Introduction to Philosophy: The Big Picture
Course Description:
This course will take you on an exciting adventure that covers more than 2500 years. Along the way, you’ll run into some very strange characters. For example, you’ll read about a man who hung out on street corners, barefoot and dirty, pestering everyone he met with questions. You’ll read about another man who climbed inside a stove to think about whether he existed. Despite their odd behavior, these and other philosophers of the Western world are among the most brilliant and influential thinkers of all time. As you read about them, you’ll see where many of the most fundamental ideas of Western civilization came from. You’ll also get a chance to ask yourself some of the same questions these great thinkers pondered. At the end, you’ll have a better understanding of yourself and the world around you, from atoms to outer space and everything in between.
Course Details:
| Course Title (District): |
Introduction to Philosophy: The Big Picture |
| Course Title (NCES SCED) : |
Philosophy |
| Course Provider : |
Genesee ISD |
| Content Provided By : |
eDynamic Learning |
| Online Instructor Provided By : |
Genesee School District |
| Standards Addressed : |
None |
| Academic Terms : |
Semester, Open Entry / Open Exit |
| NCES SCED Code : 04306 |
| Subject Area : |
Social Sciences and History |
| Course Identifier : |
Philosophy |
| Course Level : |
High School (Secondary) |
| Available Credit : |
0.5 |
| Sequence : |
1 of 1 |
|
How To Enroll:
Students and Parents: It is important to work closely with your local school counselor or
registrar to follow the school's enrollment procedures. By clicking the "Start Registration
Request" button below, you will be able to notify the school of your interest in registering for
the online course. However, it is the responsibility of the district or school to review the
registration request and approve or deny the request. Please make a note to follow up with
your school after submitting a registration request.
Start Registration Request
Additional Course Information:
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: 810-591-4401
Additional Cost: $0.0
Additional Cost Description: None
Unit 1: The World of Wonder
- Define philosophy.
- Describe what philosophers study.
- Identify questions that philosophers ask.
- Explain what it means to do philosophy.
- State what philosophy can do for you.
Unit 2: From Mythology to Philosophy
- Explain why myth has been called the “cradle of philosophy.”
- Describe how Western philosophy first began in ancient Greece.
- List some of the questions that the earliest philosophers pondered.
- Identify pre-Socratic philosophers and state how they answered the questions.
- Explain how the earliest philosophers laid the foundations for science.
Unit 3: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle
- Give an overview of the classical period of ancient Greece.
- Describe Socrates’ life and the Socratic method.
- Outline the events of Plato’s life and his main ideas.
- Summarize Aristotle’s life and his major contributions.
Unit 4: Hellenistic Philosophy: How Can Humans Be Happy?
- State the general aims of Hellenistic philosophy.
- Describe the philosophy of cynicism.
- List the ideas of the Epicureans.
- Describe stoic philosophy.
- Identify the basic views of the skeptics.
Unit 5: Christianity and Philosophy in the Middle Ages
- Describe the rise of Christianity in Medieval Europe.
- List the main influences on philosophy during the Middle Ages.
- Explain how Saint Augustine defended the Catholic Church.
- Describe the scholastic philosophy of Saint Anselm.
- Identify the contributions of Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Unit 6: The Rise of Modern Western Philosophy
- Outline major changes that occurred in Europe from 1400 to 1800.
- Identify influences on Renaissance philosophers such as Erasmus.
- Describe the rationalist philosophies of Descartes and Spinoza.
- Describe the empiricist philosophies of Locke and Hume.
- Explain how Kant combined rationalism and empiricism.
Unit 7: Western Philosophy in the Nineteenth Century
- Describe approaches to philosophy that began in 19th century Europe.
- List the main contributions of the German philosopher Georg Hegel.
- Summarize the philosophies of Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche.
- Identify the main ideas of Karl Marx and Jeremy Bentham.
Unit 8: Western Philosophy in the Twentieth Century
- Describe the philosophy of pragmatism.
- Give an overview of analytic philosophy.
- List the basic tenets of phenomenology.
- Identify the main ideas of existentialism.
