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Prerequisite/Co-requisite Courses: None
Spring 2009 (3), Tuesdays, 9-11:45
Instructor: Dr. Sylvia Y. R. Schoemaker
Phone: 510.628.8036
Office Hours: T-Th 11:45-12:390 and by arrangement
E-mail: profs360@gmail.com
Blog: http://cthinkcenter.blogspot.com
Wiki: http://cthinkcenter.wetpaint.com

DESCRIPTION
ENG 75- CRITICAL THINKING
Critical thinking (E75) considers the cognitive skills and communicative strategies for defining, applying, analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating information. The course includes structural and operational approaches to task/mission analysis, decision-making, change forecasting, adaptation, and evaluation. Systems approach to analysis and solution of complex problems. Conceptual issues in problem definition, goal determination and measurement of effectiveness. (3 units)

OBJECTIVES
Students will develop their cognitive skills and enhance their communicative strategies for defining, applying, analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating information. The course will incorporate the following University learner and institutional goals:
University learner goals 1 -6, and specifically (3.2) To examine objectively various sides of issues; (3.3) To utilize the procedures involved in systematic problem solving; and in English:: To develop basic academic and professional skills(1); To develop the ability to communicate effective in English, oral and in writing, and to read with understanding (1.1) and institutional goals , especially 1,(1.1-1.4), 2.4

FORMAT
The course sessions will include presentation, discussion, and application modes.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES
Students are expected to attend class, complete assignments, and to participate in individual and group work in a productive manner, and to take personal responsibility for meeting the objectives of the course.

REQUIRED TEXTS:
Mayfield, M. (2007). Thinking for yourself. (7th Ed.). Boston: Thomson Wadsworth. ISBN: 1-4130-1772-X (TFY)
Daiek, D., & Anter, N.(2004) Critical reading for college and beyond. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 0072473762 (CRCB)

RECOMMENDED TEXT:
Harris, Robert. A. Creative Problem Solving. Los Angeles: Pyrczak Publishing, 2002. ISBN: 1-884585-43-4 (CPS)

COMPANION SITE FOR REQUIRED TEXTS

Thinking for Yourself Site

Critical Reading for College and Beyond Companion site:

ASSIGNMENTS

Topical Outline
Topics covered include observation skills, appropriate language skills and encoding strategies, differentiating among fact, inference, judgment, recognizing fallacies of reasoning and evaluation, understanding viewpoint, analyzing character, logic, and emotion in persuasion.

SCHEDULE

Wk	Date	Unit	TFY Text Reference	CRCB Text Reference
1	13-Jan	Introduction Where Do You Stand?
2	20-Jan	Observation	TFY C1, Observation	CRCB C13, Cognitive Domain
3	27-Jan	Language and Thought	TFY C2, Word Precision	CRCB C2, Vocabulary
4	3-Feb	Facts	TFY C3, Facts	CRCB C6, Details CRCB C5, Main Ideas
5	10-Feb	Inferences	TFY C4, Inferences	CRCB C7, Inference
6	17-Feb	Assumptions	TFY C5, Assumptions	CRCB C10, Marking
7	24-Feb	Opinions	TFY C6, Opinions	CRCB C9, PSR Strategies
8	3-Mar	Midterm
9	10-Mar	Evaluations	TFY C7, Evaluations	CRCB C14, Evaluation
	17-Mar	SPRING RECESS
10	24-Mar	Points of View	TFY C8, Viewpoints	CRCB C4, Time
11	31-Mar	Argument	TFY C9, Argument	CRCB C12, Arguments
12	7-Apr	Fallacies	TFY C10, Fallacies	CRCB C8, Texts
13	14-Apr	Induction	TFY C11, Inductive Reasoning	CRCB C1, Reading
14	21-Apr	Deduction	TFY C12, Deductive Reasoning	CRCB C11, Advanced Strategies
15	28-Apr	Review Characteristics of a Critical Thinker
16	5-May	Final

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA & METHOD OF EVALUATING STUDENTS
Students will demonstrate their level of achievement through appropriate and accurate application of critical thinking theory, including problem-solving, analysis, and decision-making criteria in approaching, solving,, text and classroom exercises , and work on real-world examples, individually and in groups.

