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Engaging Introductory Philosophy Students Through Overarching Question Assignments

Engaging Introductory Philosophy Students Through Overarching Question Assignments. Erica Lucast Stonestreet College of St. Benedict | St. John’s University estonestreet@csbsju.edu. Introductions & Interests. Motivations. Hard to work from text to motivations

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Engaging Introductory Philosophy Students Through Overarching Question Assignments

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  1. Engaging Introductory Philosophy Students Through Overarching Question Assignments Erica LucastStonestreet College of St. Benedict | St. John’s University estonestreet@csbsju.edu

  2. Introductions & Interests

  3. Motivations • Hard to work from text to motivations • Survey courses can seem uncohesive • Students expect to learn about philosophy

  4. The Assignment: Overview • Answer the question based on what you know now. • Answer the question again, in dialogue with our texts and discussions.

  5. Exercise What are the requirements for a distinctively human life? How about a meaningful human life? Are these the same thing?

  6. Syllabus design • Read a variety of texts that can be seen as contributions toward answering the question • Bicentennial Man, Tolstoy, Camus, Wolf, Plato

  7. Details: The Unit Essay • Present and explain a philosophical problem based on the OAQs. • Explain in some detail the ways thinkers have thought about this problem. • Give your own take on the problem, supported by reasons.

  8. Strengths • Requires a certain amount of metacognition, which helps them to notice what they’ve learned • Requires mastery of texts • Provides practice with things like charitable reading, articulating others’ positions, evaluating and criticizing arguments, and articulating their own ideas

  9. Strengths • Gives the students a sense of engagement with the larger conversation about things that matter • Makes the architecture of the course and the purpose of each unit clear to them • Gives them a toehold for wonder and ownership of the material because it begins with their own thinking

  10. Pitfalls • Some students just threw some quotes into their original essay • Many didn’t display any understanding of what was at stake • Few pitted texts against one another and wrestled with opposing answers

  11. Remedies • Clear and detailed instructions • Sharp questions • More intentional discussion of what’s at stake • More intentional teaching of the skills involved

  12. Discussion

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