- State how philosophy has changed your thinking.
iNACOL National Standards for Quality Online Courses
| Academic Content Standards and Assessments |
Rating
|
Comments |
| The goals and objectives clearly state what the participants will know or be able to do at the end of the course. The goals and objectives are measurable in multiple ways. |
Fully Met
|
|
| The course content and assignments are aligned with the state’s content standards, Common Core curriculum, or other accepted content standards set for Advanced Placement® courses, technology, computer science, or other courses whose content is not included in the state standards. |
Fully Met
|
|
| The course content and assignments are of sufficient rigor, depth and breadth to teach the standards being addressed. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Information literacy and communication skills are incorporated and taught as an integral part of the curriculum. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Multiple learning resources and materials to increase student success are available to students before the course begins. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Course Overview and Introduction |
Rating
|
Comments |
| Clear, complete course overview and syllabus are included in the course. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Course requirements are consistent with course goals, are representative of the scope of the course and are clearly stated. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Information is provided to students, parents and mentors on how to communicate with the online instructor and course provider. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Legal and Acceptable Use Policies |
Rating
|
Comments |
| The course reflects multi-cultural education, and the content is accurate, current and free of bias or advertising. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Expectations for academic integrity, use of copyrighted materials, plagiarism and netiquette (Internet etiquette) regarding lesson activities, discussions, and e-mail communications are clearly stated. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Privacy policies are clearly stated. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Instructor Resources |
Rating
|
Comments |
| Online instructor resources and notes are included. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Assessment and assignment answers and explanations are included. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Accessing Course Effectiveness |
Rating
|
Comments |
| The course provider uses multiple ways of assessing course effectiveness. |
Fully Met
|
|
| The course is evaluated using a continuous improvement cycle for effectiveness and the findings used as a basis for improvement. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Course Updates |
Rating
|
Comments |
| The course is updated periodically to ensure that the content is current. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Certification |
Rating
|
Comments |
| Course instructors, whether faceto-face or virtual, are certificated and “highly qualified.” The online course teacher possesses a teaching credential from a state-licensing agency and is “highly qualified” as defined under ESEA. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Instructor and Student Support |
Rating
|
Comments |
| Professional development about the online course delivery system is offered by the provider to assure effective use of the courseware and various instructional media available. |
Fully Met
|
|
| The course provider offers technical support and course management assistance to students, the course instructor, and the school coordinator. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Course instructors, whether face-to-face or virtual, have been provided professional development in the behavioral, social, and when necessary, emotional, aspects of the learning environment. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Course instructors, whether face-to-face or virtual, receive instructor professional development, which includes the support and use of a variety of communication modes to stimulate student engagement online. |
Fully Met
|
|
| The provider assures that course instructors, whether face-to-face or virtual, are provided support, as needed, to ensure their effectiveness and success in meeting the needs of online students. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Students are offered an orientation for taking an online course before starting the coursework. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Instructional and Audience Analysis |
Rating
|
Comments |
| Course design reflects a clear understanding of all students’ needs and incorporates varied ways to learn and master the curriculum. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Course, Unit and Lesson Design |
Rating
|
Comments |
| The course is organized by units and lessons that fall into a logical sequence. Each unit and lesson includes an overview describing objectives, activities, assignments, assessments, and resources to provide multiple learning opportunities for students to master the content. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Instructional Strategies and Activities |
Rating
|
Comments |
| The course instruction includes activities that engage students in active learning. |
Fully Met
|
|
| The course and course instructor provide students with multiple learning paths, based on student needs that engage students in a variety of ways. |
Fully Met
|
|
| The course provides opportunities for students to engage in higher-order thinking, critical reasoning activities and thinking in increasingly complex ways. |
Fully Met
|
|
| The course provides options for the instructor to adapt learning activities to accommodate students’ needs. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Readability levels, written language assignments and mathematical requirements are appropriate for the course content and grade-level expectations. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Communication and Interaction |
Rating
|
Comments |
| The course design provides opportunities for appropriate instructor-student interaction, including opportunities for timely and frequent feedback about student progress. |
Fully Met
|
|
| The course design includes explicit communication/activities (both before and during the first week of the course) that confirms whether students are engaged and are progressing through the course. The instructor will follow program guidelines to address non-responsive students. |
Fully Met
|
|
| The course provides opportunities for appropriate instructor-student and student-student interaction to foster mastery and application of the material. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Resources and Materials |
Rating
|
Comments |
| Students have access to resources that enrich the course content. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Evaluation Strategies |
Rating
|
Comments |
| Student evaluation strategies are consistent with course goals and objectives, are representative of the scope of the course and are clearly stated. |
Fully Met
|
|
| The course structure includes adequate and appropriate methods and procedures to assess students’ mastery of content. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Feedback |
Rating
|
Comments |
| