Sylabus Logic 103 096wb sp 2 2021 PDF

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Sylabus Logic prof. DeMarco...

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Bergen Community College

PHR-103 INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC (BASIC LOGIC) COURSE SYLLABUS Spring 2 2021 (February 9, 2021 – May 11, 2021) Section 096WB 3 credits Online/Distance Learning/Internet Web Course Instructor:

Tobyn De Marco, Ph.D.

Office Hours: by appointment, online synchronous audio/teleconference and asynchronous/synchronous chat Office: L-325-A (third floor of L-wing in Megastructure/Pitken building) Office Telephone: 201-447-9282 (w/ voice mail) Mailbox: Bring hard copy/printed material (if necessary) for my mailbox to the departmental assistants in A-336 Email: [email protected] Philosophy and Religion Department Telephone: 201-447-7167 ** All students are subject to the rules, regulations, and policies set forth in the current Bergen Community College Catalog. ** PHR-103 is a General Education Course (both BCC and GECC) and an Humanities Elective. Prerequisites: None. COURSE DESCRIPTION FROM THE BCC CATALOG: PHR-103 Basic Logic is an introduction to the principles and methods of correct reasoning. Topics of discussion include the relationship between logic and language; the distinction between formal and informal logic; the detection and avoidance of formal and informal fallacies; the formulation and evaluation of deductive arguments; the differences between traditional and modern (symbolic) logic; and the nature, scope, and limits of inductive reasoning. In this particular section of Basic Logic, we will focus on some informal logic, and some of the basic properties of (formal) first-order logic: propositional/sentential calculus. STUDENT LEARNING OBECTIVES: If a student does the work required for this course (reading, studying, thinking, writing, participating in class discussions, et cetera), a student will be able to or have knowledge of: 1. identify and classify kinds of sentences in natural language; 2. classify passages of natural discourse as arguments or non-arguments; 3. classify arguments as deductive or inductive 4. identify and classify informally fallacious arguments (roughly twenty-two informal fallacies); 5. the standard symbols (and alternatives) for the logical connectives/operators of the propositional/sentential calculus;

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6. symbolize/translate some basic natural discourse into the formal (symbolic) language of the propositional calculus; 7. proofs/natural deduction in the propositional calculus; 8. the eighteen rules of inference of the first-order logic system; 9. determine the validity of deductive arguments in the propositional calculus by the truth-table method (possibly the tableau (truth-tree) method); 10. understand and use the basic vocabulary of informal and formal logic; 11. evaluate arguments by the criteria developed; 12. identify and summarize the basic problems, principles, and methods of logical reasoning; 13. detect and avoid fallacious reasoning; 14. formulate and evaluate deductive arguments; 15. apply the principles and methods of logical reasoning to the analysis of texts, to the conduct of scientific inquiry, and to the problems of everyday life; and 16. use language, both in speaking and writing, with logical rigor and clarity. REQUIRED BOOK: 1. Hurley, Patrick J, and Lori Watson. A Concise Introduction to Logic. Thirteenth Edition. Boston, MA: Cengage/Wadsworth, 2018. Hardcover ISBN-10: 1-305-95809-8; ISBN-13: 978-1305-95809-8 (MUST BE THIRTEENTH (13TH) EDITION) The book is available at the Bergen Community College Bookstore, Room C -108 (among other places). Telephone: 201-445-7174. One may want to order this book online: go to the BCC internet World Wide Web site and find “Bookstore.” (Provided by efollett.com) Students may acquire ebook versions of the Thirteenth Edition; however, please be certain that the ebook is paginated in the same way as the hardcover version (the syllabus and online course contain specific page numbers for assignments, forums, and reference). N. B. The online lectures and videos do NOT replace Patrick Hurley’s A Concise Introduction to Logic. All students are required to acquire this book. One must possess this book to be successful in the course. Different options for purchasing or renting the textbook from the publisher are available here:

