COMM 209 Critical Thinking and Argumentation

Critical Thinking and Argumentation is designed to introduce students to the basic principles of critical thinking, reasoning, informal logic, and argumentation, and to help students apply those principles in both their personal and public communication.

Credits

3 Credits

Semester Contact Hours Lecture

45

General Education Competency

GEM Oral Communication

COMM 209Critical Thinking and Argumentation

Please note: This is not a course syllabus. A course syllabus is unique to a particular section of a course by instructor. This curriculum guide provides general information about a course.

I. General Information

Department

Social Science

II. Course Specification

Course Type

General Education

General Education Competency

GEM Oral Communication

Credit Hours Narrative

3 Credits

Semester Contact Hours Lecture

45

Grading Method

Letter grade

Repeatable

N

III. Catalog Course Description

Critical Thinking and Argumentation is designed to introduce students to the basic principles of critical thinking, reasoning, informal logic, and argumentation, and to help students apply those principles in both their personal and public communication.

IV. Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, a student will be able to:

• After reading and listening to required lecture content, students will be able to defend arguments that adhere to basic tests of reasoning as evidenced by a research paper.
• After considering sources of perceptual and ideological bias, students will identify their own ideological and perceptual biases in a paper proving that position.
• Confronted with examples from popular discourse, students will recognize faulty argumentation (fallacies) as evidenced by successful demonstration of such knowledge in class oral presentations, written projects, academic quizzes, and tests.
• Confronted with examples from popular discourse, students will critically analyze arguments using one of several tests of reasoning in class discussions and on academic quizzes and tests.
• In a cumulative oral presentation, students will be able to synthesize class knowledge of ideology, inductive reasoning and fallacies to critique the popular culture argumentation of an assigned current event.

V. Topical Outline (Course Content)

VI. Delivery Methodologies

Required Text

?

Required Materials

Final Reasoning Project (Oral Communication Presentation)

Assessment Strategy Narrative

Final Exam Midterm Exam Final Reasoning Project (Oral Communication Presentation) *See attached project assignment sheet and grading sheet