PHI 2108-0W61 (Web): Critical Thinking

Spring 2010

 

NOTE: THIS IS A WEBCT COURSE; LINKS ARE NOT ACTIVE WITHIN THIS SYLLABUS, YOU MUST LOG IN TO YOUR WEBCOURSE TO ACCESS

General Information

 

Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Mundale
Office: Dept. of Philosophy, New Psychology Building, Room 230
Office hours: T 4-6, F 1-3, online chat/office hours (schedule TBA) and by appt.
Phone: 407-823-5076; Dept. 407-823-2273

E-mail: jmundale@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu

Course (WebCT) Login Page: http://webct.ucf.edu/

Faculty Webpage: http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~jmundale

 

 

Course Description

This course is intended to introduce students to critical thinking, reasoning and analysis, from a broad perspective that includes common biases and barriers, highlights from cognitive studies, some formal elements of logic, as well as a review of informal fallacies, and other topics. This course is taught completely online. No face-to-face meetings will occur as part of the course, but you are welcome and encouraged to stop by my office during office hours. Additionally, I will have online chat/office hours, which will be announced periodically during the course.

 

 

Required Texts

All required reading materials are available free, electronically and online (through WebCT login). Note that many of these materials are subject to copyright restrictions, and are only to be used for the purposes of this course. They are not to be sold, shared, or otherwise disseminated except for the purposes of this course.

 

Preparation

Students are required to carefully read and prepare the assigned materials and remain current with all the online lessons, instructions, quizzes, lectures, and other WebCT components of this course. Remember: there are no scheduled, face-to-face meetings; therefore, you must follow the instructions provided both online and in e-mail in order to be successful in this course. The e-mail address that you have provided to eCommunity at the BEGINNING of the semester is considered an official means of contacting you; if that address changes after the first day of classes,  you should notify me of the change in order to avoid missing any important announcements, as you are responsible for anything I send via e-mail.  Please note that I use regular e-mail, not e-mail through WebCT, because I find regular e-mail more reliable and convenient. The course website itself (WebCT) is a central way of disseminating information to you; you are responsible for the information posted on the website. With respect to the material itself, critical thinking is a subject that requires a sustained and cumulative effort. Each new lesson builds on previous material; therefore, you are well-advised to keep up with the new material as it is released. Failure to read your assignments and work through the lessons in a timely fashion will make it increasingly difficult to regain lost ground. See also Protocols for the Online Classroom section, below.

 

 

Makeups

 

Generally, I do not allow makeups.  In most cases, grades and answers are released soon after tests are taken, so they aren’t feasible. Cases of officially documented cases of extreme duress, such as hospitalization, will be handled on a case-by-case basis, at the instructor’s discretion, provided the student discusses the issue with me in a responsible and timely fashion.  (For example: E-mailing me at the end of the semester to tell me you missed three quizzes because you were sick or otherwise unable to take a test is neither responsible nor timely).  If you miss a quiz, you will receive a score of zero for the missed quiz.  Remember: Your two lowest quiz grades will be dropped, so a missed quiz, or even two,  isn’t cause for panic, assuming you do well with the rest.  Computer crashes or technical problems are not grounds for a makeup, unless they are a reported fault of WebCT.  (Instructors receive notices of WebCT glitches, hiccups and failures when they occur).

 

 

 

Protocols for the Online Classroom

The following ground rules will help your work in this course to go much more smoothly. Please carefully review these expectations and follow them.

  1. Academic integrity will be appraised according to the student academic behavior standards outlined in The Golden Rule of the University of Central Florida's Student Handbook. See http://www.goldenrule.sdes.ucf.edu/ for further details.
  2. Keep up with the lessons! You have quite a lot of reading and thinking to do for each lesson. Students who keep up with the lessons tend to do much better in this kind of class than those who do not.
  3. Don't miss a quiz. Missed quizzes may not be retaken.
  4. Be respectful of others. Disagreement and debate about ideas is normal and encouraged in course discussions; personal attacks are not, and will not be tolerated.