https://www.cengage.com/c/a-concise-introduction-to-logic-13e-hurley COURSE REQUIREMENTS/EVALUATION: 1. Test # 1 = 15% 2. Test # 2 = 15% 3. Test # 3 = 20% 4. Final Examination = 25% 5. Class Participation (Forum posts), Assignments = 25% of final grade ** Please prepare all exercises at the end of each chapter section assigned except when otherwise instructed. (All of these instruments—tests, homework, class participation--are used to assess all of the learning objectives.) ** ACADEMIC POLICIES AND INFORMATION 1. ATTENDANCE. Students must log in to the course Moodle web site at least thrice (3) per week (preferably more) per week, each on different days, for every week of the semester. PHR-103-096WB is a Spring 2 2021 semester course section. Consequently, this course is twelve (12) weeks. Students must actively participate by completing the tasks of each week as indicated in the course web site shell. If a student fails to log in during a week, the student will receive zeros on all assignments and a zero for class participation for the respective week. If a student does not complete a test/examination by the

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specified date, then the student shall earn a zero for that respective test/examination. Please keep in mind that ALL of a student’s activity in the Moodle course shell is documented, including times and dates. 2. FORMAT. This online course is completely online (including tests). The course web site contains a variety of tasks, and diverse ways of presenting information. Students should read, study, and take notes on the posted lecture material (usually in Adobe Acrobat Reader (.pdf) file format; view, listen to, and takes notes on all posted videos; listen to and take notes on all posted audio recordings; complete and study all posted practice quizzes; read, study, and takes notes on all posted web pages; read, study, and take notes on all posted files. There are REQUIRED Forums and OPTIONAL FORUMS. All students are required to write a relevant post for ALL required forums by the due date specified. Usually, students will have four to seven days to submit a required forum post. Optional forums are NOT required; however, ALL students should regularly check and read the optional forums for posts. Please use optional forums to ask (post) questions and write comments on the material we are studying and learning. The purpose of optional forums is to provide access to students (available to all students and the professor) to view questions and comments, and to view the professor’s responses. Often, students have similar questions about material. Therefore, optional forums provide a kind of confidence to students, viz. they are not different, other students have the same or similar difficulties, and allow answers/responses to be shared by all. This does not preclude students from asking questions privately through email messages, or Moodle messages, to the professor. There will be an optional forum for each Chapter section, and sometimes separate optional forums for specific skills. Please use the appropriate optional forum topic for relevant questions and comments. The professor will respond to the questions and comments. All students will have access to all questions, comments, and responses in optional forums. “Optional” mean that the forum is NOT required; a student may elect to contribute to an optional Forum or not; students receive neither extra credit nor any demerits for contributing or not contributing to an optional forum. 3. GRADES. The final letter grades will be based upon a weighted average of the grades and weights stated above. The official BCC grading scale will be used (see the BCC Catalog). There is no scaling or curving of grades, and there is no extra credit. The following grade scale will be applied to all tests, examinations, and the final weighted average. The grading scale is: A = 90-100 B+ = 86-89.9 B = 80-85.9 C+ = 76-79.9 C = 70-75.9 D = 60-69.9 F = 0-59.9 Weighted Average Formula: (T1*15)+(T2*15)+(T3*20)+(mean of forums/assignments*25)+(Final*25) 100 It is very important for students to know that NO OTHER factors will be used to compute the final grade except for those listed above in this syllabus. If there is a lot of variation in a set of test/assignment grades (the standard deviation is high), then the professor reserves the right to use statistical methods, such as T-scores, to calculate final grades. This method of grading is fairer to students, because it eliminates potential weighting problems in the computation of final grades. T-score = ( {[(actual score – mean)/stdev] x 10} + 50) x particular weight to test or assignment (e.g., .25 for 25 %). Class participation will be factored into the computation of the final grade, especially if the student’s final weighted average is “in between” two letter grades. Good class participation and attendance (log in) will result in the higher letter grade; poor class participation and attendance will result in the lower letter grade. As stated above, excessive absence will also result in downgrades.

