S A N T I A G O C A N Y O N C O L L E G E REASONING & PROBLEM SOLVING Syllabus FALL 2007 FIRST THINGS FIRST 3 Units Details Released: About The Course COUNSELING 144 – (TICKET #2014411) PHILOSOPHY 144 – (TICKET # 7214401) This course is designed to help students enhance their reasoning and problem solving skills. In this course, we will survey many thinking mistakes that all people make. In addition, we will explore systematic problem solving methods, and we will also explore certain other concepts and theories that prove to be helpful in some problem solving situations. An essential component of our inquiries will involve “thinking out loud” in numerous class discussions and group activities. When: M 7:15p – 10:25p Where: Room SCC B-207 Instructor: Jim Watkins E-mail: watkins_jim@sccollege.edu Webpage: http://www.sccollege.edu/jwatkins Course Website: http://rsccd.blackboard.com Mailbox: Room A-204 Office Location: N/A Office Hours: By appointment Division: Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Division Office: D-128 Student Learning Outcomes Student Responsibilities Successful students will demonstrate a reliable understanding of the various natural human cognitive predispositions toward misunderstanding the world. Successful students will further demonstrate the ability to account for the normal range of human differences that can sometimes hinder our endeavors, including differences in life experience, aptitude, interests, understanding, personality, culture, and values. Successful students will also demonstrate the ability to apply systematic problem solving methods to the problems that they face. It is the responsibility of each student to review the college catalog and student handbook for a summary of student responsibilities and college regulations. It is the student’s responsibility to withdraw officially from a course. However, because of enrollment demand a student may be dropped by the instructor when not appearing at the first class meeting. A student may also be dropped for excessive absences when the total hours of absence exceed 10% of the total scheduled hours of the class. Under certain extenuating circumstances, a student may be reinstated by the instructor. 1 of 6 Accommodations For Disabilities Course Grading Scale: Percentage = Net Points = Grade 90.00% - 100.00 % 80.00% - 89.99% 70.00% - 79.99 % 60.00% - 69.99% 0.00% - 59.99% = = = = = 90.0 - 100.0 80.0 - 89.9 70.0 - 79.9 60.0 - 69.9 00.0 - 59.9 pts. = pts. = pts. = pts. = pts. = Students with verifiable disabilities who want to request academic accommodations are responsible for notifying their instructor and Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSPS) as early as possible in the semester. To arrange for accommodations, contact DSPS by phone at 714-628-4860; 714-6399742 (TTY- deaf students) or stop by the DSPS Center in E-105. A B C D F Assignment Values: % Points 25% 25 pts. 5% 5 pts. 20% 20 pts. 10% 10 pts. 20% 20 pts. 10% 10 pts. 10% 10 pts. 100% 100 pts. Make-Ups There are no make-ups for any of the quizzes, nor for any of the regular semester exams. Nor may you take any of the quizzes or exams early. You may not take the Final early. If you miss the Final because of some emergency, notify me at once. Send an e-mail or leave a message for me in the mail room. Assignment Participation Real World Assignment Quizzes (10/11 @ 2 pts.) Exams (1/2 @ 10 pts.) Group Project Individual Project Final Exam Total REQUIRED TEXT: The Thinker’s Toolkit, by Morgan D. Jones (ISBN 0-8129-2808-3) RECOMMENDED SUPPLEMENT: A Rulebook for Arguments, by Anthony Weston Food for thought: The [person] who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the [person] who can't read them. --Mark Twain (emphasis added) The great composer does not set to work because he is inspired, but becomes inspired because he is working. --Ernest Newman 2 of 6 UPCOMING ASSIGNMENTS ATTENDANCE – You cannot succeed in this course if you arrive late, take extended “breaks,” leave early, or skip class altogether. You will be earning points during every class meeting. Generally, these points cannot be made up afterwards. Role sheets will be circulated regularly. CLASSROOM PARTICIPATION – You will be working with each other during various activities (including small group and full class discussions.) Participation scores are based on two things: 1) Your presence in the room; and 2) Your demeanor while you are here. Participation is worth 25 points, or 25% of your course grade. REAL-WORLD SOLUTIONS – Come and share with the class an example of a realworld solution. In other words, describe a real problem that people once faced, and then describe how the problem was solved. More on this later. Your Real-World Solution is worth 5 points, or 5% of your course grade. GROUP PROJECT – For this project, you will be placed into groups by the instructor. Each group will choose an unsolved problem from the real world and then propose a solution. The project will follow a systematic problem solving method that you will learn in class. The Group Project is worth 20 points, or 20% of your course grade. INDIVIDUAL PROJECT - This will be just like the Group Project, except that you will be working independently. You will choose an unsolved problem from the real world and then propose a solution following the same systematic problem solving method that you mastered while doing the Group Project. The Individual Project is worth 10 points, or 10% of your course grade. QUIZZES – We will have eleven (11) conventional quizzes this semester. Each quiz will be worth 2 points, and have 2-10 questions. Quizzes will cover material from class. They may have any combination of truefalse, matching, multiplechoice, fill-in, short definition, short essay and logic problems. When included, items requiring written responses will take the place of a specified quantity of objective questions. The quizzes will always be administered at the very end of class on the given quiz date. Between your eleven quiz scores, I will throw out the lowest score. Quizzes cannot be taken early. Quiz make-ups are not available! 3 of 6 REGULAR EXAMS – Apart from the Final, we will have two (2) conventional exams this semester. Both of these exams will be comprehensive, meaning that they may cover all material up to that point in the entire semester. These exams will have 20 questions (or problems), each worth ½ point. They may have any combination of true-false, matching, multiple-choice, fill-in, short definition, short essay and logic problems. When included, items requiring written responses will take the place of a specified quantity of objective questions. Between your two scores on exams #1 and #2, I will throw out the lower score. There are no makeups for exams #1 and #2! THE FINAL EXAM- Every student must take the Final Exam. The Final will be comprehensive, meaning that it may cover all material from the entire semester. It will have 20 questions (or problems), each worth ½ point. The Final may have any combination of truefalse, matching, multiplechoice, fill-in, short definition, short essay and logic problems. When included, items requiring written responses will take the place of a specified quantity of objective questions. The Final Exam is worth 10 points, or 10% of your course grade. From the Santiago Canyon College catalog: 4 of 6 From the Santiago Canyon College catalog: 5 of 6 Class Calendar 08/27 09/03 09/10 09/17 09/24 10/01 10/08 10/15 (subject to change) - First Class; Quiz #1 - Labor Day (No Class) - Quiz #2; RW Solutions - Quiz #3; RW Solutions - Quiz #4; RW Solutions - Exam #1; Group Meeting #1 - Quiz #5; Group Meeting #2 - Quiz #6; Group Meeting #3 10/22 - Quiz #7; Group Meeting #4 10/29 - Quiz #8; Group Meeting #5 11/05 - Exam #2; G.P.s & I.P.s due! 11/12 - Veterans Day (No Class) 11/19 - Quiz #9 11/26 - Quiz #10 12/03 - Quiz #11 12/10 - Final Exam Knowing Your Grade Unfortunately, we can no longer disclose grade information via e-mail, nor over the phone. As a general rule, teachers, instructors, and professors cannot do this in the U.S. anymore. With some exceptions, we can only give feedback about grades either face-to-face with the given student or via the U.S. mail (no postcards - sealed envelopes only). The Federal government has enacted legislation to this effect. It's part of what's called the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Students can learn more about FERPA from The U.S. Department of Education: http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html Score Tracker Interested students can use the tracker to log their scores during the semester. Q1 Q6 Q11 RW Solution Q2 Q7 Q3 Q8 X1 Individual Project Q4 Q9 X2 Participation Q5 Q10 Final Extra Credit Group Project 6 of 6