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HNRS 2010, INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL THINKINGT /Th, 1pm 2:15pm, 069 MacDonald North

INSTRUCTOR DATADr. Paul Cesarini419.372.7740 / email or FaceTime: [email protected] / Skype: paul.cesariniDepartment of Visual Communication & Technology Education, 261 Technology Bldg.

Office hours: M/W, 1pm 3pm (face-to-face, by phone, or via chat), or by appointment

PEER FACILITATORHannah Douglas / [email protected] / Office hours by appointment, in Honors Loft.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONIntroduction to Critical Thinking (4)Interdisciplinary inquiry in social sciences. Analysis of arguments through assumptions, ambiguity,data and fallacies; formulation of conclusions and alternative inferences; value assumptions anddecision making. Prerequisite: admission to the honors program or permission of honors director.

Applicable to the social sciences general education requirement.

REQUIRED COURSE TEXTS AND WEB SITE M. Neil Brown and Stuart M. Keeley, Asking the Right Questions , 10 th edition. (New Jersey:

Pearson, 2012) Blackboard Student Manual [Reference only. This document can be accessed via our

Blackboard web site. Login to MyBGSU, then click the link to get into our site. To access thestudent manual from there, click the Tools button, followed by the Manual link.]

Additional readings online, as well as video and audio clips, will be assigned as needed. The course will use a Blackboard Web site (or course shell) where you will be able to

download course handouts and use communication tools. We may switch over to a differentlearning management system (LMS) part-way through the semester, called Canvas.

COMPUTER REQUIREMENTSYou will need to have an active BGNet account, and must be able check your BGNet email regularly.If you rely on an alternate email address, it is your responsibility to have your BGNet email forwardedto that address. You must also familiarize yourself with Blackboard conventions . You will need accessto a broadband-connected computer that has the most recent versions of the following software:

Browser: FireFox (most preferred), Safari, Chrome, or Internet Explorer (least preferred) Media Players: QuickTime Player (either Windows or Mac OS X), Windows Media Player (either

Windows or Mac OS X, or the Flip4Mac plugin), Flash browser plugin PDF viewer: Adobe Reader, Preview (Mac OS X), or any PDF viewer Word Processor: Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Presentation: Microsoft PowerPoint or OpenOffice

All of the above-mentioned software is available for use in the University computer labs, with thepossible exception of FireFox and OpenOffice.

COURSE OVERVIEWThe purpose of this class is to analyze, evaluate, and improve your critical thinking skills. Successfulstudents will leave this class with a phenomenal gift and a lifelong ability-to construct and evaluatearguments. Although this class will utilize formally recognized principles and guidelines as outlined inthe course textbooks and readings, the true heart of this class will come through the practicalimplementation of these principles and guidelines. With practice, students should finish this courseconfident in their ability to critically examine and construct arguments.


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COURSE GOALS At the end of the course, your progress toward becoming a critical thinker will be based on how wellyou are able to address the following questions:

What is the issue that generated this argument? Why does the problem or issue matter? What is the speakers or writer's conclusion? What are the reasons provided for the conclusion? Is there significant ambiguity contained within the argument? What assumptions are contained within the argument? What evidence is used to support the reasons? How valid is the evidence? Are there any logical fallacies within the argument? What significant information was omitted from the reasoning? What values are present within this argument? What value preferences do the authors have that

allows them to make their conclusion? What is your conclusion with respect to this argument? What is the basis for your conclusion?

INSTRUCTIONAL PHILOSOPHY This course will build upon the principles and guidelines outlined in the course textbook and additionalreadings through the systematic and practical application of the skills required to critically examinearguments. Class discussion, discussion forum participation, and completion of other assignments willdemonstrate success. The course will not follow a rigid schedule. Assignments for the next class willbe made at the end of each class. This course represents the philosophical foundation of the HonorsProgram-successful completion is required to remain in the Program.

In class and online, I expect you to read and complete all assignments in advance; to attend andparticipate ; to ask and answer questions; and to construct and evaluate arguments

COURSE DELIVERYCourse delivery will be a blend of face-to-face interaction in our regular classroom and online activity,via Blackboard course facilitation. In place of several face-to-face class meetings throughout thesemester, you will participate online with me, our peer facilitator, and other students to build acooperative learning community. Asynchronous communication tools, including email and onlinediscussion forums, will be heavily relied upon in addition to our regular class meeting times, and insome cases in place of our regular class meeting times. The required text is for independent study;and the course Blackboard site will serve as a clearinghouse for information, where course handoutswill be available, and communication tools, discussion board, and virtual classroom will be used byyou, myself, and invited guests.

