Opinions on Logic & Critical Thinking 1/2 Cr Course Please

[jibaker103]

This will be for my 10th/11th grade ds who hated MP TL 1 and did not retain any of it in 9th grade and only did some of the Fallacy Detective orally in 8th. This child is a fabulous creative writer but struggles tremendously with expository writing especially forming thesis statements and essay organization. Please tell me is this a good mix of texts and assignments or is it to much overlap? I will be creating a separate Rhetoric & Composition course as well. All suggestions, ideas, and opinions are welcome!

--------

 

Description:

This is a critical thinking course in which the student will gain a new skill set which consists largely of the ability to recognize, construct, and criticize lines of reasoning (which are often called arguments). Arguments, though special objects of study for philosophers, are used by everyone (usually poorly), whenever they attempt to be persuasive, or try to make a case for something. The student will learn how to identify what makes good arguments, how to uncover faults in bad arguments, and how to put together persuasive arguments. During this course students will learn to pick out the arguments and think critically and logically about advertisements, political speeches, news reports, and scientific studies. The student will be a better evaluator of argument for having taken this course, and hence less likely to be deceived or manipulated by others. Moreover, the students own persuasive powers will be enhanced, since the student will know how to use correct forms of argumentation.

 

Textbooks:

The Art of Argument

The Argument Builder

A Workbook for Arguments: A Complete Course in Critical Thinking by David R. Morrow and Anthony Weston.

 

Grading:

Writing Assignments 35%

Exams 30%

Homework 20%

Class Participation 15%

• Writing assignments: It will consist of projects and persuasive essays.
  
• The exams will consist of exercises much like the ones given in the book as homework.
  
• Homework: For homework, you will do all exercises assigned in the book for each new topic we discuss in class. You will turn in the homework at the beginning of the following class, and we will go over the answers. This means you will have homework for each class.
  
• Class Participation: We will be doing exercises in class. This means you will be called on to provide an answer to an exercise. You should be prepared for class in such a way that you can make an honest attempt to solve an exercise in class.
  

[jibaker103]

So is this a horrible idea? No one has advice or suggestions regarding this idea?

[Teachin'Mine]

I'm not familiar with the materials you'll use, but it sounds like a great course. : )

[MommyThrice]

I'm not familiar with the texts, although we've used both MP and Nance's Logic books (using Nance right now). We have used Rulebook for Arguments, but I didin't know about Workbook for Arguments. It looks pretty interesting.

 

Logic IS a little dry in isolation. My kids love debate and, obviously, use their logic skills there. Drawing on those skills for writing has been more difficult. What about going through those books and have them analyze other writings (newspaper editorials, speeches, ads, etc...) looking for examples BEFORE they try to use those ideas in their own writing? That might be easier and more interesting.

 

I can honestly say that my kids' greatest learning about argumentation & logic has taken place discussing the logic/arguments of debate rounds and daily life - including facebook rants - with me. We have no sacred cows. If someone from our preferred political party uses faulty logic, we point it out. No speakers or writers or topics are off limits in our house (not even mom or dad). We are always analyzing the validity of what is being said.

 

If you're worried about overlap, you could just go with one complete text, Socratic Logic. It was either James Nance or Martin Cothran that recommended it to me; I can't remember which. I also highly recommend The Lively Art of Writing for teaching argumentative essays. It has really good assignments in each chapter.

[Kendall]

My 9th grader completed TL 1 and 2 and didn't feel he learned anything (he did). He asked to do logic again this year and is using Socratic Logic. Just the other day he told me again that Socratic Logic by Kreeft is way better. He maybe isn't a typical kid; I know I couldn't hand that book to my 7th grader, then again I can't hand her Traditional Logic either! (and my 9th grader did TL 1 in 7th mostly on his own).

 

Doesn't answer your question.

[jibaker103]

I'm not familiar with the texts, although we've used both MP and Nance's Logic books (using Nance right now). We have used Rulebook for Arguments, but I didin't know about Workbook for Arguments. It looks pretty interesting.

 

Logic IS a little dry in isolation. My kids love debate and, obviously, use their logic skills there. Drawing on those skills for writing has been more difficult. What about going through those books and have them analyze other writings (newspaper editorials, speeches, ads, etc...) looking for examples BEFORE they try to use those ideas in their own writing? That might be easier and more interesting.

 

I can honestly say that my kids' greatest learning about argumentation & logic has taken place discussing the logic/arguments of debate rounds and daily life - including facebook rants - with me. We have no sacred cows. If someone from our preferred political party uses faulty logic, we point it out. No speakers or writers or topics are off limits in our house (not even mom or dad). We are always analyzing the validity of what is being said.

 

If you're worried about overlap, you could just go with one complete text, Socratic Logic. It was either James Nance or Martin Cothran that recommended it to me; I can't remember which. I also highly recommend The Lively Art of Writing for teaching argumentative essays. It has really good assignments in each chapter.

 

A Workbook for Arguments has the book a Rulebook for Arguments inside of it along with exercises and samples for practice and understanding each of the rules.So ds will get the chance to research and analyze others writing.

 

I already own A Workbook for Arguments and The Art of Argument. Maybe I should use the Lively Art of Writing instead of The Argument Builder. I have noticed a lot of people have been raving about this tiny book and I already have a workbook for it that someone from this board designed.

[beachnut]

I just wanted to throw out an additional option: "Think Again: How to Reason & Argue" from Coursera https://www.coursera.org/#courses. It's a free, 12-week, online course taught by a Duke University professor. It started already back in Nov., but I think you can still register & proceed at your own pace. Here's a description:

About the Course

 

 

Reasoning is important. This course will teach you how to do it well. You will learn some simple but vital rules to follow in thinking about any topic at all and some common and tempting mistakes to avoid in reasoning. We will discuss how to identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments by other people (including politicians, used car salesmen, and teachers) and how to construct arguments of your own in order to help you decide what to believe or what to do. These skills will be useful in dealing with whatever matters most to you.

 

I will also be using 2 of the books you mentioned, combined with this Coursera course, to create either a one-credit course or 2 half-credit courses. I also own "Argumentation: The Study of Effective Reasoning" by The Great Courses, which I'll probably incorporate as well.

 

[jibaker103]

I just wanted to throw out an additional option: "Think Again: How to Reason & Argue" from Coursera https://www.coursera.org/#courses. It's a free, 12-week, online course taught by a Duke University professor. It started already back in Nov., but I think you can still register & proceed at your own pace. Here's a description:

About the Course

 

 

Reasoning is important. This course will teach you how to do it well. You will learn some simple but vital rules to follow in thinking about any topic at all and some common and tempting mistakes to avoid in reasoning. We will discuss how to identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments by other people (including politicians, used car salesmen, and teachers) and how to construct arguments of your own in order to help you decide what to believe or what to do. These skills will be useful in dealing with whatever matters most to you.

 

I will also be using 2 of the books you mentioned, combined with this Coursera course, to create either a one-credit course or 2 half-credit courses. I also own "Argumentation: The Study of Effective Reasoning" by The Great Courses, which I'll probably incorporate as well.

 

 

 

Thank you for this suggestion. I registered and viewed the first two lectures. I will definitely incorporate this into my course! However, the price of the book that you suggest which goes with the course is pretty steep so I will not be using it.

 

Which two of my books will you be using? Will you be including a persuasive writing component to your course? I am leaning toward the Lively Art of Writing over the Argument Builder. What do you think?