Schedule of Classes and Assignments

Week #1 (September 2-6): no class sessions or assignments.

Elearning video:

• • Course welcome!

Week #2 (September 7-13): "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are so certain of themselves, yet wiser people so full of doubts." (Bertrand Russell)

September 8 and 10 class sessions: learning under duress. And "snakes have legs."

Elearning videos:

• • A guide to the week.
  • Course content.
  • Course components and requirements.
  • What do employers want?
  • Assignment #1 tips.

Watch:

• • "Alternative math." (Read "accessability" here for how to bring up captions on this and other videos.)

Quiz #1 (deadline: 11:59 pm on Friday, September 11).

• • Course policies. You'll find all quizzes on elearning. Deadline: Friday night at 11:59 pm on September 11. You can refer to the course policies page during the quiz, but there is a ten-minute time limit. So it will likely pay off if you read them carefully first.

Assignment #1 (due September 13):

• • Seeking balance while taking sides (see assignments page).

Week #3 (September 14-20): "Tell me I'm right!"

September 15 and 17 class sessions: filter bubbles and echo chambers.

Watch:

• • "5 Ways to Beat Confirmation Bias."

Read for online component:

• • Kristin Allred, "The causes and effects of “filter bubbles” and how to break free."

Elearning videos:

• • A guide to the week.
  • Tell me I'm right!
  • Definitions I.

Quiz #2 (deadline: 11:59 pm Sunday, September 20).

• • This week's material. All quizzes are on elearning.

Week #4 (September 21-27): TMI ("too much information!"). And "It's 11 pm; do you know where your values are?"

September 22 and 24 class sessions: information overload.

Read for class sessions:

• • "Infobesity epidemic."
  • "How the web distorts reality and impairs our judgement skills."

Read for online component:

• • "Argument."

Watch for online component:

• • "Value and descriptive assumptions" (15:00; be prepared to watch a lecture from a CGI professor).

Elearning videos:

• • A guide to the week.
  • Value assumptions.
  • Argument

Quiz #3 (deadline: 11:59 pm Sunday, September 27)

• • This week's material. All quizzes are on elearning.

Week #5 (September 28-October 4): "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things." And do you ever get the feeling that the only reason we have elections is to find out if the polls were right?

September 29 and October 1 class sessions: the power of words.

Read for class sessions:

• • "Language: a key mechanism of control."

Read for online component: 

• • "Sampling methods for political polling" (from the American Association of Public Opinion Research).
  • "The real story of 2016."
  • "What went wrong with last year’s election surveys? Pollsters have some answers."

Watch for online component:

• • "Pros and cons of public opinion polls" (4:24)

Elearning videos:

• • A guide to the week.
  • Polls/Surveys I: Sample size and margin of error.
  • Polls/Surveys II: Representativeness.
  • Polls/Surveys III: Leading language and click surveys.
  • Polls/Surveys IV: When polls are wrong.
  • Definitions II (from elearning videos).
  • Definitions III (from this week's class).
  • Assignment #2 tips.

Assignment #2 (due October 4):

• • Public opinion polls and the election (see assignments page).

Week #6: (October 5-11): Living in a click-driven, focus-grouped world. And be angry! Be afraid! Be hopeful!

October 6 and 8 class sessions: media literacy. the good, the bad and the ugly.

Read for class sessions:

• • "Bias, bullshit and lies," executive summary (5-7). 
  • "Investigative journalism can still make bad guys squirm." <click link>

• • "Whatever happened to the news?" Note the date on this article: 1990.
  • "Thinking, shallow and deep."

Watch for class sessions:

• • "And now, the real news" (3:08).

Watch for online component:

• • "How Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google manipulate our emotions" (watch through 14:45).

Elearning videos: 

• • A guide to the week.

  • The use of emotions in politics I.

  • The use of emotions in politics II.

  • Assignment #3 tips.

Assignment #3 (due October 11):

• • Campaign language and imagery (see assignments page).

Week #7 (October 12-18): exam week. Link to study guide (to be activated the end of the week before).

October 13: Exam I for Tuesday class session.

October 15: Exam I for Thursday class session.

Elearning video:

• • A guide to the exam.

Week #8 (October 19-25): Social media: "a great place to tell the world what you’re thinking before you’ve had a chance to think about it." (Chris Pirillo) And why "my uncle says..." is not enough.

October 20 and 22 class sessions: social media impacts.

Read for class sessions:

• • "How news has changed."
  • "Is social media destroying the news?"
  • "The recent explosion of right-wing news sites." (The title is misleading; it's also about left-wing news sites.)

Elearning videos:

• • A guide to the week.

  • Support: facts, statistics and experts.

  • Assignment #4 tips.

Assignment #4 (due October 25):

• • Social media and political discussion (see assignments page).

Week #9 (October 26-November 1): Everyone loves a conspiracy! (And therein lies the problem.)

And "how I ruined a good argument with weak logic."

October 27 and 29 class sessions: conspiracy theories.

Read for class sessions:

• • "The accidental invention of the Illuminati conspiracy."

• • "‘PizzaGate’ conspiracy theory thrives anew in the TikTok era." <elearning>

  • "The normalization of conspiracy culture." <elearning>

Read for online component:

• • "15 logical fallacies you should know before getting into a debate."

Elearning videos:

• • A guide to the week.
  • Reasoning fallacies I.
    

Quiz #4 (deadline: 11:59 pm Sunday, November 1):

• • This week's material (including the elearning video on reasoning fallacies). All quizzes are on elearning.

Week #10 (November 2-8): Once upon a time there was an election…

Watch:

• • Go here for instructions on how to prepare for class.

Elearning videos:

• • A guide to the week.
  • Reasoning fallacies II.
  • Assignment #5 tips.

Assignment #5 (due November 8):

• • The election (see assignments page).

Week #11: (November 9-15): "Wikipedia [is] a liar and Google a whore." (Maggie Stiefvater)

November 10 and 12 class sessions: bibliographic research.

Watch for the class sessions:

• • "How to write an annotated bibliography." (You will be doing analytical annotations.)

• Read and watch for the class sessions:

  • "How to read a scholarly article" (you will need to be logged into the WMU system to bring up the video).

Elearning videos:

• • A guide to the week.
  • Peer-reviewed sources.
  • Gray literature.
  • Reasoning fallacies III.

Week #12 (November 16-22): exam week. Link to study guide (to be activated the end of the week before).

November 17: Exam II for Tuesday class session.

November 19: Exam II for Thursday class session.

Elearning video:

• • A guide to the exam.

Week 13 (November 23-29): Thanksgiving break.

Week #14 (November 30-December 6): Putting it all together.

Read: none (work on your bibliographies).

Elearning videos:

• • A guide to the week.

Week #15 (December 7-13): final exam week. Study guide.