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All tests and examinations will have a total point worth of one hundred (100). The point-worth of each exercise or question on tests and examinations will be given on the test sheets or online web pages. Some exercises or questions may be subject to partial credit. Wrong answers will result in the subtraction of the point-worth of those exercises or questions from the total point-worth of the test or examination. Quizzes, tests, and examinations will consist of questions on the primary texts studied, read, and assigned, lecture material, secondary source material, exercise sets assigned, and hand-outs. Some questions/exercises will ask for information, definitions, and explanations; some questions/exercises will ask for a critical evaluation or interpretation of arguments and theories studied. All tests and examinations for this course are online, and provided through the course Moodle web shell. All tests have time limits. Be sure to budget the maximum amount of time in case one needs the time to complete successfully the test. Usually, tests will be conducted through a lock-down browser window, which means one will not be able to navigate away from the test web page without penalty and one cannot stop, pause, or re-start the test time limit clock. Please keep all of this in mind when beginning a test. Choose the day and time of test completion and submission carefully and wisely. Usually, there will be between four and seven days to complete and submit a test from the day and time it is posted. Follow directions on tests carefully. When posted, practice quizzes should be completed, but the results are not included in the calculation of one’s final course grade. However, completing the practice quizzes or not may affect one’s class participation component of the final course grade. Students are permitted to complete practice quizzes multiple times. Practice quizzes prepare students for tests and examinations. Grades on practice quizzes are not included in any grade calculations/determinations. Homework assignments and forum posts will be graded according to standards of completeness and effort made on the assignment. Required forums posts will be evaluated according to the following: full credit, partial credit, no credit. Homework assignments will consist of hand-outs of exercises. The grades are: full credit = 3 (most complete, most effort, excellent work), partial credit = 2, partial credit = 1, no credit = 0 (not submitted). A mean will be derived from the results of all of the forum/homework grades. The mean will be converted into the following number grades (numbers in between the numbers on the left shall be rounded to the nearest number below): 3.0 = 100 2.85 = 95. 2.7 = 90 2.55 = 85 2.4 = 80 2.25 = 75 2.1 = 70 1.95 = 65 1.8 = 60 1.65 = 55 1.5 = 50 1.35 = 45 1.2 = 40 1.05 = 35

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.9 = 30 .75 = 25 0=0

4. INCOMPLETE GRADES. There is no presumption in favor of an Incomplete grade (INC). If a student does not submit work or does not take a test or examination, and he/she is not excused and/or does not explicitly inquire about an Incomplete grade, then the grade for the missed work will be zero (0). For further information, see the BCC Catalog. 5. Students are expected to do all reading, homework, assignments, et cetera by the due dates specified by the professor in the syllabus, or during class sessions, or posted online. NO LATE PAPERS OR ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Tests and examination dates will be held approximately on the dates given in this syllabus; however, final dates and confirmation will be announced online at least one week prior to the date of the test or examination, or posted online in the announcements section in the Week # 0 section and/or in the heading area located at the top of each Week Section.. All tests and examinations will be cumulative, but the general contents of each test will be announced when the test is announced in the News/Announcements Forum, and/or through email, and/or Moodle calendar, and/or in the heading area of the relevant week’s section on the course web page. A final examination study guide will be distributed approximately two weeks before the examination date. Students may NOT use books and notes for tests and examinations. Generally, the duration of tests and examinations will be indicated for each test and examination (usually between seventy-five (75) minutes and three (3) hours). Hand-in homework assignments and required forums will be announced in the News/Announcements Forum, and/or through email, and/or Moodle calendar, and/or in the heading area of the relevant week’s section on the course web page. I reserve the right to give short quizzes at any time during the semester. These will be factored into the student’s Class Participation/Homework/Etc. part of the final grade computation. I am especially likely to give quizzes if discussion lags significantly below my expectations, or if I have evidence that students are not reading and preparing the assigned material. 6. AUDITORS. Auditors are not permitted in this online course. Students interested in auditing my courses should contact me about auditing a non-online course. 7. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND DISHONESTY. Absolutely, neither plagiarism nor cheating will be tolerated (nor other forms of academic dishonesty). If a student is found by the professor (of course with substantial evidence) to have engaged in such activity, then the student will earn an “F” grade on that assignment, test, or examination, AND be assigned an “F” grade as the final grade for the course, AND be reported to the college administration (Vice President of Student Services). (Also see BCC Catalog for the full College policy.) If a student does not understand plagiarism or cheating (e.g., which types of action and behavior are correctly considered plagiarism, or cheating, or academically dishonest, or undermines academic integrity), then the student ought to consult with the professor as soon as possible. Please familiarize oneself with the official BCC policy on Academic Integrity (see current BCC Catalog). This is very serious stuff. Unless otherwise stated, all material contained in the Moodle web site for this course is copyrighted by Tobyn C. DeMarco. Tobyn C. DeMarco reserves all rights. Students are permitted to use posted material for a student’s personal educational purposes for this course. Students are prohibited from posting any and all posted or emailed material to any other internet site, world wide web site, intranet site, any uniform resource locator (URL) address, any other computer server, any other computer or computer hard drive. Students are prohibited from manipulating or

