Unit 1: Introduction – why critical thinking and writing?
00:00: My name is Peter Elias, and I’m based at the University of Lagos. I am going to commence this series of Critical Thinking and Writing Forum for post-grad students. I want to run you through the outline that I’ll be using for this presentation. You can see that there will be a brief introduction on why we have a post-grad critical thinking and writing hub. And then I will talk about the summary of this course.
00:31: I will go on to discuss the learning outcomes, and then we’ll go to the heart of the matter, which is today’s topic, the elements of a scientific argument. What does it really mean? After dealing with the meaning, we’ll look at the components of a scientific argument. We’ll also look at the elements of a scientific argument. And then I will provide some guidelines on writing a good scientific argument. And then we’ll wrap up.
00:57: So, as you may have seen on our website, this is a 10-week self-paced online course, which is intended to help graduate students based in African universities to develop critical thinking and writing skills. This will help graduate students to effectively analyze their data and communicate their research. So, there are six core modules that I will be addressing in this course. I’m starting with the first lecture, which is the elements of a scientific argument. That will be followed with the critical thinking and writing session.
01:32: Thereafter, there will be a session on theoretical framework, which will be followed by thematic analysis. And then citation and referencing types will follow. And finally, navigating the scientific publishing cycle. So, I wish to implore you to understand that these core modules, as listed, are greatly interdependent, which make up a whole of a good scientific research and writing.
02:01: So, we want to encourage everyone to ensure that you take part in all the six sessions, because if you miss any part, that will mean a lot. So, you are having the resources needed for your journey into the scientific world. We promise to introduce participants to the models of critical thinking and writing, from the perspective of urban studies generally. But we specifically focus on transport and mobility, who is the core focus of the founders of this program, the Volvo Research and Educational Foundation (VREF).
02:32: The general goal of this course is to help participants understand how a good written scientific article differs from a weak one, so that when you are writing up your work, you’ll be able to evaluate its quality. Or, when you are reading someone else’s work, or maybe you have a reason to review an article, you’ll be able to differentiate a good article from a weak one. So, I just hope that we’ll make the most of this opportunity. These are the broad learning outcomes of this course.