Learning forums

Topic	Forum	Description	Discussions
1.1: Introduction to Critical Thinking	Discussion: The Importance of Critical Thinking	Consider these questions from a variety of angles. Then, share your thoughts on the discussion forum. Make sure to review and respond to other students' posts, as well. Is critical thinking important? Why or why not? How will the understanding and use of critical thinking benefit you ...	1

1.2.1: The Elements of Meaning	Discussion: Definitions	Evaluate these definitions. If you find a definition inadequate or flawed, try to provide a better definition. Then, share your thoughts on the discussion forum. Make sure to review and respond to other students' posts, as well. Discuss Mark Twain's definition of love: "Love is the irresistible ...	1

1.3: Assessing Sources	Discussion: Finding and Assessing Sources	Consider your experiences with finding and assessing sources. In particular, using a personal experience as an example, discuss whether and to what extent one of the strategies in this section for evaluating sources has been or would have been helpful. Then, share your thoughts on the discussion ...	1

2.6: Review of Argument Analysis	Discussion: Argument Analysis	Try to formulate examples of three important patterns of argument: modus ponens, modus tollens, and reductio. Then, for this argument sent to a newspaper by a reader responding to an article claiming that Shakespeare was Italian, identify the argument's main conclusion and spell out the ...	1

4.2.4: Review of Venn Diagrams and Arguments	Discussion: Venn Diagrams and Argument Validity	Consider how you might adapt Venn diagrams to evaluate the validity of these arguments. Most cooks are men. Most men are idiots. So most cooks are idiots. Very few plants are purple. Very few purple things are edible. So very few plants are edible. Share your thoughts on the discussion forum. Make...	1

5.3.11: Review of Fallacies	Discussion: Fallacies	Consider the passages below. If the passage contains an argument, identify the premises and main conclusion. For each passage, assess whether it contains a fallacy. If it does, identify the fallacy and explain why you made your assessment. God exists because many people who believe in God go on to...	1

6.1: The Basic Principles of Scientific Reasoning	Discussion: Scientific Theories	Consider these prompts. Share your thoughts on the discussion forum. Make sure to review and respond to other students' posts, as well. Given what you know about criteria for theory choice in science, such as predictive power, mechanism, fruitfulness, simplicity, and coherence, is there ...	1

6.2.2: Causality is More Than Just Cause and Effect	Discussion: Causation	This passage is an excerpt from a report by the Arizona Daily Wildcat (June 16, 1999) concerning a study to show that certain people can communicate with the dead. Using what you have learned about causation, correlation, and causal fallacies, consider the potential flaws with the experiment. ...	1

7.2: Creative Thinking	Discussion: Creative Thinking	Consider your experiences with thinking creatively. In particular, using a personal experience as an example, discuss whether and to what extent one of the strategies in this section for thinking creatively has been or would have been helpful. Share your thoughts on the discussion forum. Make ...	1