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.
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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
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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!
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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:
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From the Santiago Canyon College catalog:
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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
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