RITx: LEAD103 Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In today's business environment, organizations have identified critical thinking and problem solving as skills that are integral to an employee's—and their organization's—success.

The most successful professionals can assess the environment, analyze a situation, design a solution, and ultimately win in a competitive scenario.

This course, part of the Leadership Essentials Professional Certificate program, will demystify, discuss, and provide application techniques for critical thinking and problem solving in a business context. Learners will draw connections to their work experience by analyzing and critiquing case studies. Best practices for problem-solving will be discussed and illustrated including how to weigh alternative solutions, incorporate feedback from stakeholders, and how and when to start over.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• How to perform strategic analysis and assessment
• How to perceive and assess a critical need and design a tailored solution
• How to identify key stakeholders and ensure their needs are met
• How to employ adaptive problem-solving
• How to work through obstacles collaboratively
• How to analyze failure to improve future performance

PREREQUISITES

There are no required courses to complete before this course.

MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Mike Johansson
Senior Lecturer, School of Communication
Rochester Institute of Technology

GRADING & CERTIFICATION

Note: Only verified learners have access to graded activities. View more about the difference between audit and verified. The verification deadline is listed on the course home page.

If you are are interested in earning a verified certificate, you'll need to complete:

• Graded quizzes at the end of each unit
  • Only one attempt is allowed per quiz question, so review the questions carefully before saving your answer.
  • Quizzes are 80% of your final grade.
• An Application Assignment in unit four
  • After completion of unit three, there is a required Application Assignment. It is an opportunity for you to explain what you learned to a teammate and evaluate your team. This assignment is required for verified students but is open to all students.
  • The Application Assignment is 20% of your final grade.

Verified students who complete the Quizzes and the Application Assignment with cumulative 75% or higher grade average will earn a verified certificate from edX, signifying successful completion of the course.

• There is no weekly deadline for each unit quiz or the Application Assignment. As long as you complete everything by the course end date you will be eligible for the certificate. As soon as your application assignment has been graded and you have achieved a course average of 75% or higher, you will be eligible to download your certificate.
• Earning a verified certificate might be a good option for you if you plan to use your completion of Critical Thinking & Problem Solving for job applications, career advancement, or school applications. Also, by earning a verified certificate in this course, along with Business Communication and Teamwork & Collaboration and, you may apply for the Leadership Essentials Professional Certificate.
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WORKLOAD & SCHEDULE

This course is designed to be completed in three weeks, however, you can work on the course at your own pace, as long as you are verified and complete it prior to the course end date. Course materials and activities are released at the start of the course and will remain open for verified students until the course closes. We estimate it will take you 4-6 hours to complete the materials and activities per week. For your convenience, a schedule (the link can be found at the top of this page) is available to help you manage your time.

ACADEMIC POLICY

You must behave with academic honesty and respect your fellow students. Please abide by the edX Terms of Service & Honor Code

HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS COURSE

To help facilitate navigation within each unit, the course materials and activities are organized under the following headings.

MOBILE APP

This course is available on the edX mobile app. This app will allow you to view content, watch videos, and participate in certain activities such as graded assignments and discussions. Most of this course can be completed on the app, however, there are some features not yet available on the edX mobile app. You will need to access a few parts of this course on a desktop computer to participate fully in those activities. The app will tell you which ones.

DISCUSSION POLICY

Each unit in this course will contain Discussion Forums which you are encouraged to participate in. (The Discussion Questions are also accessible by clicking the "Discussion" tab on the edX toolbar). Your posts will be occasionally monitored by course staff; however, owing to a large number of students and limited resources, we may not be able to answer all questions. We would appreciate your understanding.

DISCUSSION CODE OF CONDUCT

We are committed to providing a friendly, safe, and welcoming environment for all students. This code of conduct outlines our expectations for discussion behavior, as well as the consequences for unacceptable behavior.

• Be respectful
• Please respect your fellow students. Insulting or abusive words will not be tolerated and will be removed.
• Be constructive. A learning community is about learning with and through engagement with one another.
• Be culturally aware. This is a global forum with participants from many different cultures and backgrounds. Be sensitive when discussing race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or controversial topics, since others may be more sensitive about them than you are.

POST APPROPRIATELY

Content that violates the edX Terms of Service & Honor Code is not permitted. You may not post inappropriate (e.g. pornographic) or copyrighted content, advertise or promote outside products or organizations, or spam the forums with repeat content.

CONSEQUENCES OF UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR

Unacceptable behavior will not be tolerated. Anyone asked to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply immediately.

If a participant engages in unacceptable behavior, the course staff may take any action they deem appropriate, up to and including expulsion from the course.

Please help us create a healthy learning environment by respecting these standards. We do not expect to see many of these issues because we trust students like you to keep our forum communities strong and healthy.

GETTING HELP

To ensure the quickest response, please follow these steps:

• Review the course FAQ (link can be found at the top of this page), it contains helpful information about this course.

• For questions on course lectures, tools, or materials for this course, post in the "Questions About this Course" discussion forum.

1. First, search the discussion forums to see if someone else has already asked your question before creating a new post.

2. Please add [Staff] at the beginning of your post so that the course team can easily identify your request.

3. Do not post questions about graded activities in the discussion forum, instead please use the Support tab in the top navigation menu to contact us.

• For technical questions related to the edX platform use the Support tab located on the left side of the page.

• If you can't find your answer in any of the places noted above or you have a question about a graded activity, please use the Support tab in the top navigation menu to contact us.

1. Please be as specific as possible in your question. For example, include a specific video or page title or direct link.
2. Typically, we are able to respond within one business day - Monday to Friday, 14:00 UTC to 22:00 UTC.

Please note: The course team is English speaking. While we will do our best to address your inquiry in any language, our responses will be in English.