Hilary E. Davis

hdavis@yorku.ca

Virtual Office hours: by appointment on Zoom or Google Chat on Tuesdays between 2:30- 4:00pm, EST

BLENDED COURSE

(Lecture Material online + 3 hours per week in classroom)

ACCELERATED COURSE

(24 Class Modules in 12 weeks)

This course combines both online asynchronous and in-person components:

ASYNCHRONOUS: pre-recorded lectures, practice exercises, weekly quizzes and forum activities, other written assignments

IN-PERSON: weekly class meetings (Mondays, 2:30-4:00pm EST)

• The overall purpose of this and all Modes of Reasoning (MODR) courses is to teach students to reason correctly and to express themselves clearly and precisely in verbal and written form. These critical thinking skills will help students not only with the remainder of their academic studies, but also in their professional and personal lives in general.
• This course (MODR 1730) will introduce important critical thinking and analytical skills by focusing on arguments made about social issues found in the social science, science, ethics, and mass media. In the past these have included the refugee crisis, student debt, online dating, sexting, and Ebola screening at airports. You will learn how to distinguish between inductive and deductive reasoning and how to identify, evaluate, and construct arguments.  In addition, MODR 1730 will include a brief introduction to evaluating statistical and scientific information. You will be asked to develop arguments that arise from your personal interests and opinions as well as critical arguments that assess the writing of others.  Throughout the course our focus will include the analysis of various media such as the news and popular press, feature films, advertising and political rhetoric, blogs and websites, as well as academic writing and philosophical arguments in this field.
• This is an approved LAPS General Education course for Social Science.
• Course credit exclusions: AP/MODR 1770 6.00, AP/MODR 1760 6.00. This means you may not take this course for credit if you are currently enrolled in or have a credit in either MODR 1770 or MODR 1760.

Technical requirements for taking the course:

To participate in the asynchronous portions of this course, students will require a computer and/or smart device an internet connection.

To meet with Prof. Davis during her virtual office hours on Zoom (Tuesdays between 2:30-4:00pm, EST), you will need a computer or smart device with webcam and microphone and a stable internet connection.  Zoom can be downloaded as an app on most smart phones.  Google chat is also an option for Prof. Davis’ virtual office hours.

Here are some useful links for student computing information, resources and help:

Student Guide to EClass

Zoom@YorkU Best Practices 

Zoom@YorkU User Reference Guide

Computing for Students Website

Student Guide to eLearning at York University

To determine Internet connection and speed, there are online tests, such as Speedtest, that can be run.

Lewis Vaughan.  Concise Guide to Critical Thinking, Second Edition.  (Oxford, 2020).

Mark Battersby.  Is That a Fact?  A Field Guide to Statistical and Scientific Information.  Second Edition.  (Broadview, 2016).

Additional topical articles may be posted on eClass

Times and locations:

BLENDED COURSE

(Lecture Material online + 3 hours per week in classroom)

ACCELERATED COURSE

(24 Class Modules in 12 weeks)

When: in person on Mondays, 2:30-5:30pm

Where: Founders 106.

This course moves at an accelerated pace.  Two modules of material – lecture videos, forum activities, quizzes will be posted weekly on eClass.  24 modules will be covered in 12 weeks.

This course is blended which means that it mixes in-person and asynchronous online elements.  All lectures will be pre-recorded and offered asynchronously on eClass.  Weekly online forum activities will also be required on eClass.  There will also be weekly in-person class meeting.  These weekly in-person classes will review and reinforce the weekly material using practice exercises and team activities.  They will also be an opportunity for students to ask questions and have interaction with the instructor and their classmates.

Each week’s asynchronous materials and activities should be completed before Monday’s class meetings.  Weekly online forum activities will be due on Mondays at 11:59pm EST.

The mid-term test will be in-person, in our classroom.  There will be no online or remote option for this test. If you know you will not be able to take this test in person you should not take this course.

Virtual office hours:

Office hours will be offered by appointment on Tuesdays, between 2:30-4:00pm.  They can be scheduled for Google Hangouts (chat) or Zoom.

