COURSE OVERVIEW
This is a skill-based course that focuses on honing the necessary critical thinking skills to prepare for debate. It is suitable for students who would like to develop and sharpen their skills to evaluate, deduce, apply logic, and recognize different points of views stemming
from sociopolitical contexts. By the end of the course, students will be able to recognize gaps of knowledge and basic logical loopholes in information presented to them. They will be able to reason, evaluate and determine the best course of actions to best address the pain point at hands considering what they know or otherwise. The class will be interactive and activity-based with puzzles, riddles, and exercises that strengthen relevant critical thinking skills, such as differentiating facts from assumptions and distinguishing between correlation and causation. Students will get to take turns doing roleplays, giving short speeches, and developing their own arguments for different topics. The course will use intriguing examples from the real world, then encourage students to apply critical thinking and logic to key controversies that often appear in debates. When the students participate in future debates, they will be equipped to develop and determine the most impactful arguments for their case.
TOPICS | Session | Description | Duration (Hours) |
| 1 | Introduction to Critical Thinking Introduction to critical thinking skills and real-life benefits |
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| 2 | Knowledge Construction Analyze presented information, identifythe “un-presented” information, and brainstormquestionsthat need to be asked. | 2 |
| 3 | Evaluating Reasoning: Identifying Assumptions Differentiate between facts and assumptions. | 2 |
| 4 | Evaluating Reasoning: Applying Logic Introduction to deduction, causal correlation, and causation. Determining whether a conclusion islogical. | 2 |
| 5 | Decision Making: Identifying Implications Understand actions and their impacts. Differentiate between intended and unintended impacts. Determine positive and negative impacts of an action. | 2 |
| 6 | Decision Making: Exploring Different Points of Views Understand what shapes our points of view. Recognize other points of view. | 2 |
| 7 | Implementation: Evaluating Options Introduction to informed and uninformed decisions. Identify root causes. Compare multiple pros and cons of a proposed solution. Rank solutions from best to worst. | 2 |
| 8 | Showcase Preparation Preparing for the Critical Thinking Showcase. | 2 |
| 9 | Critical Thinking Showcase | 2 |
HOMEWORK
• Students may be assigned light homework after each session. Completion of homework is highly recommended, so students can benefit from independent learning and apply the concepts that have been covered in class.
CRITICAL THINKING SHOWCASE
• The last session is the Critical Thinking Showcase where students will make a video recording of their speeches as world leaders, demonstrating their ability to critically think about a world issue, propose a solution, address misinformation, and answer questions from the audience.
• Student participation in this event is mandatory for course completion. Each student’s performance recording will be sent to their family. No live audience is allowed in the Showcase.
• The Critical Thinking Showcase serves as an evaluation of the students’ learning outcomes. One Publique retains the discretion to extend invitations solely to students whose performance, work ethics, and discipline align with the standards of One Publique.
• If students are absent for more than 2 classroom sessions without making up for their absence, this may result in exclusion from participation in the Showcase.
• Each student performing in the the Critical Thinking Showcase will receive a Certificate of Completion and a Performance Video.
COMMUNICATION
• Students and instructors will communicate through Google Classroom.
LOCATION
• In-person at One Publique Head Office, located on the 3rd floor of Vanilla Moon on Chan Road.
PREREQUISITES
• There is no prerequisite for this course
MATERIALS & EQUIPMENT
• Each student is expected to bring a notebook, stationary, and folder to keep their worksheets.
• Each student must have a personal Gmail account for Google Classroom access. We do not allow students to use their school emails.
PRICE
• The pricing for this course is 29,000 THB. Alumni and early bird discounts are available.