Logic and the Development of Scientific Competencies in First-Year General Education

Abstract

Since 2008, Mount Royal University (MRU) has been committed to providing students with capacities for quantitative reasoning and the kind of literacy we have come to associate with the interpretation and assessment of scientific ideas shaping public discourse. After ten years, it was decided to revise the curriculum primarily responsible for supporting this mandate. A notable revision was the addition of a unit on logic in the course “GNED1101 : Scientific and Mathematical Literacy for the Modern World”, MRU’s foundational course on quantitative reasoning. Logic was added to improve students’ critical reasoning and ability to assess arguments, especially those made by practicing scientists. Interviews with students who have completed class activities and discussions about the modified curriculum show a positive impact of studying logic on their learning skills such as problem solving, writing and understanding scientific texts along with everyday life events. In this paper, we present the rationale behind this curriculum change, the importance of connecting the study of logic to the study of science in the first year of every degree program, and the share some activities that we use in our classrooms to emphasize the relationship between logic and science. We also present student views gathered through semi-structured interviews.