Academic Skills; Critical Thinking

3 EC

Semester 2, period 6

5354ASCT3Y

Owner Master Physics and Astronomy (joint degree)
Coordinator S.M. van Dalen
Part of Master Astronomy and Astrophysics, year 1Master Physics and Astronomy, year 1

Course manual 2016/2017

Course content

Critical thinking, reasoning and the ability to produce a well-structured argument are essential academic skills. When gathering and interpreting data, analyzing and evaluating research or writing articles yourself you need to be able to critically evaluate the reasoning of others or your own; what is good reasoning, what is not and why so? It is not only important to be able to support with evidence and good reasons your own thinking but you have to be able to communicate it effectively too by writing well structured texts.
In this course we will use the software Rationale: it helps you developing your critical thinking skills by visualizing your thoughts by mapping arguments.
There are strong indications that working with argument maps, that are at the heart of Rationale, produce strong improvement of students' critical thinking ability. Above that, Rationale is a software tool that helps students grasp the essence of good essay-writing: structure. Critical thinking is a high level skill which can only be acquired through lots of practice. This work is often challenging and the payoff is enhanced intellectual power that will serve you well in almost every sphere of life.

This subject covers some fundamentals of critical thinking, informal reasoning and argumentation. You will be learning a certain amount of the theory of reasoning and rationality. You will also be improving your informal reasoning and argument skills by learning to create argument maps.

Study materials

Literature

  • T. ter Berg e.a., 'Critical Thinking. Reasoning and communicating with Rationale'. Amsterdam, Pearson, 2009. ISBN 978-90-430-1801-2 - Online Learning Materials.

Software

  • Rationale software. Students will receive a 1 year license for Rationale when they enter this subject. Rationale is made for PC's. It works perfect on a Mac or a Linux machine but only when a virtual Windows is being used. It is possible that at the time of the beginning of the subject the web based version of Rationale will be ready.

Objectives

  • Identify, understand and evaluate reasoning;
  • Spot strengths and weaknesses in reasoning;
  • Defend your opinion;
  • Write persuasive essays;
  • Make rational decisions;
  • Think your way through complex issues;
  • Avoid being gullible.

Teaching methods

    Lectures and workshops. Attending all lectures and workshops and completing all assigned practice exercises is mandatory.

    Lectures & Workshops  

    Each Monday and Thursday at 09.00 we will start with a lecture for all the students. In week 4 there will be a lecture +workshops only at Monday.

    After each lecture there will be held two workshops, one from 10.15 - 11.00  and one from 11.15 -12.00.  

    Each workshop has a maximum of 15 students. You need to sign up for a workshop at the first lecture.  

    For the time / place of lectures and workshops, check Datanose.  

    Rationale  

    Learning and instruction in this subject is heavily based on the Rationale program. All students enrolled in this subject can make an account at www.rationaleonline.com free of charge for one year.  

     

     

    Learning activities

    Activity

    Number of hours

    Hoorcollege

    14

    Presentatie

    8

    Werkcollege

    14

    Zelfstudie

    48

    Workload  

    In this course it is mandatory to attend all lectures and workshops and to complete all assigned practice exercises and all assessment tasks.  

    The course is designed on the assumption that you will be dedicating 20 hours every week to the  course.    

    Four hours will be taken by lecture periods, leaving 16 hours for your own self-directed study.  

    Attendance

    The programme does not have requirements concerning attendance (OER-B).


    Additional requirements for this course:

    Assessment

    Item and weight Details

    Final grade

    Graded Assignments  

    There will be an individual assignment and a group assignment.  Each assignment requires a minimum score of 5 out of 10 points.

    Evaluation   

    Individual assignment: 50%  

    Group assignment: 50%.  

    How to do well  

    1. PRACTICE.  It cannot be over-emphasized that critical thinking is a skill and that high levels of skill can only be acquired through LOTS OF PRACTICE. Think of it like a sport: if you wanted to get good at tennis or skiing or chess in one semester, how much would you need to practice? The answer is—roughly—many hours a day, many days of the week. This work is often challenging and sometimes dull, but the payoff is enhanced intellectual power that will serve you well in almost every sphere of life.  
    2. Start early. The longer you slack off at the beginning, the harder it will be to recover. Come to lectures and workshops prepared with questions and problems.  
    3. Work collaboratively.  Team up with 4/5 other students and work together.  You'll find that you'll see and understand a lot more in each exercise.  

    Assignments

    Onderstaande opdrachten komen aan bod in deze cursus:

    •    Naam opdracht 1 : beschrijving 2
    •    Naam opdracht 2 : beschrijving 1
    •    ....

