Course

Course Summary
Credit Type:
Course
ACE ID:
PLNS-0090
Organization's ID:
PLNS-0090
Organization:
Location:
Classroom-based
Length:
12 -- 15 weeks (115.1 hours)
Dates Offered:
Credit Recommendation & Competencies
Level Credits (SH) Subject
Lower-Division Baccalaureate 3 Critical Thinking
Description

Objective:

The course objective is to present a variety of topics essential to a student's development in critical thinking. Students are introduced to concepts essential to the comprehension, analysis, and creation of arguments: induction, deduction, and informal fallacies, Aristotelian and symbolic logic, modes of persuasion, perspective and bias, language and meaning, culminating in the development of reasonable strategies for belief formation.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Recognize well-reasoned arguments
  • Identify significant questions for exploration
  • Recognize one's own biases by viewing an issue through multiple perspectives
  • Assess the reasonableness of arguments, positions, and beliefs
  • Recognize one's own position or conclusions through reflective thinking
  • Analyze the processes of logical reasoning to interpret arguments
  • Evaluate the quality of reasoning behind arguments, interpretations, and/or beliefs
  • Evaluate mode(s) of inquiry used to gather and generate information
  • Interpret evidence and findings, especially alternative positions different from one's own
  • Demonstrate focus, organization, discipline, and empathy in approaching complex problems

General Topics:

  • The structure of arguments
  • Deduction: truth and validity
  • Deduction: argument forms
  • Induction: generalizations
  • Induction: evidence and analogies
  • Formal fallacies and weak induction
  • Informal fallacies
  • Language and logic
  • Reading media
  • Bias and viewpoints
  • Logic in real life
  • Using your voice
Instruction & Assessment

Instructional Strategies:

  • Audio Visual Materials
  • Computer Based Training

Methods of Assessment:

  • Examinations
  • Quizzes

Minimum Passing Score:

70%
Supplemental Materials