In session 1 you are given the opportunity to explore what critical reasoning is and what it means to think for yourself. This session sets the foundation for everything that follows and should take about 10 hours to complete.
Activity
Activity 1.1
The following are some warm-up exercises to set your thought processes in motion before you embark on the journey to become a serious critical thinker (each question is a simplified version of a real critical reasoning question). Read the following statements and then answer the questions about them:
- The best movie showing right now is There is a Zulu on my stoep by Leon Schuster: it has been in the number one position for three weeks.
- How can we weaken this argument?
- How can we strengthen this argument?
- All dogs have hair. Therefore, pets have hair.
- If so, what are the hidden assumptions?
- The President is of the opinion that all citizens should have the opportunity to go to university. However, this argument is clearly wrong because he did not go to university.
- How can we weaken this argument?
- How can we strengthen this argument?
- Two hours ago Sipho had a splitting headache, so he took two headache tablets. Sipho still has a headache. Therefore, headache tablets are useless.
- How can we weaken this argument?
- How can we strengthen this argument?
Feedback:
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- We could show that a popular movie is not necessarily a good movie. In other words, just because it is popular doesn’t mean it is good.
- We could show that a popular movie is always a good movie. In other words, there is a direct relationship between popularity and quality.
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- The hidden assumption is that all pets are dogs.
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- We could say that the President’s personal background is not related to his suggestion.
- We could say that the President’s personal background is related to his suggestion.
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- We could say that Sipho’s results will not necessarily be the same as the results of other people.
- We could say that Sipho’s results will be the same as the results of other people.
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: Instead of a static activity template, I would recommend using a MCQ template format for interactive feedback. See the example I inserted below. You will find more information on the Quiz Multiple Choice template here.)
Warm-up exercise
The following are some warm-up exercises to set your thought processes in motion before you embark on the journey to become a serious critical thinker (each question is a simplified version of a real critical reasoning question). Read the following statements and think about your answer before clicking on the option to compare your answer with the feedack:
- The best movie showing right now is There is a Zulu on my stoep by Leon Schuster: it has been in the number one position for three weeks.
- How can we weaken this argument?
- We could show that a popular movie is not necessarily a good movie. In other words, just because it is popular doesn’t mean it is good.
- How can we strengthen this argument?
- We could show that a popular movie is always a good movie. In other words, there is a direct relationship between popularity and quality.
- All dogs have hair. Therefore, pets have hair.
- If so, what are the hidden assumptions?
- The hidden assumption is that all pets are dogs
- The President is of the opinion that all citizens should have the opportunity to go to university. However, this argument is clearly wrong because he did not go to university.
- How can we weaken this argument?
- We could say that the President’s personal background is not related to his suggestion.
- How can we strengthen this argument?
- We could say that the President’s personal background is related to his suggestion.
- Two hours ago Sipho had a splitting headache, so he took two headache tablets. Sipho still has a headache. Therefore, headache tablets are useless.
- How can we weaken this argument?
- We could say that Sipho’s results will not necessarily be the same as the results of other people.
- How can we strengthen this argument?
- We could say that Sipho’s results will be the same as the results of other people.
: Instead of a static activity template, I would recommend using a MCQ template format for interactive feedback. See the example I inserted below. You will find more information on the Quiz Multiple Choice template here.)
