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Mindware: Critical Thinking for the Information Age
  • Level Foundation
  • Duration 13 hours
  • Course by University of Michigan
  • Offered by

About

Most professions these days require more than general intelligence. They require in addition the ability to collect, analyze and think about data. Personal life is enriched when these same skills are applied to problems in everyday life involving judgment and choice. This course presents basic concepts from statistics, probability, scientific methodology, cognitive psychology and cost-benefit theory and shows how they can be applied to everything from picking one product over another to critiquing media accounts of scientific research. Concepts are defined briefly and breezily and then applied to many examples drawn from business, the media and everyday life. What kinds of things will you learn? Why it’s usually a mistake to interview people for a job. Why it’s highly unlikely that, if your first meal in a new restaurant is excellent, you will find the next meal to be as good. Why economists regularly walk out of movies and leave restaurant food uneaten. Why getting your picture on the cover of Sports Illustrated usually means your next season is going to be a disappointment. Why you might not have a disease even though you’ve tested positive for it. Why you’re never going to know how coffee affects you unless you conduct an experiment in which you flip a coin to determine whether you will have coffee on a given day. Why it might be a mistake to use an office in a building you own as opposed to having your office in someone else’s building. Why you should never keep a stock that’s going down in hopes that it will go back up and prevent you from losing any of your initial investment. Why it is that a great deal of health information presented in the media is misinformation.

Modules

Introduction to the Course

    • 1 Videos
    • 3 Readings
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1 Videos

  • Course Introduction

3 Readings

  • Welcome Message and Course Principles from Professor Nisbett
  • (Optional) Companion Readings from the Mindware book
  • Help us learn more about you!

Lesson 1: Statistics

    • 2 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Lesson 1 Quiz

1 Discussions

  • End-of-Lesson Reflection

2 Videos

  • Variables - Normal Distribution
  • Introduction to Correlation

2 Readings

  • Interactive Activity
  • (Optional) Companion Readings from the Mindware book

Lesson 2: The Law of Large Numbers

    • 2 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 4 Assignment
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4 Assignment

  • Pre-lecture Reflection Prompt
  • Pre-lecture Quiz
  • Lesson 2 Quiz
  • Post-lecture Reflection Prompt

1 Discussions

  • End-of-Lesson Reflection

2 Videos

  • The Law of Large Numbers: Part 1
  • The Law of Large Numbers: Part 2

2 Readings

  • Interactive Activity
  • (Optional) Companion Readings from the Mindware book

Lesson 3: Correlation

    • 4 Videos
    • 3 Readings
    • 2 Assignment
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2 Assignment

  • Correlation Exercises
  • Lesson 3 Quiz

4 Videos

  • Correlations
  • The Draw-a-Person Test
  • Illusory Correlation
  • Confounded Variables; Statistical Significance

3 Readings

  • Pre-lecture Activity
  • Interactive Activity
  • (Optional) Companion Readings from the Mindware book

Lesson 4: Experiments

    • 3 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 2 Discussion
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Lesson 4 Quiz

2 Discussions

  • End-of-Lesson Reflection
  • End-of-Lesson Challenge

3 Videos

  • The Superiority of Experiments over Correlations
  • A/B Testing
  • Experimental Design and Natural Experiments

2 Readings

  • Pre-lecture Activity
  • (Optional) Companion Readings from the Mindware book

Lesson 5: Prediction

    • 2 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Lesson 5 Quiz

1 Discussions

  • End-of-Lesson Reflection

2 Videos

  • Regression to the Mean
  • Base Rate

2 Readings

  • Pre-lecture Question
  • (Optional) Companion Readings from the Mindware book

Lesson 6: Cognitive Biases

    • 3 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 2 Assignment
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2 Assignment

  • Pre-lecture Quiz
  • Lesson 6 Quiz

1 Discussions

  • End-of-Lesson Reflection

3 Videos

  • The Illusion of Objectivity
  • Heuristics
  • Fundamental Attribution Error; Confirmation Bias

1 Readings

  • (Optional) Companion Readings from the Mindware book

Lesson 7: Choosing and Deciding

    • 3 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 2 Assignment
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2 Assignment

  • Pre-lecture Activity
  • Lesson 7 Quiz

1 Discussions

  • End-of-Lecture Reflection

3 Videos

  • Cost-Benefit Analysis
  • Sunk Costs
  • Loss Aversion

1 Readings

  • (Optional) Companion Readings from the Mindware book

Lesson 8: Logic and Dialectical Reasoning

    • 2 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 2 Assignment
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2 Assignment

  • Pre-lecture Quiz
  • Lesson 8 Quiz

1 Discussions

  • End-of-Lecture Reflection

2 Videos

  • Logical Reasoning
  • Dialectical Reasoning

1 Readings

  • (Optional) Companion Readings from the Mindware book

Conclusion of the Course

    • 1 Videos
    • 3 Readings
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1 Videos

  • Concluding Thoughts

3 Readings

  • (Optional) Companion Readings from the Mindware book
  • Post-course Survey
  • Keep Learning with Michigan Online!

Auto Summary

Enhance your critical thinking with "Mindware: Critical Thinking for the Information Age." This foundational course, taught under Personal Development, dives into essential concepts from statistics, probability, scientific methodology, cognitive psychology, and cost-benefit theory. Learn to apply these principles to everyday life, from making better personal decisions to analyzing media reports. Ideal for professionals and individuals seeking to sharpen their analytical skills, the course spans 780 minutes and is available through Coursera's Starter subscription. Perfect for anyone looking to enrich their judgment and choice-making abilities.

Richard E. Nisbett
Instructor

Richard E. Nisbett