DAY 2: FALL 2015 CS101 TIPS ON SEARCHING WISELY AND CRITICAL THINKING Rahul Kavi August 20,

TROUBLE WITH MYITLAB REGISTRATION? Course-ids will be provided. Wait for further instructions (will be provided in- class or via ). Print Bundle: If you brought print bundle already, its okay. Wait until you are given the course-ids (only then you will be able to register). Electronic Bundle: Wait for course-ids to be issued to you (in-class or via- ). 2

AGENDA FOR TODAY Information searching tips. Critical Thinking. A simple Excel Spread-Sheet task 3

FINDING USEFUL INFORMATION Locating important and useful information for your coursework and careers. Finding right information (quality and quantity). Resources of information (Journals, Internet). Is the source reliable enough? 4

SEARCH ENGINES: PLAN YOUR SEARCHES To help find data quickly, plan your searches. Be specific and use multiple keywords. –If you are searching for computer service centers in Pittsburgh, you will get better results if you put in the terms “Computer”, “Repair” and “Pittsburgh”. –Try using synonyms to see if you get better results (“Repair” / ”Service”). 5

SEARCH ENGINES: FINE-TUNING YOUR TERMS Use phrases and quotation marks –“Springfield, Illinois” will return pages that reference only Springfield, Illinois with the words in that specific order. Negative terms –Virus –computer will find pages that mention the word virus but not the word computer. AND and OR queries –Most search engines automatically insert the word AND between phrases (which is why quotation marks are useful) so there is no need to type it in the search engine. OR is useful for searching for more than one term, such as West Virginia University OR WVU. 6

SEARCH ENGINES: FINE-TUNING YOUR TERMS Use phrases and quotation marks –“Springfield, Illinois” will return pages that reference only Springfield, Illinois with the words in that specific order. Negative terms –Virus –computer will find pages that mention the word virus but not the word computer. AND and OR queries –Most search engines automatically insert the word AND between phrases (which is why quotation marks are useful) so there is no need to type it in the search engine. OR is useful for searching for more than one term, such as West Virginia University OR WVU. 7

WIKIPEDIA: EVALUATING ARTICLES What’s the tone of the article? –Any tone other than a professional one increases the likelihood that the article is misleading or biased. When was it last edited? –More recently edited articles are generally more frequently used and more likely to be correct. Citations and references –More citations and references means the article is more likely to be accurate. Like any source, there is no guarantee the information is 100% accurate. 8

WIKIPEDIA: HOW SHOULD I USE IT? You generally shouldn’t use Wikipedia as a sole source for your writing! Initial and general information –Wikipedia is great for giving you general background on a subject. References (at the bottom of the article) –Sources for getting more information. –Also help to verify the information in the Wikipedia article. 9

GOOGLE SCHOLAR If you’re doing technical research or writing papers for your major, Google Scholar is a good place to look for existing work. Where do I find Google Scholar? – What sources is it looking at? –Includes peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts, and other scholarly literature from academic publishers and professional societies, and also from scholarly articles available on the Internet. 10

GOOGLE SCHOLAR: HOW SHOULD I USE IT? What do I use it for? –Good for finding papers, abstracts, and citations –A great way to search for diverse sources from one place –Provides full-text sources on the web, as well as locates the complete paper in your library What advantages does it offer? –For each piece that it locates, Google scholar shows the title, other papers that have cited the article, related articles, and library links for electronic and physical papers –Allows you to search by title, author, and category, as well as within specific publications 11

ALTERNATE HELP OPTIONS FOR CS101 Student resources at CS101.Student resources Google/Bing search is one of the options for finding what you need. Microsoft Office’s website (office.microsoft.com) includes many useful tools for helping you to use the package’s features.office.microsoft.com Check your book, and use any other resources you might have available (not including the person sitting next to you). 12

SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER When researching topics on the web, some things to think about are: –Who is the page’s author? Is the source credible? Sites like will have more accurate information than sites like –How current is the information? Sites that have not been updated since 1998 are less likely to have accurate information. –Search engines are unfiltered and thus return all results. These may include results that aren’t objective or even accurate. Think about the possible biases that could be portrayed and whether the information and data is authentic. –You can double-check your information against multiple sources if you are unsure of their authenticity. 13

CRITICAL THINKING 14

CRITICAL THINKING Definitions: –The scientific method applied to life. –An attempt at objective judgment so as to determine both merits and faults. –The art of taking charge of your own mind! 15

NON-CRITICAL THINKING Left to our own devices, our thinking often uses rigidity, over-generalization, prejudice, and common fallacies. –Buying a brand new car because it looked good on the lot. –Copying/pasting in Word using a mouse because that's the way you've always done it. 16

CRITICAL THINKING IN CS101 Is there a faster way to do the task I’m doing than the way I already knew? –Shortcut keys, icons, etc. How do I use Microsoft Office to answer the critical thinking questions? –Access: sorting/grouping with queries –Excel: graphing, scenarios, PivotTables –PowerPoint: organizing ideas effectively –Word: getting ideas down on paper makes them clearer 17

CRITICAL THINKING IN CS101 When studying, turn section titles into questions, and use that section’s text as a chance to answer that question –If the section is titled “Formatting Spreadsheets in Excel, ask yourself “How do I format spreadsheets?”, and look for the answers as you read. Do extra review questions at the end of chapters. At the end of each lecture, take one minute, and answer the following (try this now!) –What’s the most important thing I learned today? –What’s the thing I’m still most confused about? 18

SIMPLE EXCEL TASK Form groups of 3-5 students. Visit Visit lectures page. Download Excel worksheet “Monthly Expenses”. Open downloaded File. Finish the given task. file to 19

AN EXCEL SPREADSHEET

SIGN POLICY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FORM 22