ReflectionsIn a traditional introductory logic course, I have found that it is often difficult for students to relate the abstract concepts to concrete applications. To address this, I have structured my courses with assignments that require students to evaluate arguments using the ideas discussed in the course. Some of these assignments are short writing assignments. These have been an effective method for students to learn how to apply logic in the process of assessing and evaluating the arguments of others, but students often would fail to see how logic applied to the development of their own arguments. For this reason, I created a writing assignment that would require the students to develop a focused argument. Many argumentative writing assignments have the students focus on a controversial social topic. Because students may be resistant to critical examination of their views on such topics, I developed that the idea of using an issue from popular culture that would not be controversial. The issue was what state was the setting of mythical town of Springfield of the television show The Simpsons. To elaborate on the details of the assignment some additional comments may be helpful. Below are comments on this type of assignment, the teaching and learning outcomes of the assignment, and the current conclusions and reflections I have reached about the assignment. Type of AssignmentArgumentative essay topics typically address topics that have no single correct point of view because they provide an opportunity for students to develop the skill of writing an argument. The assigned topics are usually controversial social issues because such topics allow students to choose a clear position on the topic and develop the argument to support their position. Unfortunately, because of the controversial nature of the topics, this may cause the students to focus on the topic instead of the writing process. Argumentative essay assignments work well when students are presented with a question for investigation and the question has no single correct answer. This type of assignment is inquiry-based, and this is the basis of this assignment. Inquiry-based assignments pose a question that the student must investigate. This assignment poses the question, "Springfield is in what state?" Because there is no correct answer students are less likely to focus on trying to identify the "correct answer" and instead work on developing the argument to support their answer to the question. Different elements of the setting, plot, and dialogue of various episodes of the show ensure that there will be no correct answer to the question, but these elements must be deciphered if any argument is to be developed. By giving the students a specific, non-controversial question to investigate and answer, the students will focus on the argument itself instead of just focusing on the conclusion. Being an inquiry-based assignment also allows an opportunity to introduce discussion of specific topics within a specific context. These topics are the teaching and learning objectives for the assignment. Teaching Objectives and Learning Outcomes1. Teaching objectivesThis assignment integrates the application of logical concepts and the evaluation and organization of information into a single writing assignment. It requires the students to understand abstract material, evaluate information from Internet websites, and present this information. Because there are several distinct yet interrelated elements in this assignment, there are three teaching objectives. The first teaching objective is to examine the application of logical concepts. As an argumentative writing assignment, this assignment provides an opportunity to teach students how abstract logical concepts have relevance in a concrete situation. The concept of a valid deductive argument is difficult for students to grasp. A valid argument is one in which the conclusion must be true if the premises are true. A valid argument will never have all true premises and a false conclusion. This is seemingly a simple concept, but it is often confusing for students. With the use of the clips, it is possible to illustrate this to students. In the clip "Bart on the Road," Bart Simpson travels with his friends from Springfield to Branson, Missouri, and then to Nashville, Tennessee. A student may argue that because Bart and his friends are traveling in an easterly direction, therefore Springfield must be in a state west of Missouri such as Colorado or California. This is an invalid argument because the premise could be true (the spots Bart traveled through) and the conclusion could be false. In this case, it may be that Bart's adventure began south of Branson in Texas and then he turned to the east. This would make the premise true but the conclusion false. This provides an opportunity to have a discussion of the abstract concept of validity in a concrete situation and helps students understand what a valid argument is. The logical concept of a sound deductive argument is less complicated. This is a valid argument that has all true premises. Once students understand what a valid argument is, this concept is easy to understand. Clarifying what makes a premise true or false is relatively simple. Using the "clue" of the call letters of the Springfield radio station KBBL is effective for clarifying this. Since the call letters begin with a K, this means the location of the station must be west of the Mississippi. If a student claims the station is in an eastern state, this premise would be false, and any argument using it would be unsound. This makes it possible to explain what a sound argument is. Second, this assignment also introduces students to a topic that is important for completing research in any situation: evaluating information from Internet websites. Students are completing more and more student research using Internet websites. The Internet provides a nearly limitless resource for research, but while most faculty are aware that not every website should be trusted, students are usually less likely to question information they find on a website. In this assignment, the students need to supplement the provided information with information they can find on Internet sites. When the specific sites are introduced to the students, there is an opportunity to discuss what makes a website reliable source of information. Students will want to look for information from any website that looks good. By providing some initial sites, there is an opportunity to examine the criteria for evaluating the information provided by a website. The author or organization that produced the website, the date the website was posted or updated, and completeness of the information are some of the criteria that one considers when evaluating a website. For example, the information provided on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reliable because a governmental agency produces it, it is regularly updated, and provides complete information. When the students are introduced to this site they can be shown what to look for to evaluate the site, and they can then do a similar evaluation of other sites they may want to use for completing the assignment. A final teaching objective focuses on the actual writing of the essay. To complete the essay, students must organize the information and then write a clear, concise argument. Writing an argument requires not only stating information but also presenting it in a logical order so a reader can follow the flow from the premises to the conclusion. The reader will only be convinced to accept the conclusion when she understands how and why the premises support the conclusion. Being able to organize the information and then writing it in a clear and concise essay requires thought and careful writing. Before starting to write the essay, students can discuss the process for writing this type of essay. Taking time to discuss this will assist the students in understanding what is necessary for writing an argumentative essay. 