Class Participation	15%
Quizzes	10%
Projects	15%
Term Paper	30%
Presentation	10%
Final Exam	20%
Total	100%

100-95	A
94-90	A-
89-87	B+
86-84	B-
83-80	C+
79-77	C+
76-74	C
73-70	C-
69-67	D+
66-64	D
63-60	D-
59 or <	F

Links -- Characteristics of a Critical Thinker

http://www.criticalthinking.org/about/nationalCouncil.cfm#234

http://www.utc.edu/Administration/WalkerTeachingResourceCenter/FacultyDevelopment/CriticalThinking/#characteristics

Links -- Deductive Logic

Link for Venn Diagrams illustrating deductive logic: http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?ID=L384

LINKS FOR STUDENTS

Tim van Gelder’s ‘Critical Thinking on the Web’ is a massive website that catalogs scores of links to just about everything related to critical thinking—from argument-mapping to online logic tutorials:
http://www.austhink.org/critical

Argument mapping (diagramming) can also be found on Tim van Gelder’s Critical Thinking on the Web: http://www.austhink.org/critical/pages/argument_mapping.html

The entry on ‘Informal Logic’ in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy gives an overview of the subject, which overlaps and intersects with the topic of critical thinking: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/logic-informal/

‘A List of Fallacious Arguments’, from the Don Lindsay Archive, includes fallacies with definitions and examples:
http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/skeptic/arguments.html

‘A Mini Guide to Critical Thinking’ by John Lau at the department of philosophy, Hong Kong University. This ‘more-than-a-mini’ guide covers many key concepts in critical thinking. http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/project/miniguide.pdf

A two part article (in Scientific American) discusses ten ways to use critical thinking to distinguish between dubious and credible claims:

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000D743A-CC5C-1C6E-84A9809EC588EF21&pageNumber=1&catID=2 (Baloney Detection Part 1)
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&colID=13&articleID=000ADC77-B274-1C6E-84A9809EC588EF21 (Baloney Detection Part 2)

Entries for various fallacies are found at http://www.philosophypages.com/dy/index.html, ‘A Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names’.

‘The Fallacy Files’ is a website with an alphabetical listing of fallacies, and includes a number of discussions and examples: http://www.fallacyfiles.org/

Basic information about causal reasoning can be found at ‘Mission: Critical’, an interactive website devoted to critical thinking: http://www2.sjsu.edu/depts/itl/graphics/induc/causal.html

Interactive exercises on fallacies can also be found:
http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/itl/graphics/main.html

A short tutorial on categorical syllogisms can be found on ‘The Philosophy Pages’ at http://www.philosophypages.com/lg/e08a.html

‘The Philosophy Pages’ includes a brief entry for analogical reasoning at http://www.philosophypages.com/lg/e13.html

‘Ethics Updates’ provides a thorough, categorized compilation of resources pertaining to ethics and ethical theory: http://ethics.sandiego.edu/index.htm

The “Is of Identity” Test

The “Is of Identity” Test

1. A statement is either true or false.
2. Mules are stubborn.
3. A pig is a dirty animal.
4. God is everywhere.
5. A boy who won’t fight is a coward.
6. Snake is an ugly word.
7. College graduates earn more than other people.
8. The word dog is a four footed animal.
9. A person who kills another person is a murder.
10. Women are mothers.
11. A boy who never lies is good.
12. Teachers think they’re smarter than other people.
13. Neighbors are nosey.
14. Pretty girls are stuck up.
15. Seeing is believing.
16. Adam and Eve were the first human beings.
17. It takes two to make a bargain.
18. He that believeth not shall be damned.
19. The good die young.
20. There is one basic cause for all effects.
21. The wildest colts make the best horses.
22. Humans can talk.
23. No one wants to die.
24. Barking dogs don’t bite,
25. Death is not forever.
26. Americans are not communists.
27. Dreams often foretell our lives.
28. Everything comes if only a man will wait.
29. Anything believed by most of the people must be true.
30. What goes up must come down.
31. Water flows downhill.
32. A wool skirt is warm.
33. A circle is round.
34. Iron is strong.
35. An orange is not green.
36. A leaf is green.
37. A knife is sharp.
38. A pencil is round.
39. Feathers are soft.
40. The sky is blue.
41. Needles are sharp.
42. One sits in a chair.
43. A pitcher holds water.
44. A piece of iron is heavy.
45. A house is either frame or brick.
46. A drunkard is a sinner.
47. Ministers are good men.
48. Everything that is true can be proved.
49. Big boys are bullies.
50. It is never all right to kill,
51. Children should always obey their parents.
52. Children are born bad.
53. Plants grow in soil.
54. Questions have no answers.
55. No one gets by with anything bad without getting caught.
56. Telling dirty jokes is bad.
57. A good soldier is a patriot.
58. Women movie stars are beautiful.
59. People are just naturally mean.
60. Cats hate dogs.
61. Flowers are pretty.
62. Health is Wealth.
63. Love is holy.
64. Money is evil.
65. The smartest people are the most successful
66. Select ONE of the following five statements which you feel is most characteristic of you:
a. I like almost everyone.
b. I am very careful in choosing my friends.
c. I like more people than I dislike.
d. I make no friends until they prove worthy of me.
e, I like and dislike about the same number of people.

Assumptions Glossary

Glossary
Chapter 5
Accommodation	Accommodation is achieved when we can do the thinking needed to create a new schema or modify an old schema in order to explain a new experience.
Assimilation	Assimilation is achieved when we can integrate new experiences into existing schemas.
Assumption	Assumption is an idea whose truth can be taken for granted.
Assumption Layers	Assumption layers can appear beneath simple assertions. Such layers consist of multiple hidden and unexamined assumptions influenced in turn by one or more value assumptions beneath the whole.
Counter claim	Counter claim is a response to a claim with a defense or with another claim.
Disequilibrium	The confusion and discomfort felt when a new experience cannot be integrated into existing schemas.
Equilibrium	A stable inner feeling of well being that we feel when our thinking enables us to modify or create a new schema that better explains our world.
Hidden Assumption	A hidden assumption is an unclear and unstated idea assumed to be true that is integral to a line of reasoning. In an argument, it is a hidden premise that cannot be examined for truth and validity. Blind acceptance of a hidden premise can lead to the acceptance of a false or invalid conclusion.
Infer	To use imagination and reasoning to fill in missing facts. To connect the dots.
Lateral thinking	Lateral thinking solves problems by reviewing options, overcoming assumptions, and inventing new solutions. Vertical thinking follows more conventional step-by-step logic.
Principal claim and reasons	These are the two parts of an argument. The principal claim is the thesis or conclusion. The reasons support this claim through evidence or other claims. A claim is an assertion about something.
Schema	Schemas are the mental files in which we store our explanations of experiences.
Thesis	A thesis is a short summary statement of an idea that an essay intends to prove. It is also called the thesis statement and controlling idea.
Thinking	Purposeful mental activity such as reasoning, deciding, judging, believing, supposing, expecting, intending, recalling, remembering, visualizing, imagining, devising, inventing, concentrating, conceiving, considering.
Value or Belief Assumption	Value assumption is a belief that we take for granted, one that rarely questioned or even articulated. Remaining hidden and unexpressed, a value assumption can nevertheless shape a chain of reasoning.
Working Assumption	A working assumption is a trial idea, theory, strategy, or hypothesis assumed to be true in order to further an investigation. It is a conscious assumption.