I. General Information

1. Course Title:
Honors Critical Thinking

2. Course Prefix & Number:
PHIL 1422

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 3

Lecture Hours: 3

4. Course Description:

The Honors Critical Thinking philosophy course focuses on teaching skills needed for effective evaluation of belief, better decision-making, and precision communication. Course content is divided into three areas: (1) principles of informal logic; (2) psychological pitfalls that distort thought; and (3) uses and abuses of language. Students will learn to construct bias-free, sound, and cogent arguments. Emphasis will be on communication, presenting and defending arguments in class debate, short presentations, and a series of written assignments. Each semester will feature a class-determined investigative project dealing with a single topic such as, for example: the lures of pseudoscience, medical quackery, deception in advertising, and media and institutional bias. Courses in the Honors Program emphasize independent inquiry, informed discourse, and direct application within small, transformative, and seminar-style classes that embrace detailed examinations of the material and feature close working relationships with instructors. In addition, students learn to leverage course materials so that they can affect the world around them in positive ways.

5. Placement Tests Required:

Accuplacer (specify test):	Reading	Score:	100
Other (specify test):	ACT	Score:	24

6. Prerequisite Courses:

There are no prerequisites for this course.

7. Other Prerequisites

OR permission from the instructor or Honors Coordinator, or high school GPA of 3.5 or greater.

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:

Lake Superior College, PHIL 1140 Critical Thinking, 3 credits
St. Cloud State University, PHIL 194 Critical Thinking, 3 credits

2. Transfer - regional institutions with which this course has a written articulation agreement:

III. Course Purpose

1. Program-Applicable Courses – This course is required for the following program(s):

2. MN Transfer Curriculum (General Education) Courses - This course fulfills the following goal area(s) of the MN Transfer Curriculum:

• Goal 1 – Written and Oral Communication
• Goal 2 – Critical Thinking

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies	Students will be able to:
Demonstrate written communication skills	Understand and demonstrate mastery by writing several analytical and argumentative papers.
Demonstrate reading and listening skills	Demonstrate understanding of content and major ideas conveyed in assigned readings and lecture by means of traditional tests, written assignments and discussion.
Analyze and follow a sequence of operations	Recognize argument premises and conclusions and reconstruct arguments into standard form from representations of essential elements.
Apply abstract ideas to concrete situations	Accurately apply logical concepts presented in readings, class lecture and discussion to real and hypothetical issues in the context of class discussion and debate, written exercises and group projects.

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

• Gather factual information and apply it to a given problem in a manner that is relevant, clear, comprehensive, and conscious of possible bias in the information selected (MnTC Goal 2);
• Analyze the logical connections among the facts, goals, and implicit assumptions relevant to a problem or claim; generate and evaluate implications that follow from them (MnTC Goal 2);
• Recognize and articulate the value assumptions which underlie and affect decisions, interpretations, analyses, and evaluations made by ourselves and others (MnTC Goal 2);
• Understand/demonstrate the writing and speaking process through invention, organization, drafting, revision, editing and presentation (MnTC Goal 1);
• Participate effectively in groups with emphasis on listening, critical and reflective thinking, and responding (MnTC Goal 1);
• Locate, evaluate, and synthesize in a responsible manner material from diverse sources and points of view (MnTC Goal 1); and
• Construct logical and coherent arguments (MnTC Goal 1).

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

1. Intro: What is Critical Thinking?
   • Critical thinking history
   • Critical Thinking and the individual
   • Moral aspects of critical thinking
   • Basic elements of informal logic
2. Impediments to Critical Thinking
   • Central and peripheral information processing
   • Cultural conditioning and group influence
   • Egocentrism
   • Psychological defense mechanisms
   • Hedonic consistency & wishful thinking
3. Language
   • Connotation and denotation
   • Euphemism and dysphemism
   • Types of definition
   • Language and implied paradigms
   • Fallacies of linguistic confusion
4. Writing argumentative essays
   • Prewriting strategies
   • The first draft
   • Structural concerns
   • Editing and revision
   • Checklist for a strong argument
5. Logic and argument
   • Basic logical terminology
   • Two types of argument: deductive and inductive
   • Basic Fallacious argument patterns
   • Moral reasoning
   • Relativism
6. Fallacies in depth
   • Unwarranted assumptions
   • Question begging fallacies
   • Fallacies of inadequate evidence
   • Causal fallacies
   • Irrelevant appeals
   • Fallacies of diversion
7. Reliability of information sources
   • Science and pseudoscience
   • Appeals to inappropriate authority
   • Herd influences
   • Education
   • Media sources
   • Advertising

2. Laboratory/Studio Sessions