PER4015 - Critical Thinking and Logic

Objectives:

Assessment tasks are designed to enable students to demonstrate the Learning and Employability outcomes for the relevant level of study. Level Learning Outcomes are embedded in the assessment task(s) at that level. This enables a more integrated view of overall student performance at each level.

Content:

This module will introduce students to essential skills in critical thinking and formal logic. The module will cover (i) central concepts in critical thinking such as validity, soundness, (ii) common fallacies, (iii) the construction of arguments in standard form, (iv) rudimentary propositional logic (including: formalisation of arguments, and truth-tables). In covering these four topics, this module will equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary for philosophical study in other parts of their programme. It will also help to improve students’ reasoning and argumentation—skills applicable across and beyond their undergraduate studies.

Learning and Teaching Information:

Lectures/Seminars
Hours: 24
Intended Group Size: 30

Guided independent study
Hours: 126

Further details relating to assessment
Portfolio: This will consist of weekly worksheets with questions on the topics and skills taught that week. Feedback will be provided, as this will give students an indication of how well they understand that week’s material. The assessment will be assessed on a pass/fail basis with a pass requiring at least 8 of 10 of all weekly tasks to be completed. A pass will lead to the full award of 10% towards the final module mark. Failure to complete 3 or more of the worksheets will result in the award of 0% on this component.

Argument Assignment: Students will be given several short pieces of prose each containing an argument. For each, they will have to identify the argument, state it in standard form, and then state whether the argument is valid/invalid, sound/unsound (explaining why). The pieces of prose will be distributed after Class #2 and will be due by the midway point of the module.

Moodle Quiz: Students will complete a Moodle quiz which will cover all of the content taught on the module. This quiz will require students (1) to evaluate the validity and soundness of arguments provided; (2) construct valid arguments of their own; (3) to formalise prose in propositional logic; (4) to construct truth-tables. The quiz will go live after the final lecture and will close one week later. Students will be permitted to complete the quiz on their own time, with the use of their notes. Once the quiz is started, they will have a total of 120 minutes to complete it, which they may split over different ‘sittings’ over the week allotted.

Assessment:

001 Portfolio; 10 weekly worksheets; throughout semester 1 10%
002 Argument assignment; 1 test; mid semester 1 45%
003 Moodle Quiz; 1 test; end of semester 1 (over 1 week) 45%

Fact File

Module Coordinator - Shyane Siriwardena
Level - 4
Credit Value - 15
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 4S1

Click here to go back to previous page