Learning Outcomes

Critical Thinking

A. Definition: The student demonstrates appropriate care and deliberation whether or not one should accept, reject, or suspend judgment about a claim and decide the degree of confidence with which one can make that determination.

B. Competencies:

Knowledge: The student knows fundamental rules of logic and can identify logical fallacies and other "pseudo- reasoning" techniques. Understand common logical fallacies in the arguments of others and the anatomy of an argument.

Abilities: The student constructs sound arguments of her or his own and can critically appraise in a constructive, noncompetitive manner the arguments of others.

Abilities: The student evaluates her or his own reasoning process, recognizes contradictions and inconsistencies, clarifies values and standards, detects bias, evaluates the accuracy of different sources of information ("evidence") and accurately evaluates the implications and consequences of a proposed policy action.

Abilities: The student promotes the use of logic and reasoning, recognizes and honors cultural and other approaches to ways of knowing, and actively promotes logical, cooperative argumentation in all work-related settings.

C. Prerequisites: the student has sound writing skills with coursework in logic or the scientific method (including research methods)