Undergraduate MUR-PHL131-2018

Critical and Creative Thinking

Acquire a higher level of creative thinking and critical communication skills. Display the ability to recognise, analyse and deconstruct arguments. Equip yourself with knowledge you'll need during your ongoing studies and in your future career.

Duration

13 weeks

Student rating

2.94

Study method

100% online

Available loans

FEE-HELP
HECS-HELP

Assessments

Subjects may require attendance

Prior study

Not required

Study terms

26 Aug 2019

This research-based university in Perth has a strong interdisciplinary focus and a reputation for outstanding teaching and ground-breaking research. With more than 22,000 students and 2,000 staff from over 90 countries, and campuses in Dubai and Singapore, Murdoch embraces free thinking, shared ideas and knowledge to make a difference, and Open Universities Australia is certainly part of that.

University ranking

Subject details

What you'll learn

On successful completion of the subject you should be able to:

use expository and argumentative English correctly and clearly;
contribute effectively and confidently to discussions;
identify and reconstruct the forms of reasoning used in a wide range of everyday and academic contexts, including implicit assumptions and implications;
identify common fallacies in different styles of reasoning;
construct and evaluate the success of arguments you encounter in books, articles and discussions;
write your essays with confidence, based on knowledge of how to structure a successful argument.

Topics covered

- Critical Thinking: What is it?
- Logical, Illogical and Non-logical in the Learning Guide AND Orientation from textbook
- Textbook Ch. 1: Recognizing Arguments
- Textbook Ch. 2: Analyzing Arguments
- Textbook Ch. 5: More Valid Argument Forms
- Textbook Ch. 9: Definition
- Chapter 2: Logic: Deductive Validity from Bowell & Kemp, Critical Thinking: A Concise Guide, 2nd ed.
- Textbook Ch. 3: Evaluating Arguments
- Textbook Ch. 6: Causal Analysis
- Textbook Ch. 11: Reasonable Beliefs
- Textbook Ch. 8: Fallacies
- Textbook Ch. 12: Rules for Writing AND Category Mistakes in the Learning Guide
Study resources
- Instructional methods
  - Discussion forum/Discussion Board
  - Online assignment submission
  - Podcasting/Lecture capture
  - Web links
- Online materials
  - Online Assessment

Entry requirements

No eligibility requirements

Special requirements

No special requirements

Description

Achieving a high level of critical and creative thinking is one of the most important goals of a university education.

This subject aims to enhance the thinking and communication skills that are fundamental to all of your academic studies.

Employers in most professions and industries regard these abilities as essential.

Effective thinking demands rigorous analysis, imagination and insight.

In this subject you will develop and practise these skills and learn how to structure a successful, systematically reasoned essay.

Assessments

Questions on topics 1 to 4 (30%)
Questions on topics 5 to 8 (40%)
Invigilated examination (30%)

Textbooks

Current study term (25 Aug 19 to 24 Nov 19)

Click on the titles of the listed books below to find out more:

The Elements of Reasoning, 7th ed.

Ronald Munson and Andrew Black

Required

They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, 2nd ed.

Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein

Recommended Only

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