Critical Thinking in Academic Information

Critical Thinking in Academic Information

Introduction

The aim of this essay is to assess the reliability of malepregnancy.com website by engaging a plethora of ideas based on critical thinking. The concept of critical thinking, its use in gauging the context of the website has also been presented. The assessment has been made in regards to few essential factors; each of which has been critically analyzed to present a conclusion to validate the necessity of critical thinking skills while evaluating academic content.

Discussion

Context:

The prime factor that contributes to meaningful learning is the assessment of the context pertaining to either the user or the source that has been utilized. When exactingly focusing the discussion to website analysis, one is introduced to the milieu in which the user or a student accesses the website to satisfy a certain need. This need may either relate to entertainment, education, hobby or interest and plays a decisive role in determining the authenticity of the sources one may refer too. For example students are more likely to refer to scholarly sources and journal articles for academic coursework; which are far more reliable than other sources. The same need for authenticity may not be present while surfing for a particular interest or while following a blog.

For the individual, the context of research involves a subconscious process of using accepted wisdom as an argument in making the necessary judgments. This process may even be termed as a “meaning making” process in which learning is greatly enhanced via productive reflexive interactions (Jonassen and Kim, 2010).

While trying to “make meaning” of the website mentioned above; one finds that the Web Context of the website does not contain any print sources. The use of graphics and text on the home page gives the impression of a cluttered and less sophisticated domain. In addition, the author of the website, the name of any credible professor or researcher supporting the idea of male pregnancy or the links to such relevant studies has not been mentioned. The writing style used is also immature and has modest relevance to the modern medical practices. A detailed analysis of the website is as follows:

Critical Evaluation

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking maybe defined as the exercise and application of intelligent strategies and cognitive skills in order to reach a desirable outcome (Scott, 2010). The need for cognitive reasoning, evaluation of concepts and intrinsic factors governing the subject under study is also essential for critical thinking.

Accuracy

The URL of the website raises doubts as to the entire domain being a scam to attract traffic. I personally view the webpage to be a spoof. Also for those visitors who wish to acquire supplementary information or have reservations concerning the information, the website offers no medium and interface to satisfy the same (Yoe, 2012).

The picture posted on the website of the pregnant male on the Time Magazine cover is bogus and has never been printed. What's more is that upon each subsequent access to the website or upon refreshing of page, one finds ...