CRITICAL THINKING
AARON - LUKE - MADDY - NAOMI
Our class activity was a murder mystery in which the class was given a scenario where a man named Ned Bunsen was murdered. His eldest son was accused of murdering him, and the class was given a cast of characters from which to decide if this was true or not.
THE CAST:
Ned Bunsen: Deceased, strangled to death with a belt in the kitchen.
Todd Greenfeld: Family lawyer. Ned had been in contact about changing his will and what he would be leaving his eldest son, Peter.
Albert Horn: Groundskeeper. Seems to have a thing for Mrs. Bunsen.
Peter Bunsen: Ned's oldest son and renowned party boy who has a bad relationship with his father. He found the body and called the ambulance after coming home from a late night of partying.
Mary Bunsen: Ned's second wife, unhappy in her marriage and far too smart and ambitious to be a trophy housewife.
Alice Mays: Live-in maid of the Bunsen household. Says she saw Albert Horn leaving the house when she returned from a blind date around 1 in the morning.
Harriet Elwood: Ned's first wife. They had three children and a bitter divorce.
Gertrude Fitzgerald: Nosy neighbor. Said she saw Albert and Mary getting a little too close together in the shadows the other day, talking in hushed tones.
THE CLASS DISCUSSION:
There were some theories circulating that Todd and Harriet committed the murder because they were conspiring together to take Ned's money. Other people thought that Peter really did do it. And others still thought that Mary and Albert did it. We talked through each theory until we narrowed it down to the truth. Who do you think did it?
THE CAST:
Ned Bunsen: Deceased, strangled to death with a belt in the kitchen.
Todd Greenfeld: Family lawyer. Ned had been in contact about changing his will and what he would be leaving his eldest son, Peter.
Albert Horn: Groundskeeper. Seems to have a thing for Mrs. Bunsen.
Peter Bunsen: Ned's oldest son and renowned party boy who has a bad relationship with his father. He found the body and called the ambulance after coming home from a late night of partying.
Mary Bunsen: Ned's second wife, unhappy in her marriage and far too smart and ambitious to be a trophy housewife.
Alice Mays: Live-in maid of the Bunsen household. Says she saw Albert Horn leaving the house when she returned from a blind date around 1 in the morning.
Harriet Elwood: Ned's first wife. They had three children and a bitter divorce.
Gertrude Fitzgerald: Nosy neighbor. Said she saw Albert and Mary getting a little too close together in the shadows the other day, talking in hushed tones.
THE CLASS DISCUSSION:
There were some theories circulating that Todd and Harriet committed the murder because they were conspiring together to take Ned's money. Other people thought that Peter really did do it. And others still thought that Mary and Albert did it. We talked through each theory until we narrowed it down to the truth. Who do you think did it?
“Students will learn various modes of inquiry through interdisciplinary curricula—problem-posing, investigating, conceptualizing—in order to become active, self-motivated, and empowered learners.”
-- PSU University Studies Definition of Critical Thinking
“The use of reflexive and objective reasoning in order to arrive at a judgement in regards to a problem.”
-- Our Definition of Critical Thinking
What does our definition mean?
To be REFLEXIVE is to have the ability to critically review one’s own position in the big picture, also known as self-reflection. Reflexivity means looking for better ways to ask questions and not necessarily better ways of answering them.
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To be OBJECTIVE -- objective reasoning -- in this in this context, simply means structures of logic independent of Subjectivity (the logic employed to defend our reasoning must be universal and should generally make sense).
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TIPS + TRICKS
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POWERPOINT |
MURDER MYSTERY
ACTIVITY
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