Dr. Bruce Umbaugh Sa 9:00-11:00 CST and CDT BruceU Lodge, Albatross Island, CollegeTown MOO
e-mail: bumbaugh@websteruniv.edu
bumbaugh@well.com
MOO-mail: BruceU@CollegeTown
virtual office:
Lodge C, Albatross Island, CollegeTown MOO
office in real life:
in Pearson House,
Webster Groves Campus (St. Louis),
Webster University
phone: +1 (314) 961-2660 x7826 (office)
office hours: Tu 3:00-4:00 (irl and on MOO)
and by appointment
This course will serve as a general introduction to the critical analysis and construction of arguments. We aim, perhaps immodestly, to teach students how to think. Usually, in this course, I say, "We will seek to improve students' reasoning abilities through assignments that involve reading, writing, and speaking." In our peculiar case, the speaking will also be writing. So, perhaps I should say, "We will seek to improve students' reasoning abilities through assignments that involve reading, and both synchronous and asynchronous writing." Maybe at the end of the course you will be able to tell me what that should say.
Topics will include identifying arguments, validity and soundness, opinion and truth, definitions, fallacies, identifying assumptions, making inferences, point of view, analogy, inductive reasoning, causal reasoning, explanation, confirmation, cognitive illusions, observation, scientific research design, and the creation and evaluation of putative knowledge.
Students who complete this course successfully should understand well such concepts as validity, soundness, confirmation, controlled experiment, explanation, argument, equivocation, and stipulative definition; should be able to identify conclusions and premisses in arguments, and recognize a number of fallacious and valid argument forms; and they should be able both to construct and to analyze argumentative reasoning as it occurs in artistic, political, scientific, and everyday discourse.
This version of the course is an "Internet Course," in which we do not set out to meet face to face. Regular class meetings will be held here at CollegeTown MOO weekly, with written work exchanged via email over the intervening days.
Because of the collaborative nature of the course, it is very important the DEADLINES be met and that you ATTEND every scheduled class meeting.
There is no substitute in this course for study and practice! To do well, you must acquire appropriate skills. Doing homework is the best--perhaps the only--way to learn the material we will cover.
Homework exercises combine with the readings and with other exercises in class to build requisite critical thinking skills. Work later in the course presupposes competence acquired earlier in the course. Do not fall behind. This course will require your regular attention. The work you do in the course will lead you toward producing an "argumentative essay."
Be warned that this is a highly compressed version of Introduction to Critical Thinking. Each week, you will be expected to do work that would be spread over two weeks or more if the course traversed a full, sixteen-week term. Commit yourself to the course and you will benefit; slack off and you are likely to suffer greatly. Despite my dire warning, I have no reason to think the material in this course is too difficult for any student who seriously tries to master it.
If TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES at galaxy.bvu.edu prevent class from meeting at CollegeTown MOO, go to Snow MOO (telnet sapporo.sensemedia.net 9030) and connect as a guest. @join Philonous (me) there. If I am not there and do not arrive in a timely fashion, send email or phone. If difficulties at your service provider prevent your attending class, phone me as soon as humanly possible at +1 (314) 918-0255.
Writing applications 45%
Collegial participation 25%
Argumentative research essay 05% (draft)
Argumentative research essay 25% (final)
Over the course of the semester, oodles of exercises will be assigned. Many of these will be the basis for class discussion and group work. Several of them will be collected and graded. Forty-five percent of your course grade will be based on evaluation of written exercises collected in class. Exercises are due prior to the start of class and should be submitted by e-mail, as plain text (no attached word-processing files, please) unless otherwise indicated.
Some exercises will cycle through a process of writing, reviewing, and rewriting. On those occasions, the drafts must be good enough to deserve the comments of your classmates, as we will have "essay conferences" in which students read and comment on the work that other students are doing. Commenting on the work of others is good intellectual exercise for you, and you should benefit also from the comments that your colleagues provide on your work in progress. When you submit finished versions of your essays, you will include the draft and comments that you received. Both draft and final versions of the essays should be neat and orderly, plain text. In all cases, they should be grammatically correct and show evidence of having been proofread as necessary.
Each student will be expected to participate in class discussion, and to furnish thoughtful comments on the essays of other students in essay conferences. Your efforts and success at contributing to your colleagues' education will be the basis for twenty-five percent of your grade in the course. This includes your part in decision-making simulations in the second half of the course, your participation in peer review of your classmates' work throughout the term, as well as your regular contributions to class discussion and group work.
The course culminates in the preparation by each student of an Argumentative Essay. In all, the essay is worth thirty percent--five percent of that is set aside for a reasonable draft for peer review.
The basic structure of grading in the course does not involve me awarding you credits in virtue of your presence in the classroom each Saturday morning. Nonetheless, students are encouraged to attend every class. There is ordinarily a strong correlation between good class attendance and good grades in a class such as this one. Much information will be presented in class, including examples and elaboration not to be found in our texts. Exercises will be worked and explained in class, and announcements will be made. You are responsible for knowing all this and for having any additional materials distributed in class. Although I will make myself available to help students outside class, students who do not attend class meetings should not expect to be rewarded with intensive assistance. In addition, students who do not attend class cannot earn collegial participation credit in their absence. Finally, note that I reserve the right to reward students who have attended class faithfully, displayed significant effort, and made significant contributions to the class.
Students in this class are expected to do their own work and not to rely on the work of others. While students are welcome to work with one another to understand the material, any student plagiarizing, cheating on a quiz or exam, aiding another student to cheat, or committing any other act of academic dishonesty will be referred for appropriate disciplinary action. Please consult with me if you have any questions in this regard, either about your own work or that of another person.