Course Syllabus

INSTRUCTOR

Michael Aparicio   

You may contact me by sending a message through Canvas. Or...
Email: maparicio@santarosa.edu 
Office: Emeritus 1516A
In-Person Office Hours: Monday 5 pm to 6 pm; Wednesday 11 am to 12 noon.  Additional In-Person and Zoom meetings by Appointment. 

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The course familiarizes students with a number of skills used to think critically. After a brief introduction, we will fine-tune our ability to 1) recognize arguments, 2) distinguish between an argument's conclusion and premises, and 3) identify different types of arguments. These skills will be used to fine-tune our ability to assess arguments. Upon completion of the course, successful students will be able to identify, analyze, and assess many arguments encountered in day-to-day life. 

 

COURSE EXPECTATIONS

PARTICIPATION

You are not graded for your class participation.  However, participating in each week's required tasks is a precondition for our learning process. For this reason, there are two participation expectations. 

First, you are expected to complete our weekly required assignments.  Any student missing over 10% of our assignments can be dropped from the class.   

Second, you are expected to complete your assignments promptly.   Do not procrastinate.  If you procrastinate and experience technical difficulties, I consider your procrastination a more significant cause than the technical difficulty.  After teaching for over 25 years, I no longer concern myself with distinguishing between good excuses and poor excuses.  See the Extra-Credit section's "Oops" policy to know what to do when you miss a deadline.  No exceptions!  To learn more, go to this syllabus's Extra-Credit section.   

Please note: If you know in advance you are likely to miss a deadline and contact me early enough for us to problem-solve, I will make a reasonable effort to work with you.  Sometimes I will allow for an alternative way of completing the work.  Sometimes I will reschedule a deadline in advance.  The proposed solution will depend upon the nature of the problem.  This will not count as one of your "Oops." 

WEEKLY PRACTICE

A key to our course's learning process will be practice.  You are not graded for your practice.  However, good practice skills will provide essential preparation for our graded assignments. 

Weekly Online Practice: There will be weekly recommended and ungraded online practice examples designed to assist our efforts to learn our critical thinking skills.  Most weeks this will include Flashcards, Tutorials, Handouts, and Practice Quizzes. 

GRADED ASSIGNMENTS

Our class includes three different types of graded assignments.  They will be the only measures used to determine how well you are learning in our course. 

Weekly Online Quizzes: There will be weekly required and graded online quizzes. Each Skills Quiz will assess your ability to demonstrate that week's new skills.  Each Review Quiz will assess your ability to demonstrate all of the skills we've learned up to that week of the semester.  Week #1 will include a Class Quiz that assesses your knowledge of the class syllabus and website.  Quizzes are not timed.  You may review them multiple times before completing and submitting them.  Except for the Week #1 Class quiz, all other quizzes may be submitted only once. 

Mid-Term Exam: There will be a required and graded mid-term exam.  The exam will assess your comprehensive understanding of the skills we've learned up to that point in the semester.  The online exam will be timed.  You will have 2 hours to complete and submit 50 questions.  Like our Review Quizzes, the Mid-Term Exam will be multiple-choice questions asking you to demonstrate all of the skills we've learned up to that week of the semester. 

Final Exam: There will be a required and graded final exam. This exam will assess your comprehensive understanding of the skills we've learned during our semester. The online exam will be timed.  You will have 2 hours to complete and submit 50 questions.  Like our Review Quizzes, the Final Exam will be multiple-choice questions asking you to demonstrate all of the skills we've learned up to that week of the semester. 

 

GETTING STARTED

Please begin by buying our course textbook, reviewing our course website, and completing all of Week #1's tasks listed on our course schedule, which is found in the modules section of this website.

 

IMPORTANT DATES

Each week's required and recommended tasks are listed in our course schedule. Please remember that, in the end, you are responsible for knowing each assignment's due date and completing each assignment promptly.

 

TEXTBOOK

Critical Thinking, Bassham, Irwin, Nardone, and Wallace, McGraw Hill, 6th edition or 7th Edition.  Please note- The textbook is sold in the bookstore. If you happen to buy it online, make sure, 1) It is the right edition; 2) You have the textbook before the first day of class. 

 

GRADING

Weekly Online Quizzes: You will earn two points for each correctly answered quiz question.  Combined, your quizzes are worth 500 points. 

Mid-Term Exam: The mid-term exam will be worth 200 points. 

Final Exam: The final exam will be worth 300 points. 

In total, you can earn up to 1000 points.  Your grade will be based on the percentage of these points that you earn: 
A: 90%-100%
B: 80%-89%
C: 70%-79%
D: 60%-69%
F: 0%-59%

No other considerations will determine your semester grade. 

THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN YOUR GRADE IS YOUR OWN WORK. 

 

EXTRA CREDIT

Oops Quizzes: Each student is allowed up to five (5) "Oops."  An "oops" is when you miss a week's required quiz or quizzes and request to submit the missed work after the deadline.  To use one of your "Oops," you contact the instructor after the due date passes.  Just message me and ask for your "Oops."  I'll re-open the quizzes within 24 hours.  Once the quizzes are re-opened, you must complete and submit the quizzes within seven days of the original deadline.  No exceptions!  The "Oops Policy" applies only to quizzes. 

