RATIONALE:

The purpose of teaching critical thinking skills as a part of a tertiary level programme is to improve the thinking abilities of students and therefore enhance their performances in their educational pursuits specifically, and their careers and communities in general. This course seeks to help students to understand the importance of critical thinking to their academic and future success, as well as to provide them with strategies for the comprehension, analysis, and evaluation of content. Students will also be taught the skills necessary to write a logical and critically sound argumentative essay.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This class is an introduction to the analysis of critical thinking. The class aims to impart both a skill and some factual knowledge. The skill is an ability to recognize and also to construct in a structured and written way, common types of cogent and non-cogent reasoning.

GENERAL OBJECTIVES:

At the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Express themselves clearly and succinctly in writing

2. Comprehend complex ideas and theories

3.Know the concepts involved in critical thinking

4. Defend their opinions by reasoned argument

5. Tackle problems in a clear- sighted and logical manner

6. Demonstrate skills in sourcing relevant sources

7. Produce clear and argumentative essays

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Produce a clear and well structured argumentative essay by demonstrating skills in reasoning, analysis and the use of logical arguments

2. Show a clear understanding of persuasive materials and interpret and evaluate different viewpoints.

3. Evaluate and comment on the effectiveness of visual arguments

4. Prepare and deliver an organized oral presentation that will evaluate the assumptions, examples, evidence and inferences from a reading material.