IDIS001 ANALYTICAL SKILLS

Term 2 2014-2015

For students of Mark Nowacki

Keep this document. Read it carefully. Consult it before asking me questions

about what you are supposed to do.
Instructor
Mark Nowacki, SOSS, ext 0869

nowacki@smu.edu.sg

G5 Wednesday
G6 Wednesday
G7 Thursday
G8 Thursday
G9 Friday
G10 Friday
G11 Friday

08.15 - 09.45
10.00 -11.30
15.30-17.00
17.15-18.45
10.00 -11.30
12.00-13.30
13.45-15.15

SR 4.3 SOSS
SR 4.3 SOSS
SR 3.9 SOSS
SR 3.9 SOSS
SR 3.9 SOSS
SR 3.9 SOSS
SR 3.9 SOSS

Your TAs will introduce themselves to you by email:

Nicholas TAN
jktan.2012@business.smu.edu.sg
Amanda TAN
cytan.2011@law.smu.edu.sg

G5 & G6
G7 & G8

Jason SEAH
G9, G10 & G11
jason.seah.2013@accountancy.smu.edu.sg
This course aims to teach you the basic skills of reasoning and argument. Topics
covered include evaluating arguments, constructing arguments, reconstructing
arguments, formalizing arguments, clarifying meaning and identifying fallacies. At
the end of the course you should be able to (1) identify the structures of real-life
arguments in order to decide if they are good or bad, and (2) argue logically
about things that matter. This course is specifically designed to improve thinking,
writing, and oral presentation skills that are applicable to all areas of academic
study and relevant to working life. Careful application in this course will deepen
students capacities to critically evaluate everyday practical scenarios and will
help them think outside the box. Analytical Skills also develops your Situational
Intelligence (SQ) and Collaborative Intelligence (CQ), and the 21 st Century
Competencies that are internationally recognized as the key drivers of
employability and future career success.

2. Assessment
Class Participation (MirMe on-line)
Collaborative Mid-Term Exercise
Presentation Team Component
Presentation Individual Component
Final Examination

5%
35% (released Friday March 06, due
5pm Monday March 09)
12.5%
12.5%
35% (8.30am Wednesday 15 April)

3. Homework Exercises
There are no graded homework exercises. However there is a website full of selfstudy exercises and answers and explanations organized in segments that go
with each class. This website is important and should be visited weekly.
www.analyticskills.org
User: idis
Password: 001
Since later skills build upon earlier ones, it is important to not to neglect
exercises for a particular class and to attempt the exercises in the same
sequence as corresponding classes. You should feel free to consult your TA with
any help you may need.
4. Class Participation (5% of final grade)
You can satisfy your class participation component by completing the MirMe online psychometric test. If you finish all sections of MirMe, you will receive 5%; if
you partially complete MirMe you can expect 3%; and if you do not do the
assessment you will receive 0%. You are expected to have completed MirMe by
the end of week 3.
The purpose of the MirMe test is to give you insight into your own strengths and
weaknesses in problem solving. This can help guide your development in AS and
during your academic career at SMU.

MirMe measures two things: Situational Intelligence (SQ) and Collaborative

Intelligence (CQ). These two skill areas are directly related to the internationally
recognised 21st Century Competencies (21CC) that are required for
employability and future career advancement. These are the skills looked for
during job interviews, and they largely determine both job fit and future career
advancement.
If you participate conscientiously in Analytical Skills, you can expect your
Situational Intelligence and Collaborative Intelligence to improve, meaning that
you will be better placed to succeed in your academic and professional career.
To purchase MirMe, visit BookLink and inform the cashier that you are taking AS.
You will be asked for your instructor and section, e.g., Steven G12. You will then
receive a license key that you can use to take the test on-line.
5. Collaborative Mid-Term Exercise (35% of final grade)
This is a weekend take-home exercise held at the end of week 9. You may work
on this in groups. The question paper will be available on eLearn from 5pm
Friday 06 March in a folder marked Mid-Term Exercise in the combined
groups. The answers, on a bubble-sheet, are due Monday 09 March 5pm
sharp. Do not hand in the question paper. Hand in the bubble sheets to a dropbox on the 4th floor of SOSS. This drop-box will be marked with your group
number and my name. It is on your right as you exit the main lift on the 4 th floor of
SOSS. Bubble sheets will be distributed in class in week 9. If for some reason,
you have to miss class in week 9, there will be spare bubble sheets available in a
box outside my room on Friday 06 March. We will give you a format of the midterm exercise showing the topics to be covered by section, with the allocation of
marks, and sample questions and answers, in week 7. In weeks 11 or 12 we will
give you the answers. Should you need explanations of these, consult your TA
first.
6. Team Presentation (25% of final grade)
These are team research projects. Your TA will organize you randomly into nine
teams. (S)he will assign you one of the two projects (a) or (b) below. Students
who are not presenting are expected to participate in the discussion that follows
the presentation.
(a) Fallacies (6 teams)
Each team shall research and then teach the class, three fallacies from the list of
eighteen below. Your TA will assign the fallacies to the teams later on.
Fallacies of Irrelevance

Appeal to pity
Appeal to popularity
Argument against the person
Straw man
Missing the point (not covered by the textbook, so research is needed)
Red herring
Appeal to ignorance
Fallacies of Weak Induction
Hasty generalization (Small Sample and biased Sample)
Appeal to unqualified authority
False cause (After This, So Because of This, With This, So Because of
This and Mistaken Cause)
Causal slippery slope
Fallacies of Presumption
Begging the question
Complex question
False dichotomy (by Overlooking Alternatives and by Overlapping
Alternatives)
Miscellaneous Fallacies
Equivocation
Composition and division
Fallacy of accident
Semantic Slippery slope
Each team will take 20 minutes to teach three fallacies. Allow some time for Q&A
from the class. You must take the theory from the course textbook and give new,
novel examples of these fallacies, not from the course textbook but from other
textbooks (acceptable) as imagined (better) or as found in real passages (best).
Looking in the web is usually a bad idea, as much of the material there is poor or
unreliable. You should get the class involved. You may give a quiz. The
presentation must be serious and with no frills. No skits, or fancy graphics. There
is no dress code.
In the BC area of the Library (shelves of books the call numbers of which start
with BC) are whole shelves of books on reasoning, argument and critical
thinking. This is more reliable than much of what is on the web, which is usually a
mix of the good, bad, ugly and boring.

After you have given your presentation you may take three days to make any
improvements before sending them to your TA to be posted on eLearn for the
rest of the class.
Assessment: A mark of up to 12.5 will be awarded to the team as a whole for (a)
clarity of explanation (b) suitability of content (c) realism and originality of
examples and (d) general educational value of the presentation while each
team member will be judged separately by the same criteria. We are aware that
argument construction is more difficult than teaching fallacies and so to be fair
we will mark teaching fallacies more strictly.
(b) Argument Construction (3 teams)
Each team will be provided with a conclusion to be argued for or against. Half of
the team will construct the best argument they can for the conclusion and half of
the team will construct the best argument they can against the conclusion. The
two arguments should engage each other. In other words, those arguing for or
against the conclusion should try to object to the other argument and defend it
against objections. The presentation should be in plain English. It should be
able to be understood by a fairly intelligent person who has had no
exposure to this course. The objective is not to demonstrate the various skills
you have learned, such as arrow-diagramming, although these may or may not
be useful to you in preparing your presentation.
Each team will take 25 minutes to present the argument and discuss the
objections. There is no dress code.
Assessment: A mark of up to 12.5 will be awarded to the team as a whole for (a)
quality of construction (b) depth of assessment and (c) clarity while each
team member will be judged separately by the same criteria. We are aware that
argument construction is more difficult than teaching fallacies and so to be fair
we will mark teaching fallacies more strictly.
There is no need to send these for posting in eLearn
7. Examination
The exam is a two-hour closed-book exam, held 8.30-10.30am Wednesday 15
April. The venue will be announced on OASIS. We will give you a format for the
exam showing the topics covered and marks allocated in week 13.
8. Consultation
The TA is the first line of support when seeking consultation. In the event that this
is exhausted, you may email me questions or email a request for a consultation.
My consultations are in my room: 4059 SOSS. You must in all

correspondence, give your full name (as matriculated) and your group
number. You may also attend the weekly one-hour open consultation session
held by the TAs, starting in week 3. Your TA will announce the time and venue by
email.
9. Textbook
Ilya Farber, T. Brian Mooney, Mark Nowacki, Tan Yoo Guan and John N.
Williams, Thinking Things Through: An Introduction to Analytical Skills, Second
Edition 2011 McGraw-Hill. Available in BookLink.

10. Course Schedule

Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

10
11
12
13

14
15

Topic
Introduction to Argument
and Reasoning
Argument Structure
(Arrow Diagrams)
Evaluating Arguments
Deep Diagramming
Forms of Argument
(Deduction)
Forms of Argument
(Induction), Soundness &
Cogency
Categorical Syllogisms
(Venn Diagrams)
Recess
Model Presentations:
Explaining Fallacies &
Analysing an
Argumentative Passage
(Collaborative Mid-Term
Exercise falls in this
week)
Presentation: Fallacies
Presentation: Fallacies
Presentation: Argument
Construction
Presentation: Argument
Construction
Questions from students
for revision
Revision
Final Exam

Chapters
Intro, 1
1,2
1,3
1,4
5
Various
9

8
8
6,7
6,7

11. Make-up Dates

All groups are affected by the Chinese New Year holidays which fall in week 9.
- G16, G17 and G18: class on 18 Feb is rescheduled to Saturday 7 Feb.
- G12 and G13: class on 19 Feb is rescheduled to Saturday 14 Feb.
- G14 and G15: class on 20 Feb is rescheduled to Saturday 7 March.
G14 and G15 class on 3 April (Good Friday) is rescheduled to Saturday 4 April.
12. Only One Ground Rule: No open laptops in class. Strictly enforced!

13. Academic Integrity

All acts of academic dishonesty (including, but not limited to, plagiarism,
cheating, fabrication, facilitation of acts of academic dishonesty by others,
unauthorized possession of exam questions, or tampering with the academic
work of other students) are serious offences.
All work (whether oral or written) submitted for purposes of assessment must be
the students own work. Penalties for violation of the policy range from zero
marks for the component assessment to expulsion, depending on the nature of
the offense.
When in doubt, students should consult the instructors of the course. Details on
the SMU Code of Academic Integrity may be accessed at
http://www.smuscd.org/resources.html.
END