Last Week: Post 3

3). Pick one concept from throughout the semester that you feel can use further discussion.


One concept that I found most useful throughout our Summer Semester was validating the sources that we use as a reference to believe a claim.  I remember one thing that Epstein taught us; use your knowledge and past experience as it can be the most valid reference.  It made me realize a lot of things especially when it comes to believing certain claims.  This learning ties to our first paper.  Our group chose an article on dieting rules that we CAN break and it's alarming how instantly, because it's an article, everyone tends to believe the author right away.  I'm glad we learned how to identity certain supporting claims and if these claims had real facts to back up the author's point of view.  And for the most part, sometimes the author doesn't really use facts but it was more subjective.  It sure surprised me.  And that is why I enjoyed learning about analyzing people's claims or even go back to see what source have they used to sum up their findings.  All in all, always double check on the sources is what I've learned most =)

Last Week: Post 2

2). What was your favorite thing about the class?  What was your least favorite thing about the class?  How can this class be improved?  Again, be specific


My favorite thing about the class was being able to work with other students.  It was fun being able to share ideas or come up with the same findings.  I enjoyed our two group projects very much.  Although, it can be a load of work sometimes, it was worth getting to know our classmates a little bit more.  We all worked so well together and every one was so friendly and nice.  I also enjoyed reading student blogs every single week.  Some of the blogs were super funny to read and relate to.  Because this is a summer online course, my least favorite thing would be piled work for the course.  I do believe that the work is fair but because everything is condense, sometimes the work can be overbearing.  But then again, it could be because I'm taking two summer course so no complaints there.  Hmm, something the class can be improved on... I think I like the no twelve hours limit more than not having a limit =)  Since I'm also full time employed, it was hard to space out my work.

Last Week: Post 1

1). What have you learned in this class over the course of the semester?  Be specific. 


I learned so many different concepts and vocabulary in our COMM41 class.  I have learned to communicate effectively by always being able to analyze the situation.  I remember we started out the class by learning what's a claim.  It may sound easy to understand but after taking this course, presenting a valid claim is not as easy as some people may think.  We also have to have strong premises to back up our claims/arguments.  This class was a lot of fun.  I had a lot of fun reading all the student's blogs and everyday life example.  It really helps me understand everything in a simpler manner.  I would read the assigned chapters then read other student's blog, try to comprehend the material, then write my own blog.  Overall, this class has taught me to be ten times more reasonable and always argue with facts of an open mind.  Thank you for all your support professor, I enjoyed this class much!

Week 9: Post #2

After reviewing and reading the Mission Critical website, in a glance, the whole semester flashed before my eyes.  It's a great study guide and reference tool.  I almost couldn't believe that our summer session is ending.  I've learned so much in our COMM41 class reading through all the chapters.  When I reviewed the Mission Critical website, all the terms and concepts flashed back in my memory.  It was a good summary guide to everything that we've went over in the class.  Although, some of the reading might be new material.  All in all, I have a lot of studying to do before the class' final.  The two months of class sure has gone by quickly, I cannot believe that class is ending soon and I'm a little bit sad.  It was plenty fun working in our groups and applying the course material to our papers.  Many subjects on the website also made me recall both group papers.  I will be using this website for future studying purpose.  Great tool!

Week 9: Post #3

For my third post, I gathered my family of four together to discuss about my second group paper.  My second group paper was on the Red Cross social organizations.  They all enjoyed hearing me read my group paper out loud.  They have all heard of the Red Cross before but after learning more about the organization, it inspired them to do more volunterring work.  They were amazed of our detailed analysis and learned about the pin points of how this organization is valid.  They learned not just to believe certain politics but understood the hard proof of why this organization is life changing to some.  They did not have much to oppose as our team did not either.  They agreed on how credibile this organization is and would even like to sign up for news feed updates.  One thing they learned the most hearing our paper out loud was to always analysis everything in full and make sure we always do our very own fine reserach before supporting an organization.  Not to say that people are out there to get you but to fully understand why people do what they do.  It was fun =)

Week 8: Post #3

When I came across, "The cause makes a difference" in Chapter 15, I found it interesting and fun to read.  An example the book gave was, "Dr. E confidently claims that the wind chime causes the elephants to stay away."  Dr. E then wrote in his diary, "There's a perfect correlation here:  Wind chime up on Tuesday, no elephants."  The problem with this example is that, how accurate is it a fact that wind chimes is the single object keeping the elephants away?  Because there's a possible change that even if the wind chime was not up, elephants would have stayed away.  Hence, "the wind chime doesn't make a difference.  We need to have the cause occur (elephants appearance) for there to be an effect (wind chime to work.)  I've learn in my own example, if I do not do my online homework, I would not get a good grade.  The cause has to make a difference.

Week 8: Post #2

My group chose an article from Yahoo titled, “5 Diet Rules it’s OK to Break” by Lisa Collier Cool to complete our assignment.  We found the main claim to be “Breaking the rules could actually help you slim down- and keep the pounds off over the long term.  In Chapter 11 in section D, Epstein explains the concept of, "Violating the Principle of Rational Discussion" and one principle stood out to me the most. Begging the question is when someone is arguing that a claim is true making all premises of an argument more believable than the conclusion itself.  Cool could have fallen into the trap of Begging the question because her argument could possibly be valid but to my opinion, it doesn’t directly prove the 5 rules to be wrong.  I took away from our first assignment to fully analyze all claims.  We must also identify the supporting details for proof.  Just because it's on the internet and the article is trying to prove a point, it doesn't mean that we should believe the claim blindly.  Prior to our first paper, I tend to believe a lot of things over the internet.  Now, it's a great feeling not being solicited into something rather justify the claim in more details or facts.