2022y-apmodr1730g-06

AP/MODR1730 6.0 G: Reasoning About Social Issues

Offered by: MODR


 Session

Fall 2022

 Term

Y

Format

LECT

Instructor

Calendar Description / Prerequisite / Co-Requisite

This is a skills-based course focusing on critical thinking, research-based writing, and qualitative and quantitative analysis. The particular focus will be on different positions taken within the social sciences on issues such as abortion, euthanasia, pornography, immigration etc. Typical examples are to be analyzed. Course credit exclusions: AP/MODR 1760 6.00, AP/MODR 1770 6.00.


Course Start Up

Course Websites hosted on York's "eClass" are accessible to students during the first week of the term. It takes two business days from the time of your enrolment to access your course website. Course materials begin to be released on the course website during the first week. To log in to your eClass course visit the York U eClass Portal and login with your Student Passport York Account. If you are creating and participating in Zoom meetings you may also go directly to the York U Zoom Portal.

For further course Start Up details, review the Getting Started webpage.

For IT support, students may contact University Information Technology Client Services via askit@yorku.ca or (416) 736-5800. Please also visit Students Getting Started UIT or the Getting Help - UIT webpages.


    Additional Course Instructor/Contact Details

Course Instructor: David Stamos at dstamos@yorku.ca

    Expanded Course Description

This is a skills-based course which focuses on skills that are essential for most of your university courses (and consequently can be expected to raise your grades in those courses). Specifically this means: conceptual analysis, fallacy analysis, argument structure analysis, premise analysis, essay style.

    Required Course Text / Readings

1) S. Morris Engel (2000). With Good Reason. 6th edition. Bedford/St. Martin’s. ISBN 978-1457695957

https://store.macmillanlearning.com/ca/product/With-Good-Reason/p/0312157584?searchText=Engel. There is a pdf version of this out there somewhere.

 

2) Chris MacDonald and Lewis Vaughn (2016). The Power of Critical Thinking. 4th Cdn. edition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-901868-0.

OR: Chopped ed. ISBN 978-0-19-901536-8 (this one saves you money!). Available in

the bookstore as: York University Custom Edition: The Power of Critical Thinking. Chris

MacDonald and Lewis Vaughn. (Make sure you buy the red edition for this course.) This

will also be available as an e-book.

    Weighting of Course

Conceptual Analysis Assignment (20%) – midway in the fall semester

Fallacy Test (15%) – at the end of the fall semester, and it’s open book/notes

Passage Analysis Assignment (20%) – roughly mid-way in the winter semester

Article Analysis Assignment (25%) – at the end of the winter semester

Participation (20%) – based on classroom attendance and weekly homework (each of which is short and graded exclusively on completeness not on quality)

    Organization of the Course

This is an in-class course. When you register for this course, it’s for a three-hour time slot. The tutorial is included in that (so you don’t register for a tutorial). Some of our classes will have more time spent on teaching, while others will have more time spent on taking up homework and on classroom discussion.

Moodle is used for this course for posting announcements, skeleton notes for the entire course, pdfs, and grades.

    Course Learning Objectives

The ability to apply to other courses the knowledge and skills learned/acquired in this course.

    Additional Information / Notes

As this is a primarily skills-based course, not a primarily knowledge-based course, much of our class time is spent on applications, practice, and discussing homework. This is why the Participation grade, which is based exclusively on attendance and homework, is 20%. Consequently it is very easy to get 20/20 for this portion of the course, and to get 0/20 if you treat don’t come to class and don’t submit homework. You therefore need to be able to commit yourself to attending class. If you cannot do this, you should take this course at some other time (but you should take this course), the earlier the better

    Relevant Links / Resources