Cognitive Biases

Homework

Read the two articles linked below. You may want to print them out for reference.

The Believing Brain

Why Smart People are Stupid

Let me know if you have any questions. Don't forget to get a good night's sleep!

See you on Thursday.

Your Goals

Watch the presentation above first, and then complete the assignment below. Bring your assignment to class on Tuesday. Let me know if you have any questions.

Here's a link to the slide show in case the one above doesn't work on your browser.

Semester Goals

How We Learn

Here's a link to the presentation in case you can't view it above.

Welcome!

Welcome to Philosophy 130: Intro to Critical Thinking. This is one of my favorite courses - there are lots of interesting things to learn and think about! I hope it'll be a great semester.

Here are links to your syllabus and schedule for the course.

The school is trying to go paperless, so if you'd like a hard copy of the syllabus and schedule, please print them out from the PDF at the link. I'll have a limited number available on the first day for anyone without a printer or an internet connection.

You'll have noticed that there are no books for the course. We'll have readings for almost every class: the course readings will be posted to this blog and to the course page at contracosta.edu. I'll provide some copies for those who don't have access to a printer or the internet.

I'm looking forward to meeting you next week!

Organizing and Presenting an Extended Argument

Here's a link to the handout on organizing and presenting an extended argument.

Presentations handout

This is a link to the evaluation form I'll be using for your project; you might use it to help you organize your project and make sure you're confidant that you're doing a great job in every category:

Evaluation Form - Group Project

Be sure that you're all in contact with one another regularly outside of class. You can use your Yahoo groups and your group thread on the course blog to exchange ideas as you work on your project, and you can reserve study rooms in the Library to get together.

You'll need at least one extended group meeting outside of class to run through the actual presentation and make sure that it fits into your time limit (22 minutes per group) and to give feedback to one another about presentation style (are you mumbling, speaking too quickly, talking to your notes). If you can enlist a friend or the members of another group to give you feedback about the clarity of the argument, that's extra helpful.

Image (c) Siamackz under Creative Commons attribution/share alike license

Term Paper Part 3: Final Essay

Here's a link to the assignment for Part 3 of your term paper - the final draft of the essay.

Term Paper Part 3

Part 3 is due on Tuesday, May 17. Late papers will not be accepted unless you contact me before the due date to arrange for an extension.

Get in touch with me if you need help! The argument map should be a very big help in terms of organizing your thoughts, but if you're unclear about something or need help working through a problem or sorting through your ideas, send me an email or drop by my office hours.

Good luck; have fun!

Photo (c) Tulane University Public Relations under Creative Commons generic attribution license

Preparing Your Group Presentation

Here's a link to the general outline on preparing your presentation.

Preparing Your Presentation

You'll need more time that what we have available in class, so be sure to make good use of the blog threads and your Yahoo groups. You can also reserve study rooms in the Library - they go fast at the end of the semester, so start your planning now.

Let me know if you have any questions while you're working on it. Good luck, have fun!