Unit III Doctorial Orientation

ORI 7100, Doctoral Orientation 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit III Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

6. Contrast creative, critical, and systems thinking. 6.1 Examine how creative, critical, and systems thinking are used in writing. 6.2 Analyze how software and technology are used within the parameters of systems thinking.

Unit Lesson

Introduction Doctoral students will move through several stages of learning. They may begin as a memorizer, where all answers are clear, black and white responses. Then they will develop into a true researcher, one who thinks critically in analyzing problem situations. That shift may change them. It could change their view of knowledge, in general (Perry, 1999). As students move through these stages, they begin to see different hypothetical causes for actions (Perry, 1999). Eventually, they begin to form opinions that need to be supported by arguments for them to be perceived by others as valid. Over time, students achieve a point where they can see many ways to view a problem. This multi-faceted view is often focused on the student’s discipline but can expand to other disciplines based on experience. In this unit lesson, we will compare and contrast three styles of thinking that are used by doctoral learners, including creative thinking, critical thinking, and systems thinking.

Creative Thinking Creative thinking is defined as creating something new. Creative thinking uses the right side of the brain and is focused on idea generation, examining possibilities, and developing hypotheses (Beyer, 1987). In your doctoral journey, you will begin by using creative thinking to identify a researchable topic. In most cases, this topic will be aligned with your discipline and area of interest or expertise. From this starting point, you focus on what has been researched in the past about the topic. Remember that a doctoral study is not about looking forward to answers; it is about looking backward at problems. As a researcher, you will ask these questions:

• What has been studied in the past?

• What were the results?

• What were the conclusions?

• Are there recommendations for future research?

• Has this original research been replicated? If so, what were the results? If not, why?

Critical Thinking Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914), an American philosopher, posited that critical thinking could be divided into three kinds: inductive, deductive, and abductive (Howser & Kloesel, 1992; Peirce Edition Project, 1998). For information on the three kinds of critical thinking, see the Cavana and Mares (2004) article. A doctoral student will use all three of these kinds of critical thinking during their doctoral journey.

UNIT III STUDY GUIDE

Software and Technology for Doctoral Learners

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Critical thinking, which is a left-brain attribute, can be defined as assessing the validity of something that already exists (Beyer, 1987). Critical thinking involves logic, reasoning, probability, and hypothesis testing. As you prepare for your doctoral study, think of these questions when you review each item:

• Does the statement of the problem seem reasonable?

• Does the purpose of the study seem appropriate?

• Do the research method, research design, and data analysis plan align with the statement of the problem and purpose of the study?

• Was the data analysis performed correctly?

• Are the conclusions in alignment with the data analysis?

Systems Thinking

Systems thinking is a framework to see things as a whole (Senge, 1990). A systems thinker connects prior knowledge with new information. A doctoral learner does that via their doctoral study. For example, when completing a comprehensive review of literature on a topic, the learner describes to the reader any prior knowledge relating to their research topic. Next, they propose how they plan on obtaining new information and the method of analysis via the methodology section of their doctoral study. Once the results are complete, the student discusses the implications of their research and proposes areas for future research.

Software and Technology

Throughout your doctoral journey, you will acquire different tools to increase your efficiencies. Today’s use of technology is of the utmost importance in our personal, professional, and educational pursuits. Software, such as the Microsoft Office suite of products (e.g., Word, Excel, PowerPoint), are commonly found on home and office computers. You may have been using them for years. However, going forward you will be exposed to other types of software. You will use some software in your coursework, while others can be used both during coursework and when performing independent research. Below are some of the types of software you will/might encounter in your journey. Word/Spreadsheet/Presentation Software Assignments will generally require a cover page, several pages of content, and a reference page. As you write your content, you will be faced with organizing your thoughts. What better method of organizing one’s thoughts other than headings and sub-headings? The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association provides guidance on how to format a research paper. In addition to submitting papers, you may be required to submit spreadsheet- and presentation-based assignments. You should be prepared to use a full-function, robust suite of tools for assignments. While assignments must be submitted in Microsoft format (e.g., .docx, .xlsx, .pptx), there is no requirement to purchase and use Microsoft software. Open source software (e.g., OpenOffice, LibreOffice) can be used; however, watch the conversions of these open source products. Writing Support Software In order to provide you with assistance with respect to potential copyright infringements, SafeAssign is built into Columbia Southern University’s Blackboard Learning Management System. This promotes academic integrity and evaluates originality. SafeAssign will be discussed in detail in a future unit lesson. Reference Management Software Using reference management software can be one of the most important decisions you make in your doctoral journey. You will spend most of the next few years exploring the CSU Online Library, searching databases,