E-mail

E-mail will be an integral part of this course. Make sure you:

  1. Check your e-mail (the one listed in eCommunity) at least three times per week, not counting weekends (daily is better).  Regular e-mail will be used in place of WebCT mail, since I find it to be more convenient and more reliable for most purposes. My email address is: jmundale@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu
  2. Use proper grammar and punctuation in your e-mail messages. Capitalize the first word of a new sentence.  Don’t use casual e-mail-ese.  We all make a few errors from time to time, but I will not respond to messages that are excessively sloppy. Have enough respect for yourself and your words to write them carefully; if you don’t have respect for what you are writing, I won’t have enough to read it.
  3. Be patient. Don't expect an immediate response when you send a message. Generally, two days is considered reasonable amount of time to receive a reply.
  4. Include "Subject" headings: use something that is descriptive and refer to a particular assignment or topic.
  5. Make every effort to be clear. Online communication lacks the nonverbal cues that fill in much of the meaning in face-to-face communication.
  6. Do not use all caps. This makes the message very hard to read and is considered "shouting." Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation (you may want to compose in a word processor, then cut and paste the message into the discussion or e-mail).
  7. Never assume that your e-mail can be read by no one except yourself; others may be able to read or access your mail. The current advice about e-mail is this: Don’t send or keep anything that you wouldn’t want to be seen on the evening news.

2.      Include your name and your class on your e-mail messages ( I may have hundreds of students in a given semester, and surely more than one class, so identify yourself).

 

Viruses

A virus can spell disaster. Your use of a reputable anti-virus program is a requirement for participation in this course (good ones include McAfee or Norton).

Also, back up your files: "My hard drive crashed." "My modem doesn't work." "My printer is out of ink." These are today's equivalents of "My dog ate my homework." These events really do occur and they are really inconvenient when they do; however, these are not valid excuses for failing to complete the lessons and/or tests.

 

Technical Resources

For specific problems in any of the areas below or for further information go to the corresponding links for assistance.

 

Academic Dishonesty

Cheating, plagiarism, or other forms of academic dishonesty are a disgrace.  If caught, I will punish cheaters to the fullest extent allowed through the Office of Student Conduct.  If you don’t have enough integrity to do your own work, drop the class now and re-examine your purpose in life and at UCF.  The following guidelines are reproduced for your information from the UCF Golden Rule (http://www.goldenrule.sdes.ucf.edu):

This is an online course, so I won’t be looking over your shoulder, and we must resort to the Honor System.  The online quizzes are not open book, or open note.  You are also to take them without assistance from another person.  In short, you are to take them without assistance from anything or anyone but the resources of your own mind.  To do otherwise is to be a cheater, a lower-level life form.

 

Academic Dishonesty/Cheating

A.  Cheating is a violation of student academic behavior standards. The common forms of cheating include:

Unauthorized assistance: communication to another through written, visual, or oral means. The presentation of material which has not been studied or learned, but rather was obtained through someone else’s efforts and used as part of an examination, course assignment or project. The unauthorized possession or use of examination or course related material may also constitute cheating.

Plagiarism: whereby another’s work is deliberately used or appropriated without any indication of the source, thereby attempting to convey the impression that such work is the student’s own. Any student failing to properly credit ideas or materials taken from another is plagiarizing.

Any student who knowingly helps another violate academic behavior standards is also in violation of the standards.

Grades

 

I will use the plus/minus grading convention (A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, F)
- Best 4 of 6 quizzes (20% each, drop lowest quiz): 80%
- Final Exam, open 9:00 a.m. April 28th - 11: 55 p.m. May 3rd (cumulative over entire course, cannot be dropped): 20%

 

 

Lesson Schedule and First Quiz Information: (Weeks 1 and 2):

.

 

Lesson One: Taking Stock of your own Mind

           

            Lesson One (Week 1 & 2) Readings:

            - Reading 1A (Reading links don’t work within Syllabus; access all readings through the individual Lessons): Kirby and Goodpaster, excerpt from Thinking text, Chapter 1, "Thinking".

