Course co-ordinator(s): Dr Patricia Vargas (Edinburgh).
Aims:
The module aims to give students the opportunity to develop general thinking skills which will be useful to them throughout their studies and future lives.
They will gain knowledge and experience of:
- Critical thinking including assessing credibility of evidence, assessing and developing arguments, resolving dilemmas and critical reasoning.
- Cognitive strategies and meta-cognitive skills including the capacity to evaluate and switch thinking strategies when appropriate.
Detailed Information
Course Description: Link to Official Course Descriptor.
Pre-requisites: none.
Location: Edinburgh.
Semester: 1.
Syllabus:
- Logical fallacies, critical thinking case studies drawn from topical media reports, effective strategies for problem solving, cognitive tools, flaws in human reasoning, experimental design, descriptive and inferential statistics.
- Use of solution techniques from other disciplines in problem solving.
- Reporting and explaining solutions using a wide range of formats and notations, including textual, graphical and symbolic forms.
Learning Outcomes: Subject Mastery
Understanding, Knowledge and Cognitive Skills Scholarship, Enquiry and Research (Research-Informed Learning)
Students will develop skills in the following areas:
- Critically analysing arguments in written or verbal form.
- Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of their thought processes and problem solving techniques
- Evaluating statistical and experimental methodologies
- Communicating ideas and solutions to others, including those from other disciplines.
Learning Outcomes: Personal Abilities
ndustrial, Commercial & Professional Practice Autonomy, Accountability & Working with Others Communication, Numeracy & ICT
Students will develop skills in the following areas:
- Analyse and interpret numerical and graphical as evidence for an argument
- Communicate critical thinking effectively to non-expert audiences.
- Exercise autonomy and initiative by planning and managing their own work (PDP);
Take responsibility for their own and other’s work by contributing effectively and conscientiously to the work of a group (PDP).
SCQF Level: 9.
Credits: 15.