engaging introductory philosophy students through overarching question assignments
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Engaging Introductory Philosophy Students Through Overarching Question Assignments. Erica Lucast Stonestreet College of St. Benedict | St. John’s University [email protected]. Introductions & Interests. Motivations. Hard to work from text to motivations - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Engaging Introductory Philosophy Students Through Overarching Question Assignments
Erica Lucast StonestreetCollege of St. Benedict | St. John’s
Introductions & Interests
Motivations
• Hard to work from text to motivations
• Survey courses can seem uncohesive
• Students expect to learn about philosophy
The Assignment: Overview
1. Answer the question based on what you know now.
2. Answer the question again, in dialogue with our texts and discussions.
Exercise
What are the requirements for a distinctively human life? How about a meaningful human life? Are these the same thing?
Syllabus design• Read a variety of texts that can be
seen as contributions toward answering the question
• Bicentennial Man, Tolstoy, Camus, Wolf, Plato
Details: The Unit Essay1. Present and explain a philosophical
problem based on the OAQs.
2. Explain in some detail the ways thinkers have thought about this problem.
3. Give your own take on the problem, supported by reasons.
Strengths• Requires a certain amount of metacognition,
which helps them to notice what they’ve learned
• Requires mastery of texts
• Provides practice with things like charitable reading, articulating others’ positions, evaluating and criticizing arguments, and articulating their own ideas
Strengths• Gives the students a sense of engagement
with the larger conversation about things that matter
• Makes the architecture of the course and the purpose of each unit clear to them
• Gives them a toehold for wonder and ownership of the material because it begins with their own thinking
Pitfalls• Some students just threw some
quotes into their original essay
• Many didn’t display any understanding of what was at stake
• Few pitted texts against one another and wrestled with opposing answers
Remedies• Clear and detailed instructions
• Sharp questions
• More intentional discussion of what’s at stake
• More intentional teaching of the skills involved
Discussion