Because of the nature of this course, consistent online interaction is mandatory . You must ensure

that you complete assignments by their due dates, and respond to me and working groups within areasonable amount of time. You will participate in bi-weekly electronic discussion forums thatcollectively account for a considerable portion of your final grade. New forums will be posted everyother Monday, and will be archived or closed a week after they are posted. It will be your responsibility to inform me if scheduling difficulties arise.

SUBMITTING ASSIGNMENTS All assignments will be submitted though the view / complete assignment link in the Unit folder of theassignment in question, will be automatically filtered through the SafeAssign plagiarism detection tool,


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and will then be uploaded directly into the grade book. I will upload your graded and commentedassignments back into the grade book as I complete them.

UNIT AND ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTIONSThere will be a total of three quizzes in this class, some of which will likely be web-based andavailable to take outside of our regular class time. You will also be responsible for a small group

presentation that will last 30 minutes, and you will also have a research paper due toward the end of the semester. There will be a final exam, as well.

SCHEDULE All relevant dates associated with this course are available on the online course calendar, which canbe accessed by way of MyBGSU.

GRADING The following is a list of assignments and their corresponding maximum point values:

Group Discussion Board / chat Participation 45 points (9 forums @ 5 points each)Quiz #1 10 points

Quiz #2 10 points Quiz #3 10 points Issue Response Group Presentation 25 points Issue Response Paper 25 points IGNITE Presentation 5 pointsFinal Exam 20 points

Total for the Course 150 points

Note: A 90, 80, 70, 60 percentage scale will be followed strictly for the semester grade. There will beno scale or curve of any type. They may be more or less discussion forums depending on how theschedule meshes with the academic calendar. There will be extra credit opportunities at various

points throughout the semester. Details on these opportunities will be discussed in class.

DISABILITIES The Disability Services for Students Office is to help provide equal access and reasonableaccommodations to students with disabilities attending BGSU. Students wishing to discuss their eligibility for such accommodations are encouraged to contact the office at 419/372-8495.

ACADEMIC HONESTYThe Academic Honesty Committee has set forth the following objectives and procedures regardingacademic honesty:

To communicate to all members of the University community the conviction of the University and

its faculty that cheating and plagiarism are destructive of the central purposes of the Universityand are universally disapproved.

To state procedures for accomplishing the above objective by students, faculty, academicdeans, and the University Academic Honesty Committee.

For the Complete statement, refer to the Academic Honesty Policy as stated in B.II.8 of The FacultyHandbook as it appears in the Academic Charter or refer to Appendix D - Academic Honesty Policy asit appears in Bowling Green State University Student Code. The University Student Code, AcademicHonest Regulations and Policies will be strictly followed.


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What this means is that do not under any circumstances even consider representing the text or workof another person as your own, or submitting work as new that was previously submitted in another class. It is not worth the risk to your GPA or your college career. If you do resort to academic dishonesty, I will find out about it. You will then receive a failing grade for this course, the deansOffice will be notified, and your actions will be documented on your permanent record.

LEARNING SUPPORT SERVICES AND RESOURCES

Technology Support Center The Technology Support Center (TSC) provides a central point of contact for faculty, staff andstudents for questions, problem reports, service requests and inquiries for University computer systems and communications technologies at BGSU.email: [email protected] / Phone: (419) 372-0999

Academic Resource Center Students looking for more in depth assistance with computer technology needed for a class projector tutoring should contact the Academic Resource Center (formerly the Student TechnologyCenter) or consult their web page at http://www.bgsu.edu/its/arc/index.html

email: [email protected] / Phone: (419) 372-9277

Learning Commons According to their web site, the BGSU Learning Commons provides students with academicresources that foster independent learning. The highly trained professional, graduate, andundergraduate staff utilizes technology and additional resources to offer individual and grouptutoring and consultations tailored to meet the needs of any student in any course at any time inthe learning process. http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/learningcommons/email: [email protected] / Phone: (419) 372-2823

Blackboard Self-Help

Student FAQs Link: http://www.bgsu.edu/its/software/page10721.html

My BGSU Portal Self-Helphttp://www.bgsu.edu/its/tsc/self-help/page10888.html

BGSU Libraryhttp://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/

BGSUs Office of Distance Educationhttp://online.bgsu.edu

COURSE SITE ORIENTATION

The purpose of the following set of instructions is to help you navigate and use the course site. Thefollowing information is included in this document:

Authentication Organization of Course Site Participating in Group Pages Document Preparation for Submitting Assignments Downloading Documents from the Course Site

It is VITAL to your success in this course to check your BGNet account and the course site regularly.


