ENGL 007

Prerequisite: Successful completion of English 1A (or equivalent). English 007 fulfills the General Education requirement for Critical Thinking.

Course Description: Critical thinking is the analysis of any attempt at persuasion, based on an evaluation of the form and content of that attempt. Thinking critically is a strategy for determining how to persuade others, and whether to be persuaded ourselves. As simple as this sounds, that process of determination can involve literally all we know about ourselves and our world. The purpose of this course, then, is not only to familiarize you with critical thinking, but also to provide you with a systematic approach to its process and components. To these ends, we will pay particular attention to cultural and individual assumptions, to evidence and other types of support, to arguments and fallacies, and to rhetoric and language. Our study of critical thinking will be supplemented with readings and discussions, and written assignments will deal not only with elements of critical thinking, but with their application in a context of traditional values, personal non-conformity, and cultural diversity.

Special Web Section: As an online course, this section of Engl 7 has a special burden to ensure that students receive instruction in critical thinking at least equivalent to that of a conventional classroom setting. I believe this can be accomplished, at the same time that students enjoy significant benefits: the savings of time and money otherwise spent commuting to campus to attend class, the convenience (and more) of controlling one's own schedule, and the ability to repeat any lesson or exercise until it is understood. If done right, all this should lead to more attentive, more motivated, more committed, and more successful students.

Still, there are some aspects of face-to-face instruction that will be very hard for an asynchronous class such as this to duplicate. Discussions conducted via email may prove more clumsy than those conducted in person, and will certainly take longer. On the other hand, because email is written, such discussions will give you chances to improve your composition skills, and there will be less chance for the sort of misunderstandings that often occur during verbal exchanges. To make this work, then, we all need to be as clear and precise as we can when writing email messages or posting comments on a bulletin board. Remember to take a few minutes longer to compose your messages, and be sure to proofread before sending anything for the class. Students will be required to re-submit poorly written work, including email assignments.

Required Texts: There is no textbook or reader for this course. All texts and materials are available online. However, students should have a good dictionary, thesaurus, and composition handbook, of the sort used in English 1A (a prerequisite for Critical Thinking) or its equivalent. In addition, some students may wish to consult standard critical thinking textbooks, to benefit from other explanations, approaches, and exercises. In doing so, please keep in mind that other authors may be framing subjects or using terms in slightly different ways from the ones employed in this class, and make adjustments accordingly. The Re:Sources section has a list of standard critical thinking textbooks. We will also be reading several short stories from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes which, while available online with annotations and comments, students may prefer to read in printed form.

Written Work and Grading: There will be two papers (about 1500 words and 15% of the final grade each), and three exams, each counting 20%. There will also be activity assignments each day which will require email submission of work to the instructor, and at times email or bulletin board discussions with other students; though not individually graded, these assignments, and the quality and timeliness of their completion, will determine the remaining 10% of the final mark.

All grades are recorded as a numerical value of 100 or less; those values are then averaged to determine the final grade at the end of the semester. Letter grades, sometimes used on essays, have the following equivalences: A=95, B=85, C=75, D=60; a "plus" or "minus" grade is recorded as 3 points above or the letter's value; finally, A-/B+ = 90 and B-/C+ = 80.

A final grade average of 100-90 will receive A+ to A- in the course; of 89-80, B+ to B-; of 79-65, C+ to C-, of 64-50, D+ to D-; below 50, an F. There is no curve in the class, and therefore students are not competing against each other. In the last two years, the median grade, for students who completed all major assignments in English 7 classes that I have taught, was B-. However, the percentage of students who have successfully finished this online course is relatively low: less than 50% for some semesters. In large part, this is due to the extra discipline and motivation necessary to be an online student--something that you should seriously consider before enrolling in this course.

Essays are to be submitted as email attachments. Since your essay will be written on a computer, I encourage you to use all the tools at your disposal (including spell-check, thesaurus, grammar-check, and others), in addition to a conventional dictionary; this is, after all, an English class, and critical thinking is just as concerned with language as with logic.

After each essay has been graded and returned, you will be asked to make the corrections noted, and resubmit the essay. This is to ensure that you understand the corrections made, and that you know how to identify and avoid such errors in the future.

Students will take all three examinations in person on campus or (by special request) at a facility to be arranged. Students taking off-campus exams must cover any proctoring costs. To ensure continued progess throughout the semester, deadlines for the completion of each exam are noted on the schedule below. Students may arrange for an exam at a time on or before that date, by contacting the instructor. Effort will be made to arrange for the exams at times convenient for students, though no promises can be given for times outside of normal working hours (8:30 am to 5:00 pm). The third examination will be comprehensive (covering information from the entire course).

Please keep a copy of any work you submit, and retain graded work until the end of the semester. Plagiarism, the submission of another's work as one's own (in any sense), is the sort of intellectual dishonesty that undermines the very education you are trying to receive, and must be dealt in accordance with university policy.

Course Schedule: Students will "log in" via email, in order to receive any updates, comments, and assignments. The schedule for the course, including order of topics covered online, the due dates for the two papers, and the deadlines for the three exams, is listed below. Besides the instructional sections, each topic or group of topics contains online exercises, quizzes, and review questions, for all of which students will receive automatic feedback. Such work is unmonitored, though students are strongly encouraged to complete all assigned sections, and to contact the instructor with any questions or comments. In addition, there will be activity assignments for students to complete each day and submit via email or bulletin board, as indicated.