PHI 210 Critical Thinking

PHI210 (Critical Thinking) Week 2 Assignment 1.1

Content

Students, please view the “Submit a Clickable Rubric Assignment” in the Student Center.
Instructors, training on how to grade is within the Instructor Center.

Assignment 1.1: Conflicting Viewpoints Essay – Part I
Prewriting
Due Week 2 and worth 30 points

When looking for information about a particular issue, how often do you try to resist biases toward your own point of view? This assignment asks you to engage in this aspect of critical thinking by playing the “Believing Game.” The Believing Game is about making the effort to “believe” – or at least consider – the reasons for an opposing view on an issue.

PHI 210 Critical ThinkingORDER NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER!!!

PHI 210 Critical Thinking

The assignment is divided into two (2) parts.
In Part I of the assignment (due Week 2), you will first read a book excerpt about critical thinking processes: “The Believing Game and How to Make Conflicting Opinions More Fruitful” at http://www.procon.org/sourcefiles/believinggame.pdf. Next, you will review the Procon.org Website in order to gather information. Then, you will engage in prewriting to examine your thoughts.
Note: In Part II of the assignment (due Week 4), you will write an essay geared towards synthesizing your ideas.

Part I – Prewriting: Follow the instructions below for this prewriting activity.  Use complete sentences and adhere to standard rules of English grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and spelling.
1. Select one (1) of the approved topics from the www.procon.org Website and state your position on the issue.
2. From the Procon.org Website, identify three (3) premises (reasons) listed under either the Pro or Con section – whichever section opposes your position.
3.For each of the three (3) premises (reasons) that oppose your position on the issue, answer these “believing” questions suggested by Elbow:

• 1. What’s interesting or helpful about this view?
  2. What would I notice if I believed this view?
  3. In what sense or under what conditions might this idea be true?”

The paper should follow guidelines for clear and organized writing:

• • Include an introductory paragraph and concluding paragraph.
  • Address main ideas in body paragraphs with a topic sentence and supporting sentences.
  • Adhere to standard rules of English grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and spelling.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• • Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA Style format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
  • Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• • Identify the informal fallacies, assumptions, and biases involved in manipulative appeals and abuses of language.
  • Create written work utilizing the concepts of critical thinking.
  • Use technology and information resources to research issues in critical thinking skills and informal logic.

Click here to view the grading rubric..

Grading for this assignment will be based on quality, logic / organization, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument. Assault In The City: Trial, Sentencing And Appeal

Points: 30 Assignment 1.1: Conflicting Viewpoints Essay – Prewriting
CriteriaUnacceptable

Below 60% F

Meets Minimum Expectations

60-69% DFair

70-79% C

Proficient

80-89% BExemplary

90-100% A1.Select one (1) of the approved topics fromthe www.procon.org Website and state your position on the issue.

Weight: 20%

Did not submit or incompletely selectedone (1) of the approved topics fromthe www.procon.org Website; did not submit or incompletely stated your position on the issue. Insufficiently selectedone (1) of the approved topics fromthe www.procon.org Website; insufficiently stated your position on the issue. Partially selectedone (1) of the approved topics fromthe www.procon.org Website; partially stated your position on the issue. Satisfactorily selectedone (1) of the approved topics fromthe www.procon.org Website; satisfactorily stated your position on the issue. Thoroughly selectedone (1) of the approved topics fromthe www.procon.org Website; thoroughly stated your position on the issue.2. Identify three (3) premises under either the “Pro” or “Con” section from procon.org.

Weight: 30%

Did not submit or incompletely identified three (3) premises under either the “Pro” or “Con” section  from procon.org. Insufficiently identified three (3) premises under either the “Pro” or “Con” section from procon.org. Partially identified three (3) premises under either the “Pro” or “Con” section  from procon.org. Satisfactorily identified three (3) premises under either the “Pro” or “Con” section under “Con” from procon.org. Thoroughly identified three (3) premises under either the “Pro” or “Con” section “from procon.org.

3. Provide answers to the “believing questions” for the three (3) premises that disagree with your own position.

Weight: 40%

Did not submit or incompletely provided answers to the “believing questions” for the three (3) premises that disagree with your own position. Insufficiently provided answers to the “believing questions” for the three (3) premises that disagree with your own position. Partially provided answers to the “believing questions” for the three (3) premises that disagree with your own position. Satisfactorily provided answers to the “believing questions” for the three (3) premises that disagree with your own position. Thoroughly provided answers to the “believing questions” for the three (3) premises that disagree with your own position.

4. Use complete sentences and adhere to standard rules of English grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and spelling. Follow APA Style format.

Weight: 10%

Did not complete the assignment or had more than 9 errors in grammar, punctuation, mechanics, spelling. Had 8-9 errors in grammar, punctuation, mechanics, spelling. Had 6-7 different errors in grammar, punctuation, mechanics, spelling. Had 4-5 different errors in grammar, punctuation, mechanics, spelling. Had 0-3 different errors in grammar, punctuation, mechanics, spelling.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

PHI 210 Critical Thinking

PHI 210 Critical Thinking