I found this book when I needed it the most, toward the end of a very tiring academic semester. After months of trying new methods of teaching and mostly failing. I found in the book another person for whom education is an issue. A problem. A question. A quest. That, in and of itself, was…
Systems & Theories Class (Fall 2019)
What was unique about this semester: We discussed Brian Haig’s (2014) Investigating the Psychological World. A few students got involved with the book, but I think most students focused only on the chapter they were responsible for. I kept returning to the question, Why did Haig write this book? (especially given that psychological researchers don’t…
On Arguments (Part 4)
An interesting exchange with a student during office hours. The student brought a draft of a to-be-submitted essay for me to read. After reading the essay, I turned to her and asked, “what do you think about it? Has it succeeded in what it sets out to do?” The student said, “No, I don’t think…
On Arguments (Part 3)
In the first post in this series, I wrote, “a shopping list is not an argument”. This is a useful point of reference for us in understanding arguments, and the practice of argumentation. Now in this post we want to imagine a way in which a shopping list can turn into an argument. Or, at…
On Arguments (Part 2)
It was the winter of 2010. My thesis supervisor and I were walking along Otonobee river on the beautiful Trent University campus. The campus looks more beautiful and more dreamy now in my memories, and I am sure its beauty has increased with our distance in time. I told him about my plan for post-graduate…