Organization of the course

• This blended course combines both online asynchronous and in-person components:
• Weekly lectures will be pre-recorded and students will view them asynchronously. The weekly forum activities will also be engaged with asynchronously.
• All course materials are accessed through eClass.
• There are non-negotiable weekly deadlines for the online forum activities. Assignment deadlines are also non-negotiable.
• Weekly course material (e.g. video lectures, handouts, web links, practice exercises, forum activities, etc.) will be posted on eClass by midnight each Monday.
• All modules, assignments, quizzes, forum activities are opened weekly. None will be opened in advance of their scheduled date.
• All deadlines and launch times are Eastern Standard Time.
• All online forum activities will be due at 11:59pm EST on Mondays after the our weekly in-person class.
• Class will meet in-person, weekly on Mondays between 2:30-4:00pm. You should view the video lectures and engage with the other course material prior to the Monday classes.  These classes will not be recorded.
• I will not formally lecture during our in-person classes. Students are expected to come to class prepared to do teamwork and other in-class activities.   Classes will focus on developing critical skills in identifying, evaluating and constructing arguments about social issues and putting those skills into practice.  The class will combine review, team work exercises and assignments, presentations, and large discussions with the entire class.
• The mid-term test will be in-person, in our classroom. There will be no online or remote option for this test.  If you know you will not be able to take this test in person you should not take this course.
• This is an accelerated course. Each week covers 2 modules, i.e. what would be 2 weeks worth of material for a regular in-class 6.0 credit course. If you took this course on campus, then you would be required to attend two 3-hour lectures weekly. The content displayed each week reflects this time commitment. While you don’t have to log in to eClass at a specific time each week, but you need to keep up.
• If you are planning a vacation, work full time, have a heavy course load, or will be engaged in any other events that prevent you from attending in-person class sessions and logging onto eClass 2 or 3 times per week, you are strongly urged to rethink whether you should enroll in an accelerated section of Modes. There are full year sections of Modes which spread out 24 week’s material over the Fall and Winter Terms. 
• To succeed in this class you must attend regularly and arrived prepared. This means having viewed all the lecture videos and material posted on eClass and having done the reading and any assigned homework.  Your textbook should be brought to each class along with all notes and homework.  Organized notes are also essential as well as a willingness to participate in group work and larger class discussions.  Attentiveness in class is also a must.

By the end of this course, if you apply yourself, do all the reading, watch all pre-recorded lectures, and complete all assignments, activities, and quizzes, you can expect to see improvement in the following areas:

• Reading Comprehension: You will become a more active reader which includes learning how to read between the lines and how to ask critical questions.
• Writing: You will learn how to write two different types of arguments – a definition essay and researched proposal essay.  Your essay planning, organization, and editing should also improve.
• Critical Reasoning Skills: You will learn to identify and evaluate arguments in order to distinguish strong from weak arguments.  This will include learning how to evaluate evidence and sources used in arguments and those you use in your own research.
• Critical Thinking Skills: Ideally, you will learn to become a 'reasonable skeptic' and become able to identify and discuss the weaknesses and strengths in claims and arguments you encounter in the media, academic texts, and everyday conversation.

Course policies

• The lecture slides, handouts, and all materials found on this site are for the personal use only of students who are registered in this course, MODR 1730M. They are for educational purposes only and intended only to enhance accessibility. The instructor of this course holds the copyright to this material and does not give permission for any course material to be to duplicated, copied, and/or distributed outside of the class.  Nor do students have permission to upload course materials to commercial websites, file sharing websites or apps, or social media.  Anytime you download material from this eClass site you agree to these terms. Any person who uploads or shares course material without the instructor's permission violates copyright regulations and also FIPPA  and will face serious consequences.

• Successful academic performance includes students not only completing assignments, but completing them on time. Late penalties are applied to assignments submitted after the due date. Exceptions to the late penalty can be presented to the course director by email for consideration. All essays must be uploaded to Turnitin via eClass.

• An assignment will be considered late one minute past the Turnitin deadline.

• You are strongly encouraged to avoid uploading assignments within the last hour of a deadline. If, for whatever reason, your document does not upload, it will be considered late.
• There will be no opportunity to make-up missed weekly Online Forum Activities.  If you miss these weekly deadlines, you will receive a “0” for the assigned work. 

• The lowest 2 marks will be dropped for the Online Forum Activities. This is to say that of the 12 weekly online forum activities only the highest 10 will count toward your final mark.
• The mid-term test will be in-person, in our classroom. There will be no online or remote option for this test. If you know you will not be able to take this test in person you should not take this course.
• No make-up work or outstanding assignments will be accepted after Monday, April 4^th

An important message about in-person classes and activities:

As part of York’s Community of Care Commitment, all members of the York community share in the responsibility of keeping others safe on campuses. In this class, as elsewhere on campus, students must comply with all University health and safety protocols, including:

• Upload proof of vaccination to YU Screen as soon as possible and get vaccinated with a Health Canada-approved vaccine.
• Use YU Screen daily before coming to campus to screen for COVID-19 symptoms and confirm it has been done.
• Get free rapid testing if you are partially vaccinated, unvaccinated or have an approved vaccination exemption at either of York’s Testing Clinics.
• Stay home and don’t come to campus if you feel sick or answer YES to any of the screening questions.
• Wear a masks or face covering that completely covers your mouth, nose, and chin while on campus.
• Visit a mask vending machine if you lose or damage your mask/face covering.
• Don’t eating or drink in classrooms, research and in shared spaces (e.g., Libraries)
• Wash or sanitize your hands frequently and practice good hand hygiene.
• Follow the instructions in designated spaces, as they pertain to giving space to one another and/or protocols for entry to and exit from classrooms, instructional and other shared spaces (e.g., Libraries), when applicable.

Information about COVID-19 health and safety measures can be found on the Better Together website. The Senate Executive Committee’s Principles to Guide 2021-2022 Course Planning encourage us to uphold compassion, kindness, empathy, and a sense of responsibility towards one another. We all have a duty to uphold professional and respectful interactions with one another.