This document provides guidance for students on developing college success skills at Ohio Christian University. It includes a week three devotional on critical thinking, explaining that critical thinking allows for informed decisions rather than correct ones. Students are assigned several learning activities, including discussing a passage on critical thinking, creating a Christian action plan, setting goals, and using a visual kanban board to manage tasks. The overall document aims to help students improve self-awareness, critical thinking, and time management skills.

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Ohio Christian University
1476 Lancaster Pike
Circleville, OH 43113
Telephone: 740.477.7700
Fax: 740.477.7854
College Success Skills
PS1001
Week Three
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Address inquiries to:
College of Adult and Graduate Studies,
Ohio Christian University, 1476 Lancaster Pike, Circleville, OH 43113

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Table of Contents
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Week Three Devotional................................................................................................................3

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Week Three Devotional
“Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be
mature.”
I Corinthians 14:20
Critical thinking is a concept that will be discussed, explored, and applied a lot
throughout your collegiate experience in order to prepare you for a lifetime of informed
choices. Notice that the term used is informed, not correct. Critical thinking does not
promise a perfect life with all the correct decisions. In many situations there is not a
perfect decision; however, in most situations there is a better decision due to
understanding the ramifications of each decision. Paul is trying to explain that we do
not have to be naïve to avoid evil. In fact, we must be ever present in our critical
thinking in order to glorify God.

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Week Three Introduction
As this week is strongly focused on critical thinking, we will also explore how we
manage our relationship with Christ, as well as discovering methods to become visually
aware of our tasks. All of these activities focus on raising self-awareness, which is
essential for the lifelong learner.
Learning Activity #1: Week Three Devotional
Applying biblical perspectives throughout our learning process is an
important aspect for recognizing and pursing personal Christian
development. Read the current week’s devotional, and consider the
importance of critical thinking in our everyday lives and decisions.
Post your thoughts in the discussion forum titled Week Three Devotional.
Feel free to respond to other students’ thoughts that enlighten you.
Objective 1: Explain critical thinking and its personal application.
Critical thinking is a key component to the success of any field of interest. Some
of the environments or forces beyond your control may make life very
discouraging and hopeless, as it seemed for Daniel and the Jews, but the ability
to think on your feet, and thinking through consequences of actions will always
provide hope for the future. Critical thinking, however, does not come naturally
as it is a trained thought process. Life and experience teach us to think ahead, but
college provides an environment for you to explore your thoughts and the
ramifications of those thoughts through writing and discussion. As you are able
to think more critically within your field of study, these abilities will become
natural.
Learning Activity #2: Critical Thinking Discussion
Download and read Supplemental Reading – Critical Thinking from Course
Documents.
Complete the following questions and instructions.
 Review the Critical Thinking Rubric. As you read it, consider a
specific situation recently where critical thinking was necessary.
How did the experience match up to this rubric?
 Can one stand on the truth of Scripture and still think critically?
 What are consequences of not thinking critically?
Post your response in the discussion forum titled Critical Thinking
Discussion. Use the Discussion rubric to guide your posted response and
responses to other posts.

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Objective 2: Develop a Christian action plan.
While it’s vastly important to understand yourself, it’s equally as important to
understand how God’s Plan is related to you. Many people feel lost in a 10,000
piece jigsaw puzzle, never to be put in the right place, or even worse, to not be
effective. However, knowing God’s will gives us the motivation and
understanding of our connection in that huge puzzle. Ways to help us align
ourselves with God include creating our own Christian Faith Statements and
Action Plans.
Learning Activity #3: Christian Action Plan
Download the document titled Christian Action Plan document from
Course Documents.
Complete the document, which will raise your self-awareness for
maintaining your relationship with God.
Submit the completed exercise to your facilitator as an attachment in the
drop box titled Christian Action Plan.
Objective 3: Develop self-awareness through the process of goal setting.
Mindset is everything. It is how we think, the source of our assumptions, and the
outlook we have on life. We should be extremely honest with identifying our
mindset, because we can mold it to what we want, if we know with what we are
working. As Christians, we have a certain level of assumptions in connection to
effective personal management. Within the context of those assumptions, it is
essential to be self-aware. Evaluating your mindset in conjunction with the
process of goal setting is an excellent method to raise self-awareness, and thus
develop room for improvement.
Learning Activity #4: Goal Setting Exercise
Download the document titled Goal Setting from Course Documents.
Based off the reading, complete the goal setting process. You are
encouraged to simply complete the document provided.
Submit the completed exercise to your facilitator as an attachment in the
drop box titled Goal Setting Exercise.
Objective 4: Demonstrate the impact of using a visual control board.
It is a rare individual who loves to serve and complete tasks just for the act of
completing tasks. There needs to be a goal or motivation behind the task. The
studies this week will introduce ways to stay motivated with the tasks.

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Meanwhile we have a biblical application here where God designated tasks
through Moses. Guess what … we will never escape tasks! The important issue is
to not avoid tasks, but to embrace what we have been tasked with joy and
motivation, working to produce the best possible result for God.
Learning Activity #5: Kanban Exercise
Read the following links to better understand the purpose and goal of
kanban board management.
Click through the links provided within the page below.
http://www.personalkanban.com/pk/personal-kanban-101/
Click through the slides provided within the page below.
http://www.slideshare.net/ourfounder/personal-kanban-101
You have the option of building a personal kanban board either physically
(whiteboard and post-it notes) or technologically (LeanKitKanban.com).
If you select the physical method, below are a few options for you to
consider.
1. Large paper with small post-it notes.
2. Small or large white board with post-it notes.
3. Whichever one you use, take a photo of the board at the end of the
week.
4. Create a board for your schoolwork for the remainder of this
course.
5. Insert the digital photo of your board once you’ve added the
assignments.
If you select the technological method, follow the directions provided
below.
1. Go to LeankitKanban.com and sign up for a free account (under
Pricing and Setup).
2. Create a board for your schoolwork for the remainder of this
course.
3. Explore the different features of the card that will allow you to set
deadlines, indicate the card is blocked by an outside source, and
add notes and/or tags to remind yourself of the status of that card.
4. Take a screenshot of your board at the end of the week.
a. Click the Insert ribbon.
b. Select Screenshot from the Illustrations section of the ribbon.

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c. Save the Word document.
Whether you’ve included a photo of a physical board, or a screenshot of
your virtual board, immediately after the image, summarize your
experience in creating the board and what you discovered in exploring it.
Submit the image and summary to your facilitator as an attachment in the
drop box titled Kanban Exercise.