(Vaeenma, n.d.)

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downloading articles, reading articles, looking at reference list entries, tracking down those articles, and the cycle repeats. A reference management software tool can help you not only store the downloaded article, but store attributes of the article for easy retrieval and usage later. There are commercial reference management software, such as Clarivate Analytics’ EndNote, and a myriad of open-source alternatives:

• BibDesk (for MACs only)

• JabRef

• Mendeley

• Zotero You may want to begin looking at these tools, along with others, and select one early in your doctoral journey. Data Collection Software As you will learn in future courses, there are two types of data: primary and secondary. Primary data is collected by the researcher, and secondary data is data collected by another researcher or source. In performing applied research, you will likely collect primary data via surveys or interviews. Surveys can be distributed by hand to participants, but they can also be distributed through email via links to a static webpage or service. There are many survey software websites. Two popular sites are SurveyMonkey, which is a widely used software that provides the ability to collect data using an online survey. Qualtrics is a web-based survey tool that charges a fee to provide survey respondents with certain parameters or qualifications. Data Analysis Software There are many commercial and open-source tools available to analyze both quantitative and qualitative data. In an effort to reduce the out-of-pocket cost of the doctoral journey to the student, and provide a lifelong skill, Columbia Southern University has selected the R programming language and its connected libraries to demonstrate how to analyze both types of data. R is used in at least two of your doctoral courses. R is widely used by statisticians and data miners for statistical computing and data analysis. You will be using Graphical User Interface (GUI) libraries to analyze both quantitative data (e.g., statistical analysis) and qualitative (e.g., words) data. This data analysis software is designed to provide you with assistance in performing your data analysis. You do not need to be a computer programmer to operate this type of software.

Conclusion As a doctoral student, you will utilize creative, critical, and systems thinking at different points of your doctoral journey. You will also use software, both during coursework and when performing independent research. Becoming familiar with the features and benefits of specific software early on in your program is recommended. Your assessment for this unit will further help you recall these important concepts presented in this lesson.

References Beyer, B. K. (1987). Practical strategies for the teaching of thinking. Allyn and Bacon. Cavana, R. Y., & Mares, E. D. (2004). Integrating critical thinking and systems thinking: From premises to

causal loops. System Dynamics Review, 20(3), 223–235. https://doi.org/10.1002/sdr.294 Howser, N., & Kloesel, C. J. W. (Eds.). (1992). The essential Peirce: Selected philosophical writings (1867–

1893, Vol. I). Indiana University Press. Peirce Edition Project (Ed.). (1998). The essential Peirce: Selected philosophical writings (1893–1913, Vol. II).

Indiana University Press. Perry, W. G., Jr. (1999). Forms of ethical and intellectual development in the college years: A scheme.

Jossey-Bass.

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Rawpixelimages. (n.d.). ID 78545840 [Photograph]. Dreamstime. https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo- creative-thinking-ideas-innovation-concept-image78545840

Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. Currency. Vaeenma. (n.d.). ID 106649815 [Photograph]. Dreamstime. https://www.dreamstime.com/five-important-

critical-thinking-skills-image106649815

Suggested Unit Resources Review the following chapter within the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). Chapter 5: Bias-Free Language Guidelines