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changing in any way any and all posted or emailed material. Any violation of this policy and/or copyright law may result in civil penalties and/or criminal prosecution, and/or Bergen Community College discipline. By remaining enrolled (registered) for this course, a student understands and agrees to this policy. 8. BERGEN COMMUNITY COLLEGE. All students are subject to the rules, regulations, and policies set forth in the current Bergen Community College Catalog. For college-wide Academic Policies and Regulations, see BCC Catalog. For general student responsibilities and rules and regulations, see BCC Catalog. The official college calendar can be found on the BCC internet World Wide Web site, current Registration booklet, or BCC Catalog. Information about the BCC Bookstore can be found in the BCC Catalog; there is a link to the Bookstore internet World Wide Web site at the BCC web site; the BCC Bookstore is owned by Follett; located in Room C -108; Telephone: 201-445-7174. BCC official internet World Wide Web site: http://www.bergen.edu N.B. There are many resources at BCC besides classroom teaching. I recommend one takes advantage of them. Some special services that may be relevant for this course and program are: Academic Advising Center, A-118, 201-612-5480, Email: [email protected] Office of Specialized Services (Disabilities) (OSS), L-115, 201-612-5270, Email: [email protected] Sidney Silverman Library-Reference Desk, L-226, 201-447-7436 English Language Resource Center, C-212, 201-879-5292 The Technology Assisted Learning Lab, L-125, 201-447-7988 Writing Center, L-125, 201-447-7136 or 201-447-7489 Tutoring Center, L-125, 201-447-7489, see note below. Smarthinking Tutorial Service: http://bergen.edu/current-students/student-supportservices/tutoring/online-tutoring-with-smartthinkingcom/ Office of Testing Services, Room S-127, telephone: 201-447-7202 The Henry and Edith Cerullo Learning Assistance Center encompasses the Tutoring Center, the English Language Resource Center, and the Writing Center. The website of the Learning Assistance Center is located at www.bergen.edu/pages/2192.asp. Tutoring services are available for this course in the Tutoring Center. I strongly recommend that students make an appointment to see me before going to the tutoring center. As listed above, the Tutoring Center is located in Room L-125, and its telephone number is 201-447-7489. 9. ONLINE CONDUCT. All students are required to write (and speak if required) in a formal manner using Standard Written English (complete sentences, proper punctuation, paragraph form, et cetera) for all emails, forum posts, exercise answers, and test/examination answers unless otherwise stated. All writing must be polite and respectful to every member of the class. The professor’s discretion shall determine whether a student has breached the conduct rules of the course and fair use policies of Bergen Community College. Significant violations of policy, decorum, and conduct shall be referred to the appropriate authority of the College, and disciplinary action may occur, including but not limited to suspension, grade failure, academic/conduct probation, civil and/or criminal penalties, and dismissal. In all interactions with the professor (classroom instruction/lecture, office hours, et cetera), ALL audio and/or visual recording of any kind is strictly prohibited. If there is an accommodation issue (OSS) involving such recording, then the student must request permission and express consent (form will be provided) from the professor for any recording. Any violation of this policy shall be pursued to the full extent of the law, civil suits, and BCC discipline/judicial procedures. 10. FEEDBACK. Feedback, that is, suggestions and comments on how the class or course may be improved or what is good, et cetera, is very important. Consequently, I welcome and encourage feedback from students. Students may do this anonymously or not. Students may raise such issues by

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writing a note to me (leave in my BCC mailbox), email, or telephone. At midterm, I will solicit student comments (anonymously) more formally by asking students to fill out a mid-semester class evaluation. This is done in order to address issues, problems, and what is working so t...