Formal and Informal Reasoning - Printer Friendly (MSWord) |

Description - Formal and Informal Reasoning (3 hours required)
These courses investigate the structure and methods of formal and informal reasoning strategies. Students will study the nature and applicability of structures found in such areas as mathematical inquiry, formal logic, informal logic, and natural and artificial languages.

Learning Objectives
Courses in this area should incorporate at least three of the following learner objectives.

By the end of courses taken in this AofI, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate competence in the evaluative strategies of inductive and/or deductive reasoning
2. Distinguish between formal and informal methods of reasoning and apply each to solve a problem
3. Compare various methodologies of proof
4. Critique a fallacious argument
5. Articulate the structure of, limitations of, and/or comparisons between natural and artificial languages
6. Explore the structure of scientific reasoning and/or cognition

Accomplishing the Objectives
Instructors should clearly identify how the course will accomplish the above objectives.
Possibilities might include:

1. Participating in class discussion and debate
2. Engaging in teamwork and other collaborative exercises
3. Writing analytical or evaluative papers, perhaps incorporating original research
4. Making oral presentations
5. Creating an artistic product or a performance
6. Participating in fieldwork
7. Other means- please identify