Prof. Julie A. Allen, PhD
allenj@yorku.ca

Virtual Office hours: Optional, Virtual, live drop in Office Hours will be held weekly, starting Sept. 16th on Wednesdays via Zoom between 12:00-1:00pm, EST.

INTERNET COURSE
(100% online)
All required components are ASYNCHRONOUS

This is a skills-based course focusing on critical thinking, critical writing, and logical and linguistic analysis. The course uses examples drawn from areas in the humanities where value judgments are made. The first two thirds of the course will focus on arguments — their structure, type, construction and evaluation. This portion of the course will also include an emphasis on the identification of fallacious forms of arguments. The final portion of the course will focus on passage analysis and applying the analytical skills to a range of writings drawn from philosophy, literature, history, politics, and various forms of media. Students will learn a set of techniques for tackling vague and ambiguous concepts and students will develop their own writing and argumentation skills. We will consider questions such as, Is self-interest always selfish? Should marijuana use and possession be criminalized again? Should homosexual marriage have been sanctioned? What is the basis of religious valuations? How is morality connected with judgments regarding humans in relation to the environment? Is pleasure the only valuable thing in life? What value judgments should we make regarding animals and nutrition? Are values subjective or objective? Should an agent always follow the dictates of her conscience? Do we always act on the basis of egoistic desires?
• The overall purpose of this and all Modes of Reasoning (MODR) courses is to teach students to reason correctly and to express themselves clearly and precisely in verbal and written form. These critical thinking skills will help students not only with the remainder of their academic studies, but also in their professional and personal lives in general.

• This course (MODR 1760) will introduce important critical thinking and analytical skills by focusing on the evaluation of various forms of argument, and the application of good reasoning skills to issues concerning value and morality. In addition to evaluating the arguments of others, you will learn to develop arguments of your own. Throughout the course we will analyze various media forms such as the news and popular press, feature films, advertising and political speech and advertising, blogs and websites, as well as academic writing and philosophical arguments in the field of applied ethics.

• Although this course focuses primarily on the development of practical critical thinking skills it will also provide a brief introduction to some normative accounts of morality and some more general issues regarding value judgments, such as objectivism versus subjectivism, and egoism versus altruism.

• This is an approved LAPS General Education course for Humanities.

Technical requirements for taking the course:

To participate in the asynchronous portions of this course, students will require a computer and/or smart device and an internet connection. To participate in the recurring synchronous Zoom Virtual office hours, held weekly Wednesdays between 12:00-1:00pm, EST, you will need a computer or smart device with webcam and microphone and a stable internet connection. Zoom can be downloaded as an app on most smart phones. Be sure to use Zoom@york. You are not required to turn on your camera to participate in the Office hour discussions.

Here are some useful links for computing information, resources and help:
Student Guide to Moodle
Zoom@YorkU Best Practices
Zoom@YorkU User Reference Guide
Computing for Students Website
Student Guide to eLearning at York University
To determine Internet connection and speed, there are online tests, such as Speedtest, that can be run.

The Power of Critical Thinking
Fifth Canadian Edition (available in Print or as an eText)
By: Chris MacDonald; Lewis Vaughn
• Publisher: Oxford University Press Canada
• Print ISBN: 9780199030439, 019903043X
Print ISBN: 9780199030439, 019903043X
• eText ISBN: 9780199030484, 0199030480

This text is absolutely required for success in the course. It may be purchased either through the York Bookstore or directly from Oxford University Press.

Additional topical articles and materials may be posted on the course Moodle page.

Online Test One 15%
• Online Test Two 15%
• Online Test Three 15%
• Essay outline + Short essay 15%
• Class Participation, Homework, group discussion, &
specific participation assignments 15%
• Final Writing assignment 25%

Times and locations:

Please note that this is a course that depends on remote teaching and learning. There will be no in-person interactions or activities on campus.

This course can be taken by engaging only with the asynchronous course materials and activities which will be available on the course Moodle. However, for a more in-depth learning experience as well as live interaction with the instructor and your classmates, optional office hours for Q & A, and philosophic discussionwill be offered.

Each week’s asynchronous materials and activities should be completed each week Homework assignments, and forum discussion posts, and any group work will also be due on a weekly basis.

Organization of the course

• This entire course can be engaged with asynchronously as though it were an online (ONLN) course. All required elements, including lecture materials, the submission of assignments, discussion forum activities, and quizzes can be accessed on the course Moodle page plus the course Text and the Online Text Supplement “Dashboard” for The Power of Critical Thinking. This online resource “Dashboard” available from Oxford University Press, is a free accompaniment to the Text and provides students with additional learning materials.

• You can learn the course material at your own pace, following the schedule of readings and activities. That said, there are deadlines for HOMEWORK, TESTS and ASSIGNMENTS that you should strive to complete on a weekly basis.

• Since this is a skill based course, it is a grave mistake to procrastinate and undertake course work only immediately before tests and assignments are required. It is crucially important for successful completion of the course that students work through materials, listen to the audio lectures and do the readings and homework exercises on a WEEKLY BASIS.

• All weekly prerecorded audio lecture episodes, assignments, quizzes, homework assignments are opened weekly. None will be opened in advance of their scheduled date.

• All deadlines and launch times are Eastern Standard Time.

• Virtual office hours will be conducted via Zoom. These Zoom sessions will not be recorded.

By the end of this course, if you apply yourself, do all the reading, watch all pre-recorded lectures, and complete all assignments, activities, and quizzes, you can expect to see improvement in the following areas:

• Reading Comprehension: You will become a more active reader which includes learning how to read between the lines and how to ask critical questions.
• Writing: You will learn how to write two different types of arguments – a Rogerian Argument essay and classically structured essay. Your essay planning, essay organization, and essay editing should also improve.
• Critical Reasoning Skills: You will learn to identify and evaluate arguments in order to distinguish strong from weak arguments. This will include learning how to evaluate evidence and sources used in arguments and those you use in your own research.
• Critical Thinking Skills: Ideally, you will learn to become a 'reasonable skeptic' and become able to identify and discuss the weaknesses and strengths in claims and arguments you encounter in the media, academic texts, and everyday conversation.

Course policies

• The lecture slides, handouts, and all materials found on this site are for the personal use only of students who are registered in this course, MODR 1760L. They are for educational purposes only and intended only to enhance accessibility. The instructor of this course holds the copyright to this material and does not give permission for any course material to be to duplicated, copied, and/or distributed outside of the class. Nor do students have permission to upload course materials to commercial websites, file sharing websites or apps, or social media. Anytime you download material from my Moodle/eClass site you agree to these terms. Any person who uploads or shares course material without the instructor's permission violates copyright regulations and also FIPPA and will face serious consequences.

• Students do not have permission to record and capture images from Zoom office hours.

• Successful academic performance includes students not only completing assignments, but completing them on time. Late penalties are applied to assignments submitted after the due date. Exceptions to the late penalty can be presented to the course director by email for consideration. All essays must be uploaded to Turnitin via e-Class. Turnitin is used to ensure academic honesty. Purchased essays, downloaded essays, cutting and pasting from internet sources will be detected using various methods and those guilty of academic dishonesty/ plagiarism will face serious consequences and academic discipline. This course is partially about morality and value. We’ll discuss reasons for the judgment that All forms of cheating are morally wrong.

• Without a valid excuse all late assignments will be penalized 5% per day.

• No work or outstanding assignments will be accepted after April 13th , 2020 unless a deferred standing agreement, based on extenuating, circumstances has been undertaken between the Professor and the student.