Philosophy (PHIL) 152
Basic Critical Thinking (Revision 6)
Revision 6 closed, replaced by current version.
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Delivery Mode: Individualized study online or grouped study (check availability)
Credits: 3
Area of Study: Humanities
Prerequisite: None
Faculty: Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences
PHIL 152 is not available for challenge.
Overview
PHIL 152 is a pre-university-level three-credit course designed to help you in the development of basic critical thinking skills in preparation for more advanced university-level work. The course stresses both reading skills and writing skills. It teaches an active, critical approach to reading that is extended to your own written work.
Outline
PHIL 152 comprises the following ten units. Units 1 to 5 focus on comprehension tools and skills. Units 6 to 10 focus on the development of critical capacities in application to both reading and writing.
- Unit 1: Introduction: Purpose, Topic, and Main Idea
- Unit 2: Reading Actively
- Unit 3: What Does it Mean? Understanding Complicated Sentences
- Unit 4: Writing Functions and the Organization of Ideas
- Unit 5: Integrated Reading, Writing, and Thinking
- Unit 6: Critical Thinking: Relevance and Completeness
- Unit 7: Standards of Evaluation
- Unit 8: More Standards of Evaluation
- Unit 9: Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
- Unit 10: Focus on Argumentation
Evaluation
To receive credit for PHIL 152, you must complete all assignments and achieve a composite course grade of at least “D” (50 percent). The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:
TME 1 | TME 2 | TME 3 | TME 4 | Course Project | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
10% | 10% | 20% | 20% | 40% | 100% |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.
Course Materials
Textbooks
Flachmann, Kim, Michael Flachmann, Alexandra MacLennan, and Jamie Zeppa. Reader’s Choice. 6th ed. Toronto: Pearson Canada, 2010.
Mayfield, Marlys. Thinking for Yourself: Developing Critical Thinking Skills through Reading and Writing. 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010.
Other Materials
The course materials also include two study guides, and 100 blank index cards.
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.
Opened in Revision 6, December 22, 2009.
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