Required Textbook: Hurley, Patrick J. A Concise Introduction to Logic, Ninth Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 2005.

Technology Needed: Our class will be supplemented by a web site (http://www.thinkingshop.com/Clarion/logic/index.htm) where you will find a copy of this syllabus, weekly class news, updates on assignments/quizzes, additional resources to help you in your quest to master logic. In addition, you may also e-mail me to receive a quick response within 24-36 hours. You will be expected to access the web site regularly to receive class-related information.

Details...

Recommended Course Prerequisite: 1 College Level Math Course

Why technological literacy matters in the information age:

The following excepts were taken from a New York Times article dated January 17, 2005, "Measuring Literacy in a World Gone Digital" (TOM ZELLER Jr.). Since I wrote the above course description in 1998, I fee like I've anticipated the trend documented below.

"The Information and Communications Technology literacy assessment, which will be introduced at about two dozen colleges and universities later this month, is intended to measure students' ability to manage exercises like sorting e-mail messages or manipulating tables and charts, and to assess how well they organize and interpret information from many sources and in myriad forms.

... Lorie Roth, the assistant vice chancellor of academic programs for the California State University system, [states]. "Now it is all part of one giant continuum, and often the student is the sole arbiter of what is good information, what is bad information and what all the shades are in between."

...Given President Bush's announcement last Wednesday that he plans to expand the standardized testing mandated under the No Child Left Behind Act - which includes a commitment to "ensuring that every student is technologically literate by the time the student finishes the eighth grade" - the market for assessments is certain to grow.

...In an extensive report, "Tech Tonic: Towards a New Literacy of Technology," published in September, the Alliance for Childhood, a nonprofit group that is often skeptical of technology in schools, was critical of the new test. "For E.T.S., this is part of a broader global plan to develop and promote international technology literacy standards, and then offer countries around the world a chance to buy a full array of assessment products and services that can be used to implement their standards," the report said.

Knowing where and how to find information, they agreed, was just the beginning. Interpreting, sorting, evaluating, manipulating and repackaging information in dozens of forms from thousands of sources - as well as having a fundamental understanding of the legal and ethical uses of digital materials - are also important components.

"Critical thinking is a central aspect of the new economy," said Robert B. Reich, the secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, who is now a professor of social and economic policy at Brandeis University. Professor Reich is also the author of the 1991 book "Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for 21st Century Capitalism," which provided a something of a touchstone for the information literacy movement. "Our high school curricula are locked into an industrial age that may have only a tangential relationship to the information age," he said in an interview."

The above are only excepts and the full article is far more compelling. Please consider the above when you ask yourself "Why do I have to take logic?"

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