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 COURSE OBJECTIVES: Most of you took this course to satisfy the GDR for Critical Thinking/Natural Science. Take note of those first two words!

What is Critical Thinking?

A definition of critical thinking is "the ability to assess the authenticity or accuracy of information claims or arguments". In our information rich environment, you must recognize the dynamic and fluid nature of information and have skills necessary to process information to be information literate. Critical thinkers must:

  • challenge information and demand accountability
  • adapt to new sources of information and continue to require credibility
  • avoid abrupt conclusions -- reserve judgment until they have more information
  • evaluate and re-evaluate sources on a regular basis

No one has these skills at birth; rather, you must make a conscious effort to develop them. If you acquire the skills, you will be a knowledgeable user and consumer of information, and a valuable asset to your profession.

UWSP's purpose in having such a requirement is to expose you to scientific reasoning, but in one course you will not become proficient at it. The credo here is "try it; you just might like it!" Our fourfold goal in this Geography course is:

GEOGRAPHY: To gain an understanding of WHERE things occur, WHY they occur there, and WHAT this means for us. These three questions are the substantive core of this course, and they entail consideration of what I call "The Five P's" in Geography: Phenomena, Place, Pattern, Process, and Perception.

SCIENCE: To familiarize you with critical and analytical thought (not simply the recitation of facts, but also the development of your powers of observation and objective reasoning in solving problems), and to learn to raise and answer worthwhile questions for yourself. Testing and reasoning of ideas are the buzzwords here.

LABORATORY: To become aware of--and to try for yourself--some of the various techniques and strategies for posing and addressing questions about the nature of the physical environment, including logic, testing, sampling designs, and communication of findings. This can involve numerical analysis, but you will only use simple arithmetic in this course; you need no advanced knowledge of mathematical functions or probabilistic statistics. You'll also get to have some fun with info-seeking on the Internet.

EXPERIENCE: To expose you firsthand to the qualities and materials comprising the natural environment, and to demonstrate how the natural environment affects--and is affected by--human occupation, including your own.

N. C. Heywood maintains this page, last updated 27AUG07.