AP/MODR1760 6.0 A: Reasoning About Morality and Values
Offered by: MODR
Session
Fall 2024
Term
Y
Format
ONLN (Fully Online)
Instructor
Calendar Description / Prerequisite / Co-Requisite
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 judgements are made. Different sections will stress different topics in ethics, aesthetics, religion or law. Course credit exclusions: AP/MODR 1730 6.00, AP/MODR 1770 6.00.
Course Start Up
Course Websites hosted on York's "eClass" are accessible to students during the first week of the term. It takes two business days from the time of your enrolment to access your course website. Course materials begin to be released on the course website during the first week. To log in to your eClass course visit the York U eClass Portal and login with your Student Passport York Account. If you are creating and participating in Zoom meetings you may also go directly to the York U Zoom Portal.
For further course Start Up details, review the Getting Started webpage.
For IT support, students may contact University Information Technology Client Services via askit@yorku.ca or (416) 736-5800. Please also visit Students Getting Started UIT or the Getting Help - UIT webpages.
Course Instructor Contact: pelham@yorku.ca
Times and locations: There will be no in-person interactions or activities on campus. The course will proceed through a course website. There will be weekly Zoom based Q&A on Wednesdays.
Virtual office hours:
Synchronous in-person Zoom meetings for question and answer about this course will be open to all class members on Wednesdays from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm. Individual meetings with the professor may easily be arranged on Zoom by emailing Prof. Pelham.
In this version of Modes of Reasoning we will introduce the basic concepts of critical thinking, and use them to identify arguments, analyze arguments and make critical assessments of arguments. The course will take place wholly online. Our guide for the basic concepts of critical thinking will be Trudy Govier’s A Practical Study of Argument, however Prof Pelham will use her own notes and lectures to present some elements of Govier’s text. The course will also use articles or videos taken from a variety of sources that will be available on the Moodle course website. Students will be expected to read course materials, take quizzes and tests online, and work on projects both individually and in small groups of 4 or 5. The course will discuss some moral arguments and arguments related to the environment as a basis for discussion and analysis.
Technical requirements for taking the course:
1) a computer that has a good capability for an internet connection. It must allow you to watch video lectures, download notes and project descriptions, use the optioinal textbook, upload course assignments, and allow you to participate in group projects using email, chat or video conferencing with other students.
2)A video camera is optional, it is not required for the course that you appear on video. For group work, students may need to prepare a web presentation in which they may appear on video
Here are some useful links for student computing information, resources and help:
Zoom@YorkU User Reference Guide
4 online Tests: 40% (4 at 10% each)
4 Assignments: 40% (4@ 10% each)
Course Policies about late assignments or illness, etc will be posted on the Moodle website before the beginning of the term, and will be discussed in an early video and in course Q&A.
Practice Quizzes: 20%
This course will have pre-recorded lectures that will be available on the Moodle course site, and will in general be held wholly online asynchronously. That means, it does not have a regular meeting time, work can be done whenever you like. On or before the first day of class, Prof. Pelham will publish a roadmap that is a schedule of lectures to be listened to, things to be read or watched, as well as the due dates of assignments, quizzes and tests. There will be some group work assigned to groups of 4 or 5 students, that they will complete together but asynchronously.
It is important to note that Prof. Pelham will use videos and written documents to teach the class. She will also use the course announcments board on Moodle to communicate with students. Please ensure that Moodle has your correct email address and check your email, or check in to the Moodle website regularly, if you are enrolled in the class.
| Course Learning Objectives:
1. To identify the components and structure of simple and complex arguments in various contexts and types of writing. 2. To be able recognize and understand different types of statements, and how they differ in what evidence supports them. 3. To recognize logical words, and some common patterns of valid reasoning, as well as recognize some common fallacies in reasoning. 4. To be able to criticize and respond to arguments that you do not agree with, and learn about sources of disagreement. 5. To develop the student's ability to construct arguments for their views, in discussion, in presentation, and in writing.
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- Academic Honesty
- Student Rights and Responsibilities
- Religious Observance
- Grading Scheme and Feedback
- 20% Rule
No examinations or tests collectively worth more than 20% of the final grade in a course will be given during the final 14 calendar days of classes in a term. The exceptions to the rule are classes which regularly meet Friday evenings or on Saturday and/or Sunday at any time, and courses offered in the compressed summer terms. - Academic Accommodation for Students with Disabilities
