| Teaching Assistant | Course Description | General Education Goals |
| Required Text | Discussion Section | Course Requirements |
| Exam Schedule | The Learning Environment | Assignments |
Teaching Assistant: Sarah Roe
Office address and phone: DuSable 146, 753-0418
Office hours: Tu 12:00-1:00 and Th 1:00-2:00
E-Mail: smroe@wans.net
An introduction to formal reasoning about objects and their relations. Emphasis on demonstrating how techniques of formal reasoning learned in this class can be used to analyze and evaluate arguments in natural languages.
This is a General Education course, and as such its learning objectives strive to meet goals of the General Education Program. The table below indicates what this course aims to teach you (Student Learning Objectives), which General Education goals these objectives strive to meet (General Education Goals), and how your progress toward achieving the Student Learning Objectives will be measured (Assessment Tools).
| Student Learning Objectives | General Education Goals | Assessment Tools |
Students are able to
|
Students demonstrate the ability to comprehend and analyze written English | Pre-test sections I and VIII-X, and subsequent required exams |
Students are able to
|
Students display facility with use of formal reasoning, analysis, and problem solving | Pre-test sections II-VII, and subsequent required exams |
Samuel Guttenplan, The Languages of Logic (2nd edition)
There are two discussion sections scheduled for this course, in which the Teaching Assistant will answer any questions you might have about the material covered in lectures and provide assistance in solving homework problems. Beginning on Tuesday, September 11, the discussion sections will meet in DuSable 204 on Tuesdays, from 5:00-6:00, and Thursdays, from 6:00-7:00. It is intended that you attend only one discussion section per week at the time of your convenience. (There will be no discussion section on Tuesday, November 20.)
There will be five 100-point exams, administered on the schedule below, for a total of 500 points possible in the course. (Make-up exams will be administered only to students who are forced to miss a scheduled exam due to illness, family tragedy, or an unavoidable schedule conflict with an academic or athletic activity sponsored by NIU. In all cases, documentation must be provided to show that missing the scheduled exam was unavoidable.) Homework assignments are posted on the website, and sets of homework will be collected on exam days. Homework is not required, but you will receive two points for each set of homework assignments you turn in, which will count as extra credit. Attendance at discussion sections is also not required, but you will receive one extra-credit point for each week that you attend a discussion section. Thus, there will be 22 extra-credit points possible in the course (approximately 5 percent of the total points possible in the course). The grading scale is as follows:
A = 90% (450+ points)
B = 75% (375-449 points)
C = 60% (300-374 points)
D = 50% (250-299 points)
F = below 50% (0-249 points)
Wednesday, September 19
Monday, October 8
Monday, October 29
Monday, November 19
Monday, December 10, 4:00-5:50 p.m.
Plagiarism Statement: "The attempt of any student to present as his or her own work that which he or she has not produced is regarded by the faculty and administration as a serious offense. Students are considered to have cheated if they copy the work of another during an examination or turn in a paper or an assignment written, in whole or in part, by someone else. Students are guilty of plagiarism, intentional or not, if they copy material from books, magazines, or other sources or if they paraphrase ideas from such sources without acknowledging them. Students guilty of, or assisting others in, either cheating or plagiarism on an assignment, quiz, or examination may receive a grade of F for the course involved and may be suspended or dismissed from the university."
Northern Illinois University Undergraduate Catalog.
Each student in the class has paid for the right of access to a learning environment that is respectful of the effort to learn, conducive to effective learning, and free of disruptions that interfere with the ability to concentrate and learn effectively. The behavior of each student in the class shall be respectful of this right. Accordingly, students shall (1) refrain from talking with fellow students during class, (2) refrain from sleeping in class, (3) refrain from non-course reading in class, (4) not leave the classroom during class, and (5) turn off cell phones upon entering the classroom. Behavior that violates any of these rules will be considered disruptive of the learning environment. A student engaging in disruptive behavior will be asked to leave the class and may, under university regulations, be suspended from the class.