Example of the Week: Beginning Week #3,  the Online Office will include a message asking you to post an example that demonstrates a skill we're learning.  The example will be worth up to five (5) points.  The points you earn will be applied to the previous week's Skills Quiz.  However, the points you earn do not change that quiz's maximum score.  So you can not earn more than 20 points on a quiz no matter how well you do on the Example of the Week.  This policy is intended to be an opportunity to make up for missed points by demonstrating the same skills in a different way. 

Question of the Week: Beginning Week #5, the Online Office will include a message asking you to post a question about the previous week's Review Quiz.  You can post a question about an example from the quiz or a concept covered in the quiz.  The question will be worth up to three (3) points.  The points you earn will be applied to the previous week's Review Quiz.  However, the points you earn do not change that quiz's maximum score.  So you can not earn more than 20 points on a quiz no matter how many points you earn from the Question of the Week.  This policy is intended to be an opportunity to make up for missed points by problem-solving skills and concepts covered in the quiz. 

Extra-Credit Quizzes: At the end of the semester, there will be two Extra-Credit quizzes.  These quizzes will ask you to demonstrate each of the skills we learned over the semester.  If you complete one Extra Credit Quiz, the score you earn will replace your lowest quiz score.  If you complete both Extra-Credit Quizzes, the scores you earn will replace your two lowest quiz scores. 

Mid-Term Exam Extra-Credit: The week of the Mid-Term Exam, there will be an Extra-Credit Quiz that involves reading a chapter about how our course skills apply to Mass Media and Social Media.  The points you earn on this Extra-Credit Media Quiz will apply to your Mid-Term Exam score.  However, the points you earn do not change that exam's maximum score.  So you can not earn more than 200 points on the exam no matter how many points you earn from the Extra-Credit Media Quiz. 

Final Exam Extra-Credit: The week before the Final Exam, there will be an Extra-Credit Quiz that involves reading a chapter about how thinking critically helps us recognize pseudoscience.  The points you earn on this Extra-Credit Pseudoscience Quiz will apply to your Final Exam score.  However, the points you earn do not change that exam's maximum score.  So you can not earn more than 300 points on the exam no matter how many points you earn from the Extra-Credit Pseudoscience Quiz.

The course's grading policy is designed to consider improvement and minimize the impact of an occasional setback. No other considerations will be used to determine your semester grade.  Remember the single most important factor in your grade is your own work. Ultimately only you can change this for the better. 

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS COURSE'S GRADING POLICIES AND/OR EXTRA-CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES, YOU SHOULD ASK THE INSTRUCTOR BEFORE ANY DEADLINES HAVE PASSED.  DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! 

 

ACADEMIC FREEDOM

I cherish our academic freedom and will enforce the college's Academic Freedom policy.  

Philosophical discussions, activities, and assignments frequently involve questioning one’s assumptions. The goal of this self-examination is not to persuade you to change your beliefs. Rather, the goal is for each of us to fine-tune our ability to identify, analyze, and assess arguments, no matter how controversial the topic. To promote an environment in which each of us feels comfortable doing this, it will be important to understand, appreciate, and value each other’s academic freedom. Toward this end, both the instructor and students are expected to honor the following policies: 

Student Academic Freedom Policy 

Every student has a right to pursue instruction objectively. This includes but is not limited to, having instruction that distinguishes between general knowledge and the instructor’s personal opinion, having instruction that acknowledges the existence of plausible opposing opinions, and being evaluated using only the standards noted in this syllabus. In addition, every student has a right to instructional methods that are conducive to his/her academic freedom. While a student’s presuppositions may be questioned by the instructor or other students, and the student may be expected to question his/her presuppositions, this shall be pursued in a manner that is consistent with each student’s freedom: 

1. To inquire; 
2. To explore difficult and controversial material within official course descriptions; 
3. To access any available information relevant to the official course descriptions; 
4. To express differing opinions with students, faculty, staff, and administration; 
5. To demonstrate, learn, and defend critical thinking skills; 
6. To demonstrate, learn, and defend intellectual honesty; 
7. To learn in an environment free of intimidation and censorship; and 
8. To be graded solely on considerations that are intellectually relevant to the subject matter as articulated in the course’s official course description and described in the course’s syllabus. 

Faculty Academic Freedom Policy

The instructor has a right to pursue instruction objectively. This includes but is not limited to, having the freedom to state a personal opinion, having the freedom to ignore or identify implausible opposing opinions, and having the freedom to evaluate student work using solely the standards noted in this syllabus. In addition, the instructor has a right to use instructional methods that are conducive to academic freedom. As such, the instructor not only has a right to question a student’s presuppositions, allow other students to question a student’s presuppositions, or expect the student to question his/her presuppositions; but, so long as the instruction is pursued in a manner that is consistent with each student’s academic freedom, the instructor shall be free: 

1. To inquire;
2. To present and explore difficult and controversial material that is relevant to the official course descriptions; 
3. To present and explore any information that is relevant to the official course descriptions; 
4. To express differences of opinion with students, faculty, staff, and administration; 
5. To demonstrate, teach, and defend critical thinking skills; 
6. To demonstrate, teach, and defend intellectual honesty; and 
7. To teach and interact in an environment free of intimidation and censorship. 

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Hopefully, this syllabus has provided a good introduction to our course's resources, expectations, and policies.  A key to successfully completing the course will be understanding each.  If, at any time during our semester, you have any questions about our course, including questions about our resources, expectations, and policies, don't hesitate to contact me and ask.