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Curricular information is subject to change
As a result of studying this course, students will learn to:
1. IDENTIFY key concepts in critical thinking such as 'reason', 'argument', 'premise', 'conclusion', 'evidence', 'valid', 'fallacy', 'cognitive bias' and 'paradox'
2. UNDERSTAND what makes an argument (rationally) good or bad
3. RECONSTRUCT and ASSESS short arguments presented in texts
4. DISTINGUISH lies, bullshit, and rhetoric
Key topics:
1. Reasoning (good and bad)
2. Cognitive Biases (common patterns of thought that lead to bad reasoning)
3. Fallacies (commonly accepted patterns of bad reasoning)
4. Arguments (what they are, how they are structured)
5. Evidence (what it is, how it works, what makes it strong or weak)
6. Logical validity (a quality of arguments whose conclusions must be true if their premises are true)
7. Inductive strength (a quality of arguments whose conclusions are likely to be true given the truth of their premises)
8. Rhetoric (the art of persuasion)
9. Lies and Bullshit
10. Conspiracy theories and fake news
11. Paradoxes
Student Effort Type | Hours |
---|---|
Lectures | 20 |
Tutorial | 7 |
Autonomous Student Learning | 98 |
Total | 125 |
Not applicable to this module.
Description | Timing | Component Scale | % of Final Grade | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Assignment: Short Online MCQs. (Students can take up to six; only the best five are counted.) | Throughout the Trimester | n/a | Graded | Yes | 50 |
Assignment: Online Exam MCQ. (A longer online MCQ covering material from the whole course.) | Week 12 | n/a | Graded | No | 50 |
Resit In | Terminal Exam |
---|---|
Summer | No |
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Online automated feedback
• Peer review activities
1. Short MCQ answers will generate online feedback 2. There will be feedback to the whole class on each Short Online MCQ in the lecture immediately following the closure of the MCQ 3. Students will receive individual feedback in tutorials on informal assignments and exercises 4. Students will have the opportunity to comment on each other's work in tutorials