Chabot College
November 1999
Course Outline for History 5
CRITICAL THINKING IN HISTORY
Catalog Description:
5 – Critical Thinking in History
3 units
Develops critical thinking, reading, writing skills and practical logic and reasoning
through study of historical method. Emphasis on the techniques and principles of
effective written and oral argument in case studies and historical problems. 3 hours.
Prerequisite Skills:
None.
Excepted Outcomes for Students:
Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to:
1.
2.
demonstrate critical thinking skills in class discussion and written essays
a.
read and interpret case studies from a range of academic, cultural and
historical contexts;
b.
discuss the relationship between meaning and language manipulation, and
between language and logic;
c.
identify unstated premises and hidden assumptions which arise from the
social, historical, or cultural contexts in which the primary texts and
critical writings which apply to them exist;
d.
evaluate the pattern of reasoning present in an argument and related
critical evaluation, including induction and deduction, and the misuse of
statistics;
e.
identify logical fallacies, including appeals to authority, common practice,
equivocation, non-sequitor, appeals to ignorance, and anachronism;
f.
identify the similarities and differences between the intention, biases,
assumptions, prejudices, and arguments of an author, witness, reporter,
chronicler, historian, etc.;
g.
distinguish between fact, inference, and judgment, recognizing that many
reasonable inferences can be derived from the same facts
h.
identify historical viewpoints; recognize historical relationships and
patterns; and determine the adequacy of causal explanations.
demonstrate composition skills
a.
explore a line of inquiry and limit the topic appropriately;
b.
establish and state clearly a unifying thesis or proposition;
c.
select examples, details, or other evidence to support or validate the thesis
and other generalizations;
d.
use detail, example, and evidence to develop and elaborate upon
subtopics;
e.
use principles of inductive and deductive reasoning to support and develop
ideas;
f.
avoid logical fallacies in the presentation of argument;
g.
achieve coherence;
h.
communicate unambiguously
Chabot College
Course Outline for History 5, Page 2
November 1999
Course Content:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The Historical Method
a.
Primary and secondary sources
b.
External and internal criticism
c.
Corroboration
Informal Fallacies of Logic
a.
Importance of recognizing fallacies
b.
Appeal to authority, hasty conclusion, common practice, equivocation,
questionable premise, anachronism, appeal to ignorance, slippery slope,
non-sequitor, conspiracy, appeal to emotions, gambling fallacies,
inconsistency, composition, division, two wrongs make a right,
conspiracy, and others
c.
Problems with statistics: small sample, questionable statistics
Eyewitness: Case studies in History
a.
Film “Eye of Beholder”
b.
Staged conflict or argument – class is eyewitness
c.
The Peterloo Massacre of 1819
Reconstructing History
a.
Interpretation of the facts
b.
Who shot first at Lexington in 1775
c.
Was Shakespeare the real author?
d.
Did a conspiracy kill President Kennedy?
Values and Cultural Bias
a.
Artifacts from the past: what are they?
b.
Your photo collection: what do others see?
c.
Outsiders viewing a hypothetical society: what are the rules of this
society?
d.
Cults and New Age beliefs
e.
The unexplained: UFOs, Bigfoot, etc.
Methods of Presentation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Small group activities
Lecture
Guided discussion
Appropriate audio-visual material
Assignments and Methods of Evaluating Student Progress:
1.
Typical Assignments
a.
in-class and out-of-class essays clearly stating an argument and supporting
the argument with logical and sound exemplification
b.
revision of written arguments coupled with instruction, to demonstrate
progressive improvement and refinement of writing style, structure,
coherence, concision and emphasis
Chabot College
Course Outline for History 5, Page 3
November 1999
Assignments and Methods of Evaluating Student Progress (Cont’d)
c.
2.
At least five essays (totaling 8000 words) supporting analytical arguments
that identify, examine, and comment on readings across the curriculum
d.
At least one researched paper ( or its equivalent series of essays) that
posits a logically supported argument and is based on an analysis and
synthesis of a variety of primary and secondary sources, which may
include:
1.
print materials
2.
audio/video presentations
3.
interviews
4.
personal observation and examinations
5.
computer databases, including the internet
Methods of Evaluating Student Progress
a.
Grades A-F, according to performance on essays, discussions, quizzes,
examinations, and other measures deemed appropriate by the instructor.
Evaluation of students’ achievement of the course objectives will be based
on critical thinking skills specifically the following:
1.
Clarity and effectiveness of writing and discussion, and the degree
to which it successfully incorporated principles of composition and
of logical reasoning taught in the course
2.
Clarity of understanding of the historical method, and the
application of critical thinking to that method
3.
Participation in class activities and responses
Textbook(s) (Typical):
After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection, 3rd ed., Davidson and Lytle, McGraw
Hill Publishers, 1992
Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking, 5th ed., Browne and Keeley,
Prentice Hall Publishers, 1998
Critical Thinking, 4th ed., Moore and Parker, Mayfield Publishing Company, 1995
Exploring the Unknown: Great Mysteries Reexamined, Cazeau and Scott, De Capo
Press, 1979
Frauds, Myth and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology, K Feder,
Mayfield Publishing Company, 1990
Historians’ Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought, D. Fischer, Harper and
Row Publishers, 1970
The Historical Process: Critical Thinking and Historical Methodology, E. Narveson,
BEK Publications, 1998
How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age, Schick and
Vaughn, Mayfield Publishing Company, 1995
Invitation to Critical Thinking, 3rd ed., Rudinow and Barry, Harcourt Brace Publishers,
1994
Chabot College
Course Outline for History 5, Page 4
November 1999
Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric, 8th ed., Kahane and Cavender, Wadsworth
Publications, 1998
Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience , Superstition, and Other
Confusions of Our Time, M. Shermer, W.H. Freeman and Company, 1997
Special Student Material:
None.
tf: Hist.5
Revised: 11-99