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Virtually all information pertaining to the course will be communicated via the main announcementspage in our Blackboard course shell. Since this course is entirely web-based, it will be up to each of you to manage your time appropriately and actively participate in this course.

This course site can be accessed through the My BGSU portal, which provides a link to personalinformation (grades and bursar accounts), email access, and other university services. Your BGNetaccount includes an email account, which you can access through the universitys webmail interface.

All your email from Blackboard courses will be sent to your BGNet account unless you set up your account to forward your incoming email messages to an email account of your choosing.

AuthenticationThe authentication process enables you to establish your own portal on the BGSUWeb and once enrolled in the course, you will have access to the course assignments and other information. The following step-by-step instructions will lead you through the authentication process:

1. Get to the Bowling Green State University Authentication Page by going to the BGSUHomepage at http://www.bgsu.edu and clicking the My BGSU button on the left navigation bar of the page

2. Once you get to the BGSU Authentication Page, type in your P00 number and use the tab key

to move to the next textbox.3. Next, Type in your BGNet user name.4. Tab to the Authentication Password textbox and type in your BGNet email password.5. In My BGSU click on the Courses area and click on the course link. This will take you into the

course site or shell.

Organization of Course SiteOnce you are on the course site, you will see a list of navigational buttons on the left side of thescreen. Your course site will always begin with the Announcements page. You will probably only usethe Staff Information button a few times at the beginning of the semester to find out more about me.The next buttons you will use on a regular basis and it will be to your advantage to learn how to usethem in the course.

Course Documents : Look here for documents to download, including course syllabus, lecturepresentations, assignment related materials, general Blackboard instructions, and assignmentinstructionsexcept for due dates. Assignment due dates can be found on the CourseCalendar.

Books : Look here for information about the required text(s) for this class. Communication : Look here for course functions such as Send Email, Collaboration (for the

live chat tools), and Group Pages (for Discussion Forum questions). Group Pages: The Group Pages links directly to the group discussion board (see additional

information below). To access them, click the Group Pages link & click on the link to your group. Course Calendar: All relevant dates pertaining to assignments, exams, and discussion boards

can be found here. I recommend viewing by month, rather than the default viewing by day, inorder to see more calendar entries at once. Please note some of the calendar entries mayappear to be truncated or otherwise cut off. Just click the link on any entry for additionalinformation.

Tools : Look here for the Digital Drop Box, Blackboard Student User Manual, and Check Gradefunctions. You will submit all your assignments using the Digital Drop Box. You will also find anadditional link to the Course Calendar.

There may be an additional button or two added or changed once the semester starts, as I am alwaystrying to improve the overall navigation of the course site.


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Group Discussion BoardYou will use your Group Discussion Board, accessed via the Group Pages button, to discuss topicsposted by me. If you want to respond to someone elses message that has been posted to adiscussion forum click on reply, but if you want to add a new message (thread) click Add NewThread . I will be dropping in on your discussions to evaluate the level of your participation. For additional information about discussion board forums, posting, and evaluation criteria, please see theDiscussion Groups section in our course site. It can be accessed by way of the Course Documents

button.

Additionally, in the group pages there will be an open forum. This forum represents a venue todiscuss anything not directly related to content in the regular discussion forum. You can also askquestions about the class in general. I will attempt to check the open forum regularly.

E-mailThis is a tool for you to email me.

Attaching DocumentsYou can attach documents to either e-mail or the discussion board within your groups when you wantto exchange files.

Document Preparation for Submitting AssignmentsWhen you submit your assignments be sure to compose and save as Microsoft Word or OpenOfficedocuments. Please include your full name and the assignment title at the top of all of your documents,double-space your papers, and follow APA style when citing and listing references, and. Save the filewith your last name, and then the assignment title. For example, when Dave Smith uploads his IssueResponse paper, he will save and title the document, Smith_issueresponse.doc.

Use the assignment tool to submit / upload any papers. Do not send your assignment as e-mailattachments.) Be sure to submit assignments by no later than midnight of the due date. I do notaccept late assignments. However, you may always submit assignments earlier than the due date.

Downloading Documents from the Course SiteTo download files from the Course Documents area, right-click a file and choose save as.