Philosophy (PHIL) 152

Basic Critical Thinking (Revision 6)

PHIL 152 course cover

Revision 6 closed, replaced by current version.

View previous version

Delivery Mode: Individualized study online or grouped study (check availability)

Credits: 3

Area of Study: Humanities

Prerequisite: None

Faculty: Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences

Philosophy home page

PHIL 152 is not available for challenge.

check availability

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.

Current Grouped Study Locations

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.

View previous syllabus