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INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY

PHI 2010

FALL 2010 – Reference #394878

Please Note:

This course is a fully online course.  It will NOT require you to attend face to face, on-campus, class sessions, and all work will be completed online in Blackboard.  After classes start, be sure to review the online Schedule of Assignments and complete the Orientation Module.

Faculty Introduction

Welcome to Introduction to Philosophy!  My name is Professor Tonietta A. Walters.  I'm glad that you have chosen to participate in this fully online course!  I look forward to working with you as you learn more about Philosophy. 

Course Description

This course is an introduction to the nature of philosophy, philosophical thinking, major intellectual movements in the history of western philosophy, and specific problems in western philosophy.  This is a fully online course.  Lecture notes, assignments, assessments as well as links to additional references and resources will be posted within the college e-learning system. 

Course Materials

This course will require the material described below.

  • Does the Center Hold?  4th Edition, Donald Palmer, Mountain View:  Mayfield, 1996. The textbook should be available at BC Central Campus bookstore, located at building 19.
  • Lecture notes, website links and other course related material, prepared by your professor, will be placed in the Blackboard server for students' perusal.
  • Any other material necessary for the course will be indicated by the professor during the class meetings. There is no course package for this course to be acquired by the student at the bookstore.

Methods of Instruction

This is a 3-credit hour course. Normally, a 3-credit hour course would meet two or three times each week (during a 16 week term) for a total of 3 hours per week or 48 hours per term. In this fully online class, we will never meet on campus and you will engage in structured online. See the Course Schedule of Assignments in the online syllabus for a detailed description of learning activities for scheduled online assignments. Students are responsible for regularly reviewing the Course Calendar and completing all required in-class and online assignments.

Learning activities will be focused on reviewing the topic material designated for the week in the Schedule of Assignments found in the online syllabus.  The discussion will be directed toward clarifying the major issues of the subject matter and will presume that the student has already read the assigned material.  There will be graded discussion questions and quizzes for each chapter, a midterm and final exam.  This is a writing class; therefore students will be required to keep a weekly online journal.  It is important that students keep up with the assigned readings and questions.   Regular check-in to blackboard and class participation are also expected.

 

Assessment

Graded Points

Meet your classmates discussion post

10
Orientation Quiz 10
Basic Logic Quiz 30

Chapter Quizzes 10@10 pts each

100

Journal Entries 2 sets@100  pts each

200

Review Questions 10@25  pts each

250

Midterm

100

Final

100

Total Possible Points

800

Movie Discussion Extra Credit

40

End of Course Survey

10

 

Grading Scale

Grades

Percentage

Grade = A

90-100+%

Grade = B

80-89%

Grade = C

70-79%

Grade = D

60-69%

Grade = F

59% and below

Learning Outcomes

It is the objective of this course to acquaint the student with philosophy both as a way of enriching students’ daily living as well as giving them a deeper appreciation of the philosophical issues that inform our literature, art, politics, religions, sciences, psychology, the criminal justice system, medicine, and even movies and advertising.  The successful student should be able to effectively analyze and evaluate arguments and to reason with more accuracy, clarity and completeness.  Finally, it is the aim of this class to equip students with the tools necessary to make informed and intelligent judgments.  Students will need to hone their skills as both analytic and synthetic reasoners as well as their observation and communication skills.  This course will involve experiential practice through thought experiments, thinking, communicating and ultimately writing about philosophical issues.

Course Prerequisites

Students: To maximize your chances for success in this course, make sure that you meet the following course prerequisites:

  • Course Prerequisites and Co-requisites: None
  • Computer Knowledge and Skills:
    • Students in this course should be familiar with the following computer skills.
      • File Management - You should be familiar with finding and saving files on your computer.
      • The Internet - You should be familiar with connecting to the Internet through an Internet Service Provider or Network Connection.
      • Web Browser Software - You should be familiar with using web browser software to navigate the Internet and locate information.
      • Email - You should be familiar with sending and receiving email messages.
      • Discussions - You should be familiar with posting and reading discussion messages in a threaded format.
      • Attachments - You should be familiar with sending email messages with attached files.
      • Word Processing - You should be familiar with creating, editing, saving, and printing documents using Microsoft Word.
  • Other Requirements

Course Requirements

To complete the online segments of this course, you must have access to computer hardware and software that meets or exceeds BC's minimum hardware and software standards for e-learning courses. It is strongly recommended that you check your computer to verify that its hardware and software configuration meets or exceeds the BC standard.

  • Is your computer ready for e-learning? Click here to check it out.
  • New to e-learning? Take the e-learning orientation before enrolling in any e-learning course.
  • Additional Software required for this Course:
    • Assignments that require word processing must be submitted in Microsoft Word format. Documents created using Microsoft Works, or files that have [.txt], [.pdf], or [.asci] extensions will not meet course requirements. If you do not have proper software on your computer, you can use the Microsoft Word program on any of the "open lab" computers at any BC Learning Resource Center or in public libraries.
  • If you are using Microsoft Office 2007 please read here for assistance with uploading assignments.
  • Only word processing documents in Microsoft Word format will be accepted. Please virus check documents before sending them. Panda Software offers a free online virus check.

How to Register for this Course

Please visits the students' myBC website . Students must pay for the course before they will be able to log into the course.

Contact Information

Professor Walters will be available for student’s consultation during the week on an appointment basis only.  Please send an email to twalters@broward.edu, to set up your appointment.  The consultation can be conducted through Live Chat in Blackboard or face to face on campus.  Feel free to contact your professor regarding any academic questions or problems which you may have regarding the course.

Name:

 

Professor Tonietta A. Walters

Office Phone:

 

954-554-4810

Cell Phone:

 

305-299-0100

Department Phone:

 

954-201-7396

Email:

 

twalters@broward.edu (All communication should be through Blackboard email. Use this BC email only if you have an emergency.)

Website:

 

http://www.broward.edu/~twalters

Office Hours:

 

Virtual Office Hours only

Virtual Office Hours:

 

By appointment through Blackboard Chat, Phone or anytime asynchronously online

BC's Emergency Hotline#:

 

954-201-4900

How to Access the Blackboard component once you are Enrolled in this Course

There is NO required on campus orientation. Normally, the login date should be the first day of the session in which the course is scheduled. The only people who will be permitted to login are those students who have registered and paid for the course. There may be a delay of up to 24 hours from when a student registers and pays before Blackboard login is activated.

There is an orientation module assigned the first week of classes that must be completed in order to access the rest of the course Learning Modules. If you fail to complete the orientation material by the due date you will be administratively dropped from the course.

  • Obtain BC email user ID and PIN code before attempting to login to Blackboard.
  • At BC email address site, click on "ID Lookup", then enter your Student# (or INTL Student ID#) and PIN code (2 digit birth month and 2 digit year). Write down your email ID (not the @mail.broward.edu part), which is your Blackboard User Name.
  • Your Blackboard User Name is the same as your BC email ID.
  • Your Blackboard password is the same as your BC email PIN code.

Links to help students get connected to Blackboard/e-learning course(s) at BC