Bob ,
I do not think anyone who thinks critically would draw such an assumption from what either you or I have said about the content of any course that might be taught. The focus is on the research agenda the organization specializes in. I SUSPECT that in all courses there are reasonable drifts from time to time to other disciplinary areas.

Sent from my iPhone

> On May 15, 2018, at 9:27 AM, ennis, robert h <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Colleagues,
> 
> When I urged that the name, AILACT, not include argumentation in the persuasiveness sense, I was not talking about what we should put in a course that had critical thinking as one of its goals. Some commentators have so interpreted me.
> 
> Actually I think that combining critical thinking with other things in a course where critical thinking is combined with something else,  like debate,  can be a good way to teach critical thinking. I have so urged in some recent articles on critical thinking across the curriculum.
> 
> 
> Two research meta-reviews have considered whether critical thinking can be taught, and whether it is more effectively taught when combined with something else. 
> 
>    Abrami et al (2015) Strategies for teaching students to think critically: a meta-analysis. Rev Ed Res 85:275-314
> 
>    Abrami et al (2008) Instructional interventions affecting critical thinking skills and dispositions: stage 1 meta-analysis. Rev Ed Res 78 (4):1102-1134
> 
> The earlier one (2008) reviewed 117 articles dealing with attempts to teach critical thinking, and found that the research clearly supports the claim that critical thinking can be taught, and that among the 22 articles that reported the results of combining critical thinking with something else (the “mixed” approach), there was some tendency for the mixed-approach courses to be more effective than pure critical thinking courses. 
> 
> The later one (2015) reviewed 684 articles dealing with attempts to teach critical thinking, and also concluded that the research clearly shows that critical thinking can be taught. However, it did not claim that the research favors the mixed approach. 
> 
> 
> 
> In any case please do not interpret me to have made a point about critical thinking courses.
> 
> Bob Ennis
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On May 15, 2018, at 3:42 AM, Burke, Michael B <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> I think all of us agree that a course in informal logic can properly include attention to ways of enhancing the rational persuasiveness of arguments. It can be hard to get others to grasp, focus on, and remember our main points and arguments. (Think of your experience with referees.) Skillful argumentation, aimed at successful communication, often involves more than clear presentation of a strong argument. It’s often important to *reiterate* the key argument (perhaps repeatedly), to *identify* it as such, to minimize distracting inessentials, to anticipate misunderstandings and faulty objections, and so on. 
>> 
>> Michael Burke
>> Professor Emeritus of Philosophy
>> IUPUI
>> 
>> 
>> From: AILACT DISCUSSION LIST <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Mark Battersby <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Monday, May 14, 2018 6:09 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Should AILACT's website be translated into other languages?
>> 
>> Hi Paul, Bob and Catherine et al
>> 
>> Just a short note to SHOW my support for Catherine's view and to say that I was UNPERSUADED by Paul's argument or was it a SHOWING?  I wonder if the judges who are "shown" each lawyers ?arguments? then "SEE" which is better or do they get PERSUADED?  
>> 
>> According to Merriam Webster:  "Argumentation, the act or process of forming reasons and of drawing conclusions and applying them to a case in discussion"   Can't see the problem with this.
>> 
>> I have over 30 years of anecdotal evidence from my critical thinking students that one of the great benefits of the course was improvement in their ability to write a (reason based and persuasive, I assumed) academic essay.  If was assume that an important goal of CT courses is to improve a students ability to be a rational citizen then surely we should include argumentation.
>> 
>> 
>> Mark 
>> 
>> Dr. Mark Battersby
>> Critical Inquiry Group
>> Professor Emeritus Department of Philosophy
>> Capilano University
>> 
>> On Mon, May 14, 2018 at 8:20 AM, Wagner, Paul A <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> Persuasion adds a great deal that is distracting. Critical thinking is about showing. It shows solutions to problems and it shows flaws in recommended solutions.  Persuading others is not part of that agenda.
>> Einstein and his colleagues wrote the EPR paper to reveal seemingly evident flaws in the Copenhagen interpretation. They were not trying to influence followers  but rather showing where attention needed to be directed to augment or re-direct Copenhagen. They were not soliciting a vote.
>> 
>> Even in the American court system this difference is evident. At the trial level the attorneys are trying to persuade the jurors within the constraints imposed by the courts. At the appellate level things are quite different!!!! There the attorneys are SHOWING whether or not there was a violation of procedure or evident misapplication of the law.
>> Even at the SCOTUS while attorneys may be called before the bench to explain aspects of their brief and amicus curiae may be called in to comment. The intent is to SHOW a decision is or is not in alignment with precedent and no procedural violations faulted a decision. The intent OF THE PROCESS is not to have another go at persuading a trier of fact about the truth of some alleged claim.
>> 
>> In a recent book published by Rowman and Littlefield titled THINKING AHEAD, the authors, somewhat tongue in cheek, offer as an insight into critico-creative thinking, the LAW of Figuring Things Out. By this they meant that critico-creative thinking is about SHOWING the most plausible solutions in a given problem frame or, demonstrating the presence of defeaters in an explanation.
>> 
>> Logic - formal and informal - decision theory, game theory, the heuristical value and heuristical distractions described in the work of economists (Thaler, Susskind etc) and cognitive scientists (Kahneman, Tversky, Lichtenstein, Slovic etc) is all about moving the community of scholars forward in a quest for shared understanding.
>> 
>> Matters of persuasion are important. BUT, they are not part and parcel of any Law of Figuring Things Out. Persuasion is about winning converts. People may seek truth or demonstrate truth without any intention of winning converts.
>> 
>> Addendum: The fact that matters of persuasion may overlap at times simply is insufficient to claim they are simply of one cloth. I hope I have shown this but, you may want to persuade me differently. Of course, if I have effectively shown what I claim then your persuasion would be a distraction would it not? If I have evident holes in my reasoning then you needn't worry about persuasion at all in this case. Instead you can simply show where the holes exist. Presumably you would not do this to discredit me but rather to shed light on a gap for all in this community of inquiry to see.
>> 
>> PS. Translating AILACT newsletter and pubs seems a good idea to me btw.
>> Respectfully,
>> Paul Wagner
>> From: AILACT DISCUSSION LIST <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Catherine Hundleby <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Monday, May 14, 2018 9:20:35 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: [External] Re: Should AILACT's website be translated into other languages?
>> 
>> Hi Bob:  
>> 
>> I'm not trying to appropriate anything, just respond to your suggestion that we eliminate "argumentation" from AILACT. The reason you give is that it commonly is understood to include persuasion. I'm not sure why that is problematic, except that it involves social dimensions. Further, I don't think the Association can claim to be about informal logic if it's not addressing argumentation, so I really find this suggestion baffling.
>> 
>> In trying to speculate about your reasons I clearly have ventured into territory beyond your intentions, though I maintain not beyond the implications of your suggestion.
>> 
>> I don't want to clog this list any further, and this discussion is way beyond the original intent of this thread. If you wish to discuss this in private, feel free to email me. 
>> 
>> Sincerely,
>> Cate
>> n&c=SIGNOFF
>> 
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