Communication and Critical Thinking

Code:

M1031

Acronym:

M1031

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Mathematics

Instance: 2023/2024 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Web Page:	https://moodle2324.up.pt/course/view.php?id=2383
Responsible unit:	Department of Mathematics
Course/CS Responsible:	Bachelor in Applied Mathematics

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
L:MA	56	Official Study Plan	1	-	6	48	162

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

Learning outcomes and competences

On completing this course, students should be able to:

- Define and explain the basic concepts and terminology of critical thinking.
- Identify and evaluate arguments, both in written and oral form.
- Identify and analyze fallacies in reasoning and avoid them in their own arguments.
- Develop effective problem-solving strategies.
- Make well-reasoned and informed decisions based on available evidence.
- Develop an awareness of biases and cultural assumptions that may affect their thinking.

Working method

Presencial

Program

- Introduction to Critical Thinking
- Argument Analysis and fallacies
- Deductive and Inductive Reasoning
- Causality versus Correlation; Probability versus Coincidence
- Creativity and Problem-Solving
- Credibility and Bias
- Critical Reading and Writing
- Argument Mapping

Mandatory literature

Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Mindware: Tools for Smart Thinking, 2016

Complementary Bibliography

A. E. Mander; Logic for the Millions, Philosophical Library, 1947
William D. Gray; Thinking Critically about New Age Ideas, Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1991
Tracy Bowell; Gary Kemp; Critical Thinking: a concise guide, Routledge, 2010
Bryan Bunch; Mathematical fallacies and paradoxes. ISBN: 0-486-29664-4
John Allen Paulos; A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper, Basic Books, 2013
John Allen Paulos; Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences, Vintage Books, 1990
A. K. Dewdney; 200% of nothing. ISBN: 0-471-57776-6
Darrel Huff; How to Lie with Statistics, W. W. Norton & Company, 1993
Zbigniew Michalewicz; Puzzle-based learning. ISBN: 9781876462635
Jordan Ellenberg; How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking, Penguin Books, 2015
Independently published; Critical Thinking & Logic Mastery, 2022

Teaching methods and learning activities

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	10,00
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	40,00
Exame	15,00
Trabalho escrito	35,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	106,00
Frequência das aulas	56,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

To obtain attendance, a student cannot exceed 25% of absences in relation to the scheduled teaching activities.

Calculation formula of final grade

Distibuted assessment (total of 85% of the final mark)

- Attendance (participation in class with active and quality contribution): 10%.

- Presentation and discussion of one or two group works (written work with oral presentation and discussion; critique of the work of the other groups): 40%

- Preparation of a portfolio with the record of the main moments of the classes, reflections and resolutions of assignments and proposed questions: 35%

Final exam: 15%.

In the regular season, the final classification is obtained by weighting the items indicated above.

In the appeal season, there will be only one final exam weighted at 15% of the total assessment. The final classification in the appeal season is obtained by weighting the distributed assessment obtained during the semester (weight 85%) with the final exam of the appeal season.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Special exams will consist of a written test, which may be preceded by an eliminatory oral test to assess whether the student satisfies minimum requirements to tentatively pass the written test.

Classification improvement

Only the final exam can be retaken for means of obtaining approval in the course at the appeal season or trying to get a better aproval grade.

Observations

Article 20º of Regulamento Geral para Avaliação dos discentes de primeiros ciclos, de ciclos de estudos integrados de mestrado e de segundos ciclos da Universidade do Porto: "A fraude cometida na realização de uma prova, em qualquer das suas modalidades, implica a anulação da mesma e a comunicação ao órgão estatutariamente competente para eventual instauração de processo disciplinar."

Any student may be required to take an oral examination should there be any doubts concerning his/her performance on certain assessment pieces.

Jury:
António José de Oliveira Machiavelo
Samuel António de Sousa Dias Lopes