    Fraud and plagiarism

    The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.uva.nl/plagiarism

    Course structure

    Nr. Subject Read Make
    1  

    Introduction Critical Thinking

    Grouping

    		  

    - Book CT, Chapter 1 [a]

    - Gelder, T. van, Teaching Critical Thinking: Some Lessons from Cognitive Science. 2005.

    - Make an account on www.RationaleOnline.com

    - To upgrade your account use the code you find here .
    2  Reasoning I  

     - Book, 2.1

    - Power Point Lesson 1, 2 and 3 (See map Lecture 1).

    - Articles of Twardy and Davies

    - In Rationale, Tutorial Critical Thinking Exercises, Set 1 [b] (do not upload)

    - Famous People (optional) and  Ten Commandments[c](upload)
    3  Reasoning II  

    - Book, 2.2

    - Lesson 4

    - In Rationale: Tutorial Critical Thinking Exercises, Set 2,3,5

    - Exercise 1 [d] (upload)

    - Exercise 2 [d] (upload)

    - Exercise 3 [d] (upload)
    4  

    Structuring

    Analyzing: Introduction Rabbit & Holding Hands

    		  

    - Book, 2.3

    - Lesson 5

    - In Rationale: Tutorial Critical Thinking Exercises Set 7

    - Exercise Facial Expressions (see map Lecture + Workshop 3 (upload)

    - Assignment AM ( make your own argument map with basis boxes in Rationale). (upload)

    - Start with your subgroup with preparing the Final Assignment 
    5

    Analyzing: Inference Objections

    Analyzing: Patterns of argument

     

    - Book. 2.4, Topic 15-17

    - Lesson 6, 7, 8 and 9


    - In Rationale: Tutorial Argument Mapping 1-4 [e]

    - In Rationale: Tutorial Critical Thinking Exercises Set 4,6

    - Submit your own map to your sub-group and give each other feedback; use the Hand-out Critical Questions with Reasoning Maps I.
    --> Improve your map, refine your claims, add bases and (re-) group your claims when necessary.  Add the necessary co-premises to at least 4 reasons (not to objections) in your individual assignment and upload your map to blackboard.

    - Exercises Co-premises I and II. These exercises you can find in the map Lecture + Workshop 4. (upload to Blackboard)

    - The coordinator of the Group Assignment submits the subject of the Final Group Assignment to Blackboard.
    6

    Evaluating: Overview

    Evaluating: Bases

    - Book 2.4, Topic 18

    - Lesson 10

    - In Rationale: Tutorial Argument Mapping 5-6  

    - In Rationale: Tutorial Critical Thinking Exercises Set 5  

    - Check whether there are any inference objections in your map. Change them and/or convert them into premise objections.

    - Add co-premises to the latest version of your argument map.

    - Evaluate the bases in your individual assignment map. --> upload
     7  

    Evaluating: Scenario Test

    Critical Questions

    		  

    - Book, 2.5

    - Lesson 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15

    		  

    - In Rationale: Tutorial Critical Thinking Exercises Set 8,9,10,11

    - read the Debunking Handbook form the lecture 6 folder

    -  comment on the (first 5) maps form the Evaluating Exercise from the lecture 6 folder --> upload

     

     

    For your Individual Assignment:

    - Check the Macrostructure of your argument map.(see Tutorial 6)

    - Start evaluating your bases, using the Hand-out Critical Questions.  --> upload

    23 - 06 - 2016: Group 1

     and

    24 - 06 - 2016: Group 2

    		  

    Final Presentations (Group Assignment). 

    Place: Govert Flinckstraat 59
    1072 EC Amsterdam

    Time: 13.30 - 16.30

     

    		  See page Assignments on Blackboard  

    ndividual Assignment:

     - Evaluate your own map; do this  in Rationale and make a justification of your evaluation in Word. (upload before Friday 01-07-2016)

    - Write an essay based on your evaluated argument map. (upload)

     

    Group Assignment: See page Assignments.

     

    The final Individual Assignment and the final Group Assignment need to be uploaded to Blackboard before Friday 01 - 07- 2016.

     

     

    [a] T. ter Berg e.a., 'Critical Thinking. Reasoning and communicating with Rationale.' Amsterdam, Pearson, 2009. ISBN 978-90-430-1801-2 . See in Rationale in the Text Panel.

    [b] In Rationale, Text Panel, Tutorials

    [c] See Blackboard site

    [d] See Blackboard site

    [e] See Blackboard site

    [f] In Rationale, Text Panel, Tutorials

    Additional information

    Max. 25 students.

    Contact information

    Coordinator

    • S.M. van Dalen