2. Learning outcomesIn addition to the teaching objectives, there are specific learning outcomes for the students. I will not comment on these in detail because the rubric provided summarizes them. There are three learning outcomes supported by this assignment. First, the students will write a clearly stated argument. Successful completion of the assignment requires the students to write clearly articulated premises and conclusion. This is an important characteristic of any argument and is a vital outcome. Second, the students must write a valid and sound argument. This requires that they present an argument that could not have all true premises and a false conclusion, and they must explain why their premises are in fact all true. Finally, the argument must not commit any fallacies. This may seem simple, but students will occasionally present premises that identify two states as possible locations of Springfield and leave out other states. In such cases, the argument commits the fallacy of false dichotomy. These are the three learning outcomes. Based on this description, I can now present the conclusions I have reached from using this assignment. ConclusionsAfter using this assignment for several years, I have been able to draw several conclusions about the assignment. A short discussion of these six points will serve to conclude the discussion of the assignment. One of the first observations I noticed was the reaction of the students. Because the assignment is based on icons from popular culture, the students were immediately interested in the assignment. Students are often more aware of cultural phenomena than of social issues or current events. Since nearly every student has seen an episode of The Simpsons, they already know about the subject of the assignment. With many of the topics of typical argumentative essays, it is necessary to review the facts of the topic. This takes valuable time away form working on the assignment. By focusing on an element of popular culture, the students already have knowledge of the topic and can begin to focus on the assignment immediately. In addition, since the basis of the assignment is something from popular culture, the students do not think of this as a traditional argumentative essay and actually want to do the assignment. This is a refreshing attitude. The second conclusion is a previously stressed point. This assignment provides an application of abstract material. By giving a specific context for using the logical concepts discussed in class, students who are concrete thinkers have an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding. Being able to apply abstract material is difficult for many students, but since the assignment provides an opportunity to learn how to apply the concepts, this gives the students practice applying abstract material to concrete situations. This is a skill that all students must develop, and this assignment offers a chance for students to develop this skill. A different consequence of the assignment has been that it encourages critical thinking in terms of evaluating whether information is relevant. If the students could determine the location of Springfield from the video clips alone, they would not need to evaluate what they learn from the clips or consider what additional information they need to reach a conclusion. But to reach a conclusion, they must evaluate the clips and find additional information. Students must assess this in light of the conclusion that one can validly infer from it. Failing to consider whether information supports the conclusion or whether statements are true will result in the student failing to meet the specific outcomes of the assignment. Evaluating the information students will present in their essays requires critical thinking and provides mechanisms for students to develop their critical thinking skills. A fourth conclusion is that this assignment opens an avenue for discussing how to evaluate websites and where to look for additional information on the web. Many students fail to recognize that some websites are better for research. When the library was the only source for research materials, students did not have to be concerned with determining whether a source was reliable. This is not the case with the use of the Internet as a research tool. Because no website needs to be reviewed before it is posted to the Internet, the individual who posts the website can put anything on the Internet he desires. The information on the Internet may be unreliable, and students need to understand how to determine whether the information should be trusted. With this assignment, the students can begin to learn what criteria websites should meet before they rely on the information it presents. This is knowledge that students can use in any course. This is an important result of this assignment since it shows students that what they learn in one course is applicable to other courses. After using this assignment, I have come to realize how valuable the use of popular culture is for teaching students about writing argumentative essays. Students find this more interesting and they are less likely to focus on the conclusion they want to prove and focus on the process of writing an argument. One could use different topics for this assignment, such as where Gilligan's uncharted desert island is. What is important is that the topic be something drawn from the students culture. This makes it more interesting to them and also does not run the risk of creating a situation where the student loses sight of the focus of the assignment. Finally, I have noticed some problems with this assignment. One is that it can be discouraging to read that students think that Michigan borders Tennessee. Occasionally students will fail to check basic facts and they must be encouraged to verify that the claims they make are accurate. A second problem is several websites and Internet newsgroups discuss the location of Springfield. Some students will find these sites and use the arguments presented on them. To address this, it is important to require the students to only use clues from the provided clips. This restricts the information they can draw from and makes it possible to quickly identify any attempt to plagiarize. Overall, this has been a great assignment. Students are interested and the quality of work is high. One could create additional assignments of this type for other types of writing assignments that would seem to work as well. Below are considerations for anyone interested in trying the assignment. ReflectionsThe following is a summary list of points to keep in mind if you plan to use this assignment. These would help ensure the assignment is successful. 1. Use the terminology discussed in your course. The description and rubric have been set up for an introductory logic course. The terminology of valid and sound is for logic. In some critical thinking and writing courses, the terminology of warrant and data from Stephen Toulmin's The Uses of Argument may be more common. 2. Limit the number of episodes that students can draw information for premises. Many of the episodes of The Simpsons have different information that one could use for developing an argument for this assignment. There are references to redwood trees and Springfield harbor, and with this a different argument could be made. Limiting the clips that can be used helps to keep the students focused on the process of writing an argument and it also will restrict the possibilities for cheating and makes identifying plagiarism easier. 3. The essay should be 1-2 pages. With the limited information that students can use, the written essay should be short. This has the advantages of getting the students to write concisely and makes grading the assignment easier. 4. Check sites prior to the start of the assignment. Before the students begin working on the assignment, visit the website of each Internet resource website. Websites change regularly, and information that was available one semester may have moved by the next semester. Government websites regularly change, and since some of the information is found within a website, student frustration can be avoided if the web addresses are checked for accuracy. 5. Regularly change the clips used. There are books with descriptions of the episodes the show that one can use as a resource guide. In addition, the Fox Network (http://www.fox.com) has a home page with a section devoted to The Simpsons. By changing the clips made available to the students, you can help prevent students from copying the assignment from other students. 6. Assignment can be set up as a webpage. One final consideration is to set this assignment up on a website. This would organize the information for the students and provide easy access to the Internet websites. The video clips can also be shown if they are available. Works CitedToulmin, Stephen Edelston. The Uses of Argument. Cambridge: Cambridge U. Pr. 1958.
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