been overcome by laziness. I strong agree with Mark Breach’s quote “Plagiarism is intellectual theft” (Breach, 2009, 124). Plagiarism is a game played by the foolish and mindless, not thinking of the consequences of their actions. There are many sources on offer which people use and plagiarise, these ranges from the use of the internet and web sources, or just reading a friends essay and copying it. Within plagiarism itself, it is not just the simple act of copying and pasting the work made by another person, it can also be just taking the ideals and process of another to a finished product. Also plagiarism is a two way game, it is said to be plagiarism when someone copies your work, however if you let someone, with your authority, use and copy your work, you are also guilty of the act of plagiarism. While producing my own work In previous years, I have always tried to think outside of the box with broad-area subjects and therefore, i hold my morals to not let anyone copy my work nor copy anyone else’s. While doing critical thinking assignments in previous years I have used a basic numeral reference system, ending each reference within my work with a bracketed number (ie. [1]), which I would then then, at the end of the assignment, fully detail the source of the reference. 




Bibliography 

Mark Breach, 2008. Dissertation Writing for Engineers and Scientists [ebook]. Harlow: Prentice Hall, 2008. Chapter 8. Available at: http://ntu-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?tabs=detailsTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=NTU_LMS_DS000454352&indx=5&recIds=NTU_LMS_DS000454352&recIdxs=4&elementId=4&renderMode=poppedOut&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=&dscnt=3&frbg=&tab=all&dstmp=1399308580411&mode=Basic&dum=true&fromLogin=true&vl(1UIStartWith0)=contains&vl(6020383UI0)=any&vl(freeText0)=mark%20breach&vid=NTU_VU4 [25th October 2013]

Jennifer Moon, 2009. Critical Thinking:an Exploration of Theory and Practise [ebook]. Routledge,  2008. Chapter 2. Available at: http://ntu-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?tabs=detailsTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=NTU_LMS_DS000484390&indx=1&recIds=NTU_LMS_DS000484390&recIdxs=0&elementId=0&renderMode=poppedOut&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=&fctN=facet_frbrgroupid&dscnt=0&rfnGrp=frbr&origsort=Relevance&frbg=937698&scp.scps=scope%3A%28NTU%29%2Cprimo_central_multiple_fe&fctV=937698&tab=all&dstmp=1399308952594&srt=date&cs=frb&mode=Basic&lastPagIndx=1&dum=true&lastPag=&tb=t&frbrSrt=date&vl(freeText0)=Critical%20Thinking%3A%20an%20exploration%20of%20theory%20and%20practice&vid=NTU_VU4 [25th October 2013]