GEN 110 - Intro. to Critical Thinking
Course Outline
Program: | General Education |
Course Number: | GEN 110 |
Course Title: | Introduction to Critical Thinking |
Credits: | 3.0 |
Prerequisites: | This course is required of all first-year students. |
A. Catalog Description of Course
As a cornerstone in Medaille's General Education Core curriculum, this course aims to introduce students to the fundamentals of critical thinking. Its coursework integrates basic critical thinking, argumentation, and related written and spoken communication lessons with the exploration and evaluation of significant ideas. Thus, the course specifically addresses some of the most important academic skills required not only for success in college, but also for open-minded and reflective inquiry, substantial understanding, and informed judgment.
B. Goals
This course will:
1. introduce students to fundamental critical thinking concepts and skills;
2. provide students with opportunities to practice close reading and written and oral communication;
3. provide students with opportunities to develop basic academic frameworks and skills for use in subsequent Core and other liberal arts and sciences courses.
4. open discussion of the relationship between critical thinking and community engagement.
C. Objectives
Students will:
1. examine ideas of significance through close reading, class discussion, and writing;
2. recognize and demonstrate key qualities of active learning;
3. recognize and demonstrate key qualities of critical thinking;
4. recognize, analyze, and develop individual claims/propositions;
5. read, recognize, and analyze arguments (including extended arguments);
6. develop, critique, present, and defend arguments;
7. write essays that demonstrate basic critical thinking concepts and skills;
8. apply critical thinking in studying some significant community issue.
D. Outline of Course Content
1. Active learning: qualities, attitudes, and skills needed to succeed in college
definition
elements
learning styles
examples/applications
2. Bloom's taxonomy and critical thinking
definition
elements
examples/applications
3. Epistemology: critical thinking and knowledge
definition
knowledge in academic disciplines
examples/applications (e.g., Plato on justified true belief, etc.)
4. Claims/propositions
definition
analysis
rational critique
examples/applications
5. Argumentation and evidence
definition
identification in short and extended pieces
analysis
development
rational critique
6. Critical thinking and communication
analysis
critical thinking and college-level research
examples/applications (embedded)
7. Critical thinking and community engagement
analysis
examples/applications (embedded)
E. Suggested Texts
an extended argumentative book (plus supplements as needed) such as:
- Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2001.
- Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House, 1961.
- Kunstler, James Howard. The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993.
- Kunstler, James Howard. Home From Nowhere: Remaking Our Everyday World for the 21st Century. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996.
- Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. 2nd ed. New York: Penguin, 2006.
- Putnam, Robert. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000.
- Ritzer, George. The McDonaldization of Society. 5nd ed. Los Angeles: Pine Forge Press, 2008.
Hacker, Diana. A Pocket Style Manual. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008.
F. Suggested Modes, Media, and Techniques of Instruction
Directed reading, lecture, group activities and discussion, guest presentations, field trips, film screenings.
G. Instructor References
Bloom, Benjamin S. (ed.). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York: David McKay, 1956.
Browne, M. Neil & Stuart M. Keeley. Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007.
Dewey, John. How We Think. Boston: D. C. Heath, 1910.
Fearnside, W. Ward. About Thinking. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997.
Kelley, David. The Art of Reasoning. New York: W. W. Norton, 1998.
Lucas, Christopher J. American Higher Education: A History. 2nd ed. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2006.
McWhorter, Kathleen T. Study and Critical Thinking Skills in College. 6th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2008.
Plato. "Theaetetus." Translated by F. M Cornford. In The Collected Dialogues of Plato, edited by Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989.
Postman, Neil. The End of Education. New York: Knopf, 1994.
Ruggiero, Vincent Ryan. The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2009.
Schick, Theodore and Vaughn, Lewis. How to Think About Weird Things. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2008.
Shermer, Michael. Why People Believe Weird Things. New York: A. W. H. Freeman, 2002.
Weston, Anthony. A Rulebook for Arguments. 4th ed. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2009.
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