            - Reading 1B: Kirby and Goodpaster, excerpt from Thinking text, Chapter 2, "Personal Barriers".

            - All instructor commentary and material that appear under the "Lessons" area for Lesson One.

 

 

           

 

Lesson Two: Salience and Attribution Theory

 

            Lesson Two (Week Two) Readings:

            - Reading 2 : Plous, excerpt from The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making, Chapter 16 (p. 178 beginning with Salience to end of chapter).

            - All instructor commentary and material that appear under the "Lessons" area for Lesson Two.

 

 

            Quiz 1 (covers Lessons One and Two):

You will only be allowed 1 attempt for taking this quiz, and your time for taking it (the time from when you start to when you must finish the quiz) will be limited. The quiz will also be open for taking for a limited time;  namely, 9:00 a.m. Friday, January 22nd, through 11:55 p.m. Wednesday, January 27th.  Note that 11:55 p.m. is the time by which you must finish; the quiz will close at that time even if you have not yet finished your quiz.  The format of the quiz will be mixed, including both objective style questions (such as multiple choice, T/F) as well as essay and/or short-answer questions.  For additional information, see the Quiz 1 Review (under “Lessons” on the WebCT course page), and also note the policies under “Makeups” and “Protocols for the Online Classroom”, above.

 

 

 

 

 

Lesson Schedule and Second Quiz Information: (Weeks 3 and 4):

 

Lesson Three: Understanding the Effects of Context, Context Dependence

           

            Lesson Three (Week 3) Readings:

            - Reading 3 : Plous, excerpt from The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making, Chapter 4.

            - All instructor commentary and material that appear under the "Lessons" area for Lesson Three.

 

 

Lesson Four: Selective Perception, or, seeing what you want and/or expect to see

 

            Lesson Four (Week Four) Readings:

            - Reading 4 : Plous, excerpt from The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making, Chapter 1.

            - Scan of cover of Plous book (you’ll need to be able to look at the book cover for the reading).

            - All instructor commentary and material that appear under the "Lessons" area for Lesson Four.

 

 

            Quiz 2 (covers Lessons Three and Four):

You will only be allowed 1 attempt for taking this quiz, and your time for taking it (the time from when you start to when you must finish the quiz) will be limited. The quiz will also be open for taking for only a limited time; namely; 9:00 a.m. on Friday, February 5th, until 11:55 p.m. on Wednesday, February 10th  (note that 11:55 p.m. is the time by which you must finish; the quiz will close at that time even if you have not yet finished your quiz).  For additional information, see the Quiz 2 Review (under “Lessons” on the WebCT course page), and also note the policies under “Makeups” and “Protocols for the Online Classroom”, above.

 

 

 

 

Lesson Schedule and Third Quiz Information: (Weeks 5, 6 and 7):

 

Lesson Five: The Importance of Language to Critical Thinking

           

            Lesson Five (Week 5) Readings:

            - Reading 5: Excerpt from Thinking, Ch. 5, “Language: Our Thinking Medium”

            - All instructor commentary and material that appear under the "Lessons" area for Lesson Five.

 

 

Lesson Six: Informal Fallacies, Part I

 

            Lesson Six (Week 6) Readings:

            - Reading 6, excerpt from Thinking, Ch. 9, (pp. 192-217, starting with The Fallacy of Division) “Logical Thinking”

            - All instructor commentary and material that appear under the "Lessons" area for Lesson Six.

 

 

Lesson Seven: Informal Fallacies, Part II, and Defending Ourselves Against Deceitful Persuasion

 

            Lesson Seven (Week 7) Readings:

            - Reading 7, Excerpt from Thinking, Ch. 11, (pp. 272-284) “Persuasive Thinking”

            - All instructor commentary and material that appear under the "Lessons" area for Lesson Seven.

 

 

 

            Quiz 3 (covers Lessons Five, Six and Seven):

You will only be allowed 1 attempt for taking this quiz, and your time for taking it (the time from when you start to when you must finish the quiz) will be limited. The quiz will also be open for taking for only a limited time; namely; 9:00 a.m. on Friday, February 26th, until 11:55 p.m. on Wednesday, March 3rd  (note that 11:55 p.m. is the time by which you must finish; the quiz will close at that time even if you have not yet finished your quiz).  For additional information, see the Quiz 3 Review (under “Lessons” on the WebCT course page), and also note the policies under “Makeups” and “Protocols for the Online Classroom”, above.

 

 

 

Lesson Schedule and Fourth Quiz Information: (Weeks 8 and 9):

 

Lesson Eight:  Basic Logical Concepts       

 

            Lesson Eight (Week 8) Readings:

            - No outside reading, just  all instructor commentary and material that appear under the "Lessons" area for Lesson Eight.

 

 

 

 

* * * * SPRING BREAK, March 8-12 * * * *

 

 

Lesson Nine: More on Validity and the Method of Counterexample

 

            Lesson Nine (Week 9) Readings:

            - No outside reading, just  all instructor commentary and material that appear under the "Lessons" area for Lesson Nine.

 

 

            Quiz 4 (covers Lessons Eight and Nine):

You will only be allowed 1 attempt for taking this quiz, and your time for taking it (the time from when you start to when you must finish the quiz) will be limited. The quiz will also be open for taking for only a limited time; namely; 9:00 a.m. on Friday, March 19th, until 11:55 p.m. on Wednesday, March 24th  (note that 11:55 p.m. is the time by which you must finish; the quiz will close at that time even if you have not yet finished your quiz).  For additional information, see the Quiz 4 Review (under “Lessons” on the WebCT course page), and also note the policies under “Makeups” and “Protocols for the Online Classroom”, above.

 

 

 

 

Lesson Schedule and Fifth Quiz Information: (Weeks 10 and 11):

 

Lesson Ten: 

 

            Lesson Ten (Week 10) Readings:

            - No outside reading, just  all instructor commentary and material that appear under the "Lessons" area for Lesson Ten.

 

 

 

Lesson Eleven:

 

            Lesson Eleven (Week 11) Readings:

            - No outside reading, just  all instructor commentary and material that appear under the "Lessons" area for Lesson Eleven.

 

 

            Quiz 5 (covers Lessons Ten and Eleven):

You will only be allowed 1 attempt for taking this quiz, and your time for taking it (the time from when you start to when you must finish the quiz) will be limited. The quiz will also be open for taking for only a limited time; namely; 9:00 a.m. on Friday, April 2nd, until 11:55 p.m. on Wednesday, April 7th  (note that 11:55 p.m. is the time by which you must finish; the quiz will close at that time even if you have not yet finished your quiz).  For additional information, see the Quiz 5 Review (under “Lessons” on the WebCT course page), and also note the policies under “Makeups” and “Protocols for the Online Classroom”, above.

 

 

 

Lesson Schedule and Sixth (last) Quiz Information: (Weeks 12, 13 and 14):

 

Lessons 12, 13 and 14: TBA

 

 

           Quiz 6 (covers Lessons Twelve, Thirteen and Fourteen):

You will only be allowed 1 attempt for taking this first quiz, and your time for taking it (the time from when you start to when you must finish the quiz) will be limited. The quiz will also be open for taking for only a limited time; namely; 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 21st, until 11:55 p.m. on Monday, April 26th  (note that 11:55 p.m. is the time by which you must finish; the quiz will close at that time even if you have not yet finished your quiz).  For additional information, see the Quiz 6 Review (under “Lessons” on the WebCT course page), and also note the policies under “Makeups” and “Protocols for the Online Classroom”, above.

 

 

 

Last Day of Classes:  April 26th

 

 * * * * * * Final Exam: Cumulative, cannot be dropped, open 9:00 a.m., Wednesday, April 28th  through 11: 55 p.m., Monday, May3rd * * * * * *