Fall 2000; MWF 9:00-9:50; HLMS 181

Course home page: http://spot.colorado.edu/~craigr/comm3100.html

This course will be conducted as a seminar (i.e., a meeting for an exchange of ideas in an area). As a group we will examine ideas about critical thinking, civility, and public discourse, with particular attention to the national political campaigns going on this fall. We will also reflect upon our own critical thinking as we present and discuss together. The course has several objectives:

1. Develop critical thinking skills: This is a College of Arts and Sciences required upper level course in Critical Thinking. As such, it involves certain specific requirements (especially, substantial required reading and writing). Its central purpose is to enhance each student's ability to read, write, speak, and listen critically. (If you're asking yourself exactly what the term "critically" means, you're already off to a good start!)

2. Develop communication skills: The Communication Department has designed this course to help students integrate and further develop knowledge and skills introduced in other communication courses such as interaction skills, public speaking, argumentation, etc. This class will focus on developing skills in questioning, discussion participation and leadership, and the presenting of oral and written arguments.

3. Become conversant with current controversies about communication in society: A final objective is to develop each student's awareness, knowledge, and personal perspective about a family of issues concerning communicative conduct. In particular we will consider what civility is and whether it is an ideal to be pursued or avoided, the quality of political campaign discourse in this fall’s national elections, and related issues.

To become "conversant" means to be able to discuss an issue in an engaged, well informed, insightful, articulate manner. Becoming conversant with an issue means much more than just knowing "the facts," although factual information is always important. It means developing a well thought out personal perspective informed by an understanding and appreciation of other views, so that fruitful dialogue with people having different perspectives on the issue becomes possible.

The course is divided into three units. The purpose of the first unit is to hone your critical thinking skills while exploring the issue of civility. In Unit I there will be daily readings from Brown and Keeley’s Asking the Right Questions and/or Stephen Carter’s Civility, and often short written assignments or in-class quizzes. The first unit will conclude with an examination testing your ability to apply critical thinking concepts to Carter’s arguments for his standpoint on civility.

The second unit will explore issues related to political campaign discourse while developing your critical thinking and communication skills as a leader and participant in group discussion. Students will be assigned to small groups (3 or 4 people) for Unit II to select examples of campaign discourse and lead 25-minute class discussions of the examples in light of issues raised by Kathleen Jamieson in Everything you think you know about politics. Some portion of each class will also be given to reflecting on the discussions and considering how we might improve our critical thinking and management of group processes. (Some of these discussions may be audiotaped or videotaped for analysis and discussion in class. These tapes may be archived for use in future classes as well as research studies on the classroom discussion process.) Class discussions that occur later in the cycle of student-led discussions are expected to be higher quality than earlier ones. A short analysis paper (5-6 pages) applying critical thinking concepts to analyze and critique campaign discourse on an issue will be due at the end of Unit II.

The final unit focuses on developing your ability to present their own critically thought-through standpoint on an issue orally and in writing. Following identification of more specific issues relevant to the course focus (e.g., How, if at all, should CU change its civility policy? Should hate speech be banned? What kind of debate/discussion format would be best for political elections? Are new technologies improving communication?), groups of 3-4 students will research and then present their own individual standpoints on an issue. Class members will then question presenters and discuss the issue. A written position paper will be completed on the same issue about which each student presents.

There are 450 possible points. Grades will be assigned based on point accumulation: A= 93%, A- =90%, B+ = 87%, B= 83%, B-=80%, C+=77%, C=73%,C-=70%, D+=67%, D=63%, D-=60%, and F=below 60%.

Participation (100 Points): Lively, thoughtful, informed and considerate participation is essential to the success of this seminar. Each student is expected to attend regularly and contribute actively to this class. Participation will include group activities such as problem-solving or role-playing exercises, fishbowl discussions, and designated leadership and facilitation roles. Written homework will be assigned frequently, particularly during Unit I of the course. The purpose of homework is to help students master basic critical thinking skills and vocabulary, and to allow them to assess if their understanding will enable them to performs satisfactorily in a testing situation. Typically homework will be given in one class and gone over in the next one. It will be collected and checked about once a week. On days in which there is no written homework, there may be a short (5 minute) quiz over an assigned reading. Since this is a discussion class and participants’ information levels affect the quality of a discussion, it will be important for everyone to have done the homework and readings. Every student is entitled to two free "sick days," no questions asked. A student whose attendance is good, and is prepared for classes (as assessed by homework & quizzes) will earn at least a B+ (87/88 points). Higher or lower grades will be given based on the person’s profile of attendance and participation quality.

Note: Late arrivals and early departures from class can be highly disruptive and should be avoided. Unless adequately explained to the instructor, they will be considered equivalent to absences from class.

Exam (125 Points): There will be one exam with a take-home and in-class component to assess students’ understanding of the critical thinking concepts developed in the Browne and Keeley text. The take-home component, due the day of the in-class part of the test, will require students to analyze an extended argument from Carter's Civility. The in-class section will be short answer and require application of key concepts to selected excerpts. The exam format will be similar to homework assignments.

Group-Led Class Discussion (25 Points): During Unit II, students will participate in small groups to plan and lead a class discussion on issues related to political campaign discourse. Groups will be responsible for selecting examples of campaign discourse (ads, speeches, interviews, news reports, etc.) for discussion, thinking about how critical thinking concepts and issues discussed in the Jamieson book apply to the examples, and facilitating a lively and thoughtful 25-minute class discussion.

Campaign Issue Analysis Paper (50 Points): There will be a 5-6 page paper applying critical thinking concepts to analyze and critique campaign discourse on a controversial issue.

Personal Standpoint Presentation (50 points): Each student will give an 8-10 minute talk presenting his/her own position about a controversial issue. Students are expected to do library and Internet research for this presentation and turn in a 1-2 page full sentence outline at the time the speech is given.

Written Position Paper (100 Points): Each student will write a position paper (10-12 pages double-spaced, using APA referencing style) on the controversial issue they addressed in their speech. The paper will develop their position and the reasons for it in the light of other positions.