Example Bank
I teach Logic I (Critical Thinking), which relies heavily on analysis of arguments as reasoning mechanisms. I need examples (of statements, diagrams, arguments, and so forth) that are tagged with descriptive keywords firmly rooted in the instructor's head. This would be an associative array, not a matrix, as there are many possible tags, and most apply to only a few entries.
Example Bank Conceptual Structure
Type |
Identifier |
Example Text |
Tags |
---|---|---|---|
Argument |
Voting |
You can't vote; you haven't registered. |
enthymeme |
Diagram |
AllThingsP |
single-category |
|
Statement |
ResidencyUnnecessary |
Residency is not necessary to qualify for free care. |
natural, truth-functional, necessary-sufficient |
Argument |
Uranium |
Humans have antennae. |
deductive, valid, unsound |
Fallacy |
Ugly |
My justification for calling her ugly is that she's, well, kind of homely. |
BeggingQuestion |
Argument |
Bailing |
Ryan Ellis, the tax policy director for Americans for Democratic Reform, a conservative antitax group, said his group opposed efforts by the Bush administration to nudge banks and lenders into restructuring some loans, much less direct government loans to homeowners facing foreclosure. "You can call it community reinvestment, neighborhood protection, whatever you want," Mr. Ellis said, "but if you're taking away the downside risk of a loan, you're bailing them out." |
natural, categorical, BARBARA |
Argument |
Herding |
There are no cats that are easily herded. |
categorical |
Statement |
Prince |
Someday my prince will come. |
categorical, difficult-category-formulation |
Argument |
Kitchens |
Some restaurant kitchens are sanitary. |
categorical, requiring-more |
Argument |
Roses |
Roses are red |
non-argument |
Statement |
S1 |
(~r --> (q & s)) & p & ((q v r) --> ((~r + ~s) v ~p))) |
propositional, complex, contradiction |
And... |
So on... |
Hundreds more |
 |
Example Bank in Action
I would use these in lecture notes (Resources), Discussions, homework (Assignments) and exams (Test and Quizzes), in editing scenarios with the Rich Text Editor:
RTEditor tool bar with new button:_ Insert Example |
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In Text Window, typing away: |
Note: Perhaps "Type" could be incorporated into tags.