MBA 525 Midterm
Discuss the following critical thinking skills: claims, evidence, and assumptions. Define
each term and discuss how they relate to each other. Develop and discuss a unified
approach to both your schoolwork and professional life that incorporates those skills.
Provide specific details / steps for your approach.
To succeed in school and in the professional world we need to be able to think. There are three
critical parts to being able to think: claims, evidence, and assumptions. By understanding
these critical elements and how they connect to critical thinking, we can approach and better
understand difficult situations. In this post, we will explore what claims, evidence, and
assumptions are, how they relate to critical thinking, and how we can appropriately use these
skills in school and work.
What are claims, evidence, and assumptions? According to Amdur (2024) claims help lay the
foundation for any argument and typically show up in our thesis statements, or to suggest
solutions to problems. Evidence is used to include facts, data, or information to back up our
claim and can come from many different sources such as research studies or personal
experiences. Additionally, assumptions are the beliefs or ideas that we use in our arguments
that we believe to be true and play a big part in how we shape our arguments (Amdur, 2024).
These three elements all share a relationship in the critical thinking process. Evidence helps
support our claims and can test our assumptions. Assumptions help shape how we form our
claims and support our evidence, and as new evidence comes to light, we can change or even
drop our claims.
By creating a single unified approach, we can bring together claims, evidence, and
assumptions, to boost our critical thinking abilities in the school and work settings. First, we
want to be able to identify and explain our claims, in the academic setting we would state our
thesis or hypothesis, in the professional setting we would set project goals or suggest
solutions to problems. Next, we would collect and analyze our evidence, in the academic
setting we would study research results, in the professional setting we would analyze data, ask
experts, and review case studies. Lastly, we would check our assumptions, in the academic
setting we would look for other theories or methods, in the professional setting we would
check our assumptions and possibly make any necessary changes and base our analysis on
what others are saying (Crawford, 2022).
This unified approach allows us to think about what's right and what’s wrong. Critical
thinking allows us to make sure our claims, evidence, and assumptions line up with our
arguments in both academic and professional settings. Additionally, it helps promote team-
based critical thinking by allowing us to take part in peer reviews and group talks to help
improve our claims, evidence, and assumptions. Most importantly, it allows us to build
awareness of our own thought process and helps boost our critical thinking skills.
In conclusion, when we claims, evidence, and assumptions to back up our critical thinking
skills, it leads us to have stronger academic and professional work. The key is to maintain a
balance and have an open mind, question assumptions, and revise claims in light of new
evidence. By mastering these critical thinking skills we can significantly improve our ability
, MBA 525 Midterm
to approach complex situations, make well-informed decisions, and communicate effectively
in both academic and professional settings.
References:
Amdur, E. (2024, June 17). 10 Elements Of Critical Thinking – And How To Develop Them.
Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/eliamdur/2024/06/13/10-elements-of-critical-thinking--
and-how-to-develop-them/
Crawford, G. (2022, November 9). Writing As Thinking: Why Writing Is Still A Critical Skill
In Business. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/05/03/writing-
as-thinking-why-writing-is-still-a-critical-skill-in-business/
Discuss a recent presentation you gave, either in school or on the job. Critically evaluate
your presentation according to the concepts presented in module 2. What did you do
good? Where can you improve? Develop and discuss a plan to improve your presentation
skills based on the content in module 2. Provide specific details / steps for your plan.
Recently, I submitted a presentation via PowerPoint on how to use LinkedIn professionally, to
help my peers at maximizing their presence on the social media platform. The presentation
was part of a professional development project for my master's in business administration
class. This post will discuss my presentation based on the claims, evidence, and, assumptions
learned in module 2. Furthermore, I will also outline my plans to improve the presentation
skills that I learned while putting the presentation together.
What I feel that I did well during my presentation was having clear and direct claims. For
example, I covered the importance of having a strong LinkedIn profile and the importance of
actively engaging in content to improve one's professional visibility. These claims were
straightforward and easy for the audience to understand. I also used substantial evidence to
support my claims as I cited a handful of sources about LinkedIn’s user base and its role in the
social media space. Additionally, I reference articles and studies that showed the benefit of
how LinkedIn can be used for career advancement. Lastly, throughout my presentation, I
constantly engaged with my audience by asking questions and encouraging participation with
engaging slides, this helped me maintain interest throughout the presentation and made it very
interactive
After receiving my grade and feedback from my professor, areas that I felt I could have
improved were addressing some of the assumptions that I had made, such as assuming that all
of my audience was familiar with the platform, this assumption could have led to some of my
audience feeling lost or overwhelmed. Additionally, I felt I could have done a better job of
diving deeper into certain topics and providing more data, but due to the time constraints of
the presentation, I decided to leave certain information out of the presentation.
Discuss the following critical thinking skills: claims, evidence, and assumptions. Define
each term and discuss how they relate to each other. Develop and discuss a unified
approach to both your schoolwork and professional life that incorporates those skills.
Provide specific details / steps for your approach.
To succeed in school and in the professional world we need to be able to think. There are three
critical parts to being able to think: claims, evidence, and assumptions. By understanding
these critical elements and how they connect to critical thinking, we can approach and better
understand difficult situations. In this post, we will explore what claims, evidence, and
assumptions are, how they relate to critical thinking, and how we can appropriately use these
skills in school and work.
What are claims, evidence, and assumptions? According to Amdur (2024) claims help lay the
foundation for any argument and typically show up in our thesis statements, or to suggest
solutions to problems. Evidence is used to include facts, data, or information to back up our
claim and can come from many different sources such as research studies or personal
experiences. Additionally, assumptions are the beliefs or ideas that we use in our arguments
that we believe to be true and play a big part in how we shape our arguments (Amdur, 2024).
These three elements all share a relationship in the critical thinking process. Evidence helps
support our claims and can test our assumptions. Assumptions help shape how we form our
claims and support our evidence, and as new evidence comes to light, we can change or even
drop our claims.
By creating a single unified approach, we can bring together claims, evidence, and
assumptions, to boost our critical thinking abilities in the school and work settings. First, we
want to be able to identify and explain our claims, in the academic setting we would state our
thesis or hypothesis, in the professional setting we would set project goals or suggest
solutions to problems. Next, we would collect and analyze our evidence, in the academic
setting we would study research results, in the professional setting we would analyze data, ask
experts, and review case studies. Lastly, we would check our assumptions, in the academic
setting we would look for other theories or methods, in the professional setting we would
check our assumptions and possibly make any necessary changes and base our analysis on
what others are saying (Crawford, 2022).
This unified approach allows us to think about what's right and what’s wrong. Critical
thinking allows us to make sure our claims, evidence, and assumptions line up with our
arguments in both academic and professional settings. Additionally, it helps promote team-
based critical thinking by allowing us to take part in peer reviews and group talks to help
improve our claims, evidence, and assumptions. Most importantly, it allows us to build
awareness of our own thought process and helps boost our critical thinking skills.
In conclusion, when we claims, evidence, and assumptions to back up our critical thinking
skills, it leads us to have stronger academic and professional work. The key is to maintain a
balance and have an open mind, question assumptions, and revise claims in light of new
evidence. By mastering these critical thinking skills we can significantly improve our ability
, MBA 525 Midterm
to approach complex situations, make well-informed decisions, and communicate effectively
in both academic and professional settings.
References:
Amdur, E. (2024, June 17). 10 Elements Of Critical Thinking – And How To Develop Them.
Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/eliamdur/2024/06/13/10-elements-of-critical-thinking--
and-how-to-develop-them/
Crawford, G. (2022, November 9). Writing As Thinking: Why Writing Is Still A Critical Skill
In Business. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/05/03/writing-
as-thinking-why-writing-is-still-a-critical-skill-in-business/
Discuss a recent presentation you gave, either in school or on the job. Critically evaluate
your presentation according to the concepts presented in module 2. What did you do
good? Where can you improve? Develop and discuss a plan to improve your presentation
skills based on the content in module 2. Provide specific details / steps for your plan.
Recently, I submitted a presentation via PowerPoint on how to use LinkedIn professionally, to
help my peers at maximizing their presence on the social media platform. The presentation
was part of a professional development project for my master's in business administration
class. This post will discuss my presentation based on the claims, evidence, and, assumptions
learned in module 2. Furthermore, I will also outline my plans to improve the presentation
skills that I learned while putting the presentation together.
What I feel that I did well during my presentation was having clear and direct claims. For
example, I covered the importance of having a strong LinkedIn profile and the importance of
actively engaging in content to improve one's professional visibility. These claims were
straightforward and easy for the audience to understand. I also used substantial evidence to
support my claims as I cited a handful of sources about LinkedIn’s user base and its role in the
social media space. Additionally, I reference articles and studies that showed the benefit of
how LinkedIn can be used for career advancement. Lastly, throughout my presentation, I
constantly engaged with my audience by asking questions and encouraging participation with
engaging slides, this helped me maintain interest throughout the presentation and made it very
interactive
After receiving my grade and feedback from my professor, areas that I felt I could have
improved were addressing some of the assumptions that I had made, such as assuming that all
of my audience was familiar with the platform, this assumption could have led to some of my
audience feeling lost or overwhelmed. Additionally, I felt I could have done a better job of
diving deeper into certain topics and providing more data, but due to the time constraints of
the presentation, I decided to leave certain information out of the presentation.
