6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1020441AER for all students in the 1st semester at a (A) Bachelor - preliminary level.

Semester
1st semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Possible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Taught in
English
Partnership Agreement
Under interuniversity agreement for degree program
Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
Department
Political Science
External partners
Universiteit Gent
Educational team
Christopher Parker (course titular)
Charlotte Vekemans
Hanne Van Haelter
Activities and contact hours
39 contact hours Lecture
111 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

Starting from a structured engagement with “the writing process,” this course introduces students to the principles and practices that underpin critical thinking and effective communication in the (social) sciences. Via interactive lectures, classroom workshops and structured writing assignments, students learn and apply skills that underpin the writing of clear and convincing (academic) prose, and--at the same time--also gain practical familiarty with the principles that underpin exposition and argument in the (social) sciences. These skills in turn provide students with a foundation for exploring how science works, and for reflecting upon the place of science in contemporary politics, culture and society. In sum, the critical thinking-based approach that underpins this course not only affords students with insights that will help them to think and write more effectively; it also encourages students to make links between the writing process and the wider processes of learning, inquiry and community.

The course consists of twenty-five topical units distributed over thirteen weekly class sessions. The topical units are organized into two thematic “clusters.”

  • Units 3-12 focus on skills of research and exposition. Here, we link “the writing process” to the wider processes of learning and inquiry.
  • Units 12-23 focus on the skills involved in recognizing, evaluating and making arguments. Here, the focus is on the various modes of inference and reasoning by which evidence is linked to judgements or claims about the (social) world, and on the role of argument in the construction and communication of scientific knowledge more generally.

Unit 1 introduces the basic premises and learning objectives of the course and provides an overview of the themes, topics and tasks that will guide our work during the semester. Unit 2 situates these these themes and objectives within the context of "the writing process." The activity of writing is central to both the pedagogical method and learning outcomes of this course. The focus, however, is not only or even primarily on the conventions of academic reporting and style, but more fundamentally on the expository techniques and argumentative structures that underping the formation and communication of scientific knowledge as such. Unit 24 returns explicitly to some of the bigger questions about science, emphasizing/summarizing the ways in which writing process reflects and supports the practices of critical thinking and scientific inquiry more generally. Unit 25 is devoted to a review for the exam (including a small unit on "how to prepare for an essay-based exam").

Additional info

Most course units consist of “interactive lectures.” This means that classes will be lecture- based but interspersed with classroom activities and discussions. For example, we might take time in class to do an exercise in sentence construction or pause to look more closely at a particular text in order to discuss a particular pattern of expository development, a rhetorical device or an argumentative structure. We might also step outside of “lecture mode” to engage a particular question or to solicit and discuss opinions/perspectives from the class. And sometimes we will integrate more formal activities into the classroom lecture—e.g., a discussion where we collectively analyze the terms and purpose of your first essay assignment, an exercise on finding and evaluating online sources, or an exercise where we examine and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different kinds of evidence.

The weekly reading assignments will include selections from the following sources:

  • Fowler, H. Ramsey and Jane E. Aaron (2016). The Little Brown Handbook [Global Edition, Thirteenth Edition] (Harlow: Pearson Educational)
  • Smith, William F. & Raymond D. Liedlich (1980). From Thought to Theme: A Rhetoric and • Reader for College English, sixth edition (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich).
  • Zinsser, Walter (2001 [1976]). On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Non- • Fiction (New York: HarperCollins/Quill).
  • Hughes, William and Jonathan Lavery (2015). Critical Thinking: A Guide to Basic • Skills (Peterborough & London: Broadview Press).
  • McLaughlin, Jeff (2014). How to Think Critically: A Concise Guide (Peterborough & London: • Broadview Press).
  • Gilbert, Michael A. (2014). Arguing with People (Peterborough and London: Broadview Press)
  • Mills, C. Wright (2000 [1959]). “On Intellectual Craftsmanship,” from The Sociological Imagination (New York: Oxford University Press), pp. 195-226.
  • Anson, Chris (2017). “Introduction” in A Guide to College Writing (Boston: Pearson Education)

In addition to selections from these works, you will receive additional reading assignments linked to specific exercises and assignments. You do not need to purchase any textbooks for this course. All required reading assignments will be available for download via Canvas.

Learning Outcomes

General Competences

At the end of this course, students should be able to

  1. Assess “the writing situation” and analyze the terms of a given assignment;
  2. Bring definitions, facts, evidence, examples, reasons and logic together in support of a topic 1 sentence or thesis statement;
  3. Formulate a problem statement, research/thesis questions and a thesis statement;
  4. Use comparison and contrast (or other pattern of expository development) to identify the respective strenghts and weaknesses of competing characterizations of lived experience;
  5. Engage critically with the problem of constructing an “objective” or “scientific” account of a problem or phenomena;
  6. Recognize and apply patterns of expository development;
  7. Recognize an argument;
  8. Distinguish between questions that are amenable to argument and those that can be settled 1 with reference to definition or empirical inquiry;
  9. Recognize and apply the main modes of logical inference (induction, deduction and analogy) 1 that underpin scientific argument;
  10. Understand how different modes of reasoning relate to the criterion of “truth” (i.e.,1 probability, validity, etc.);
  11. Understand the role of rhetoric and emotions in scientific exposition and argument;
  12. Assess and evaluate the soundness and strength of arguments;
  13. Articulate arguments that are able to take different perspective and opposing viewpoints into account;
  14. Recognize and apply different “formats” for the writing of, argumentative essays;
  15. Distinguish scientific knowledge/opinion from other kinds of knowledge/opinion;
  16. Account for and engage productively with differences in scientific opinion;
  17. Communicate clearly about the (social) world without avoiding or burying its complexity;
  18. Awareness of the social context(s) that underpin the value and authority of scientific knowledge.

 

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Mid-Term Written Exam with a relative weight of 20 which comprises 20% of the final mark.
  • Course Essay with a relative weight of 40 which comprises 40% of the final mark.
  • Final Written Exam with a relative weight of 40 which comprises 40% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

The grade for the course will be based on the following three activities:

  • A mid-term exam that counts for 20% of the final grade;
  • A final course essay that counts for 40% of the final grade;
  • A final exam that counts for 40% of the final grade.

Detailed descriptions of each exam and the course essay, including evaluation criteria, will be made available in a "General Course Overview" document provided via Canvas before the start of the semester. The exams will test knowledge/information communicated via lectures and weekly reading assignments. It will also—to a lesser extent—test skills that we exercised in class over the course of the semester. You are in principle responsible for all the material presented in the class lectures and corresponding reading assignments. You will not receive any PowerPoint slides for this course. You will, however, receive an exam prep sheet containing a comprehensive list of study terms and possible exam questions before the last day of class in December.

Second Session: Students will only have to redo course elements for which they received an unsatisfactory grade.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Psychology: Profile Profile Work and Organisational Psychology (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Psychology: Profile Profile Clinical psychology (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Communication Studies
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Political Sciences
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Sociology
Bachelor of Social Sciences: Startplan