Course Description
Sources of mistaken beliefs and flawed decision-making in the helping professions. Personal attitudes and characteristics that encourage critical thinking. Practical guidelines for assessing knowledge claims. Development of objective judgments using well-supported reasons and evidence.
Athena Title
CRITICAL THINKING
Prerequisite
Permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
During and after this course, students will be able to: 1.Recognize and describe factors that form mistaken beliefs and lead to flawed choices. 2.Describe the attitudes that encourage critical thinking. 3.Identify, recognize, and apply strategies that comprise critical thinking. 4.Recognize the relationship between critical thinking and evidence-based practice.
Topical Outline
Topic Outline: -What is critical thinking? -What kind of attitudes are essential for critical thinking? -How does our thinking go wrong? -Critical thinking skills: o How to ask the right questions o What are the issues and conclusion? o What are the reasons claimed to support the conclusion? o Are there ambiguous words and phrases? o What are the underlying assumptions? o How to identify fallacies in reasoning o How to evaluate the quality of the evidence o Are there alternative explanations for the conclusion? -What is the role of critical thinking in evidence-based practice?
Syllabus