ATS2946 Critical thinking: How to analyse arguments and improve your reasoning skills
Faculty of Arts
ATS2946 Critical thinking: How to analyse arguments and improve your reasoning skills is a level 2, 6-credit-point, undergraduate unit from the Faculty of Arts, offered in 2020 in Summer A, Semester 1 and Semester 2 at Clayton. It has no prerequisites.
- Credit points
- 6
- Offered in 2020
- Summer A, Semester 1, Semester 2
- Clayton
- Assessment
- No exam
- 12 tasks
- Workload
- 144 hours
- per semester
This is the 2020 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.
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Requisites
Before ATS2946
No prerequisites or corequisites besides the enrolment rules below.
After ATS2946
No unit lists ATS2946 as a prerequisite in the 2020 handbook.
Enrolment rules
Prohibition: ATS1833
Overview
Critical thinking skills are useful in a wide variety of professions, including law, business, computer science, medicine, as well as in everyday life. What is the best way to construct, articulate and represent an argument? How do we distinguish real news from "fake" news? Should we believe what our doctors, mechanics, or financial advisors tell us, just because they are experts in their fields? By addressing questions like these, we will examine several methods of effective reasoning. We will also examine the ways in which reasoning can go wrong. Students who successfully complete the unit will be able to evaluate evidence, critique arguments, and use these abilities in a wide variety of situations, both in and beyond the classroom.
Offerings in 2020
| Teaching period | Campus | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Summer semester A | Clayton | Flexible |
| First semester | Clayton | Flexible |
| First semester (Fully flex) | Clayton | Flexible |
| Second semester | Clayton | Flexible |
Assessment
- Weekly Quizzes10%
- Assessment Task 110%
- Assessment Task 210%
- Assessment Task 315%
- Assessment Task 410%
- Assessment Task 520%
- Final Assessment25%
- Assessment Task 1 (Summer)15%
- Assessment Task 2 (Summer)15%
- Assessment Task 3 (Summer)20%
- Assessment Task 4 (Summer)25%
- Assessment Task 5 - Take home test (Summer)25%
Learning outcomes
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
- 1
Identify and explain the theory of argument;
- 2
Extract arguments from a variety of texts;
- 3
Identify and represent the structure of an argument;
- 4
Recognise and apply the criteria of argument success
- 5
Evaluate common types of argument;
- 6
Construct an argument of your own.
Workload and teaching
- Tutorials12 hours
- Tutorials12 hours
- Lectures12 hours
- Lectures6 hours
Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.
Where it fits
ATS2946 is part of 4 areas of study in the 2020 handbook.
Contacts
- Unit Coordinators
- Mr Andrew McKilliam
- Kelsey Perrykkad
- Chief Examiners
- Professor Jakob Hohwy
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for ATS2946?
ATS2946 has no prerequisites, but enrolment rules apply.
When is ATS2946 offered?
In 2020, ATS2946 runs in Summer A, Semester 1 and Semester 2 at Clayton.
How much work is ATS2946?
The handbook expects about 144 hours of study across the semester. No students have rated its difficulty yet.
Does ATS2946 have an exam?
No. ATS2946 has 12 assessment tasks and no exam.
Which majors and minors include ATS2946?
ATS2946 is part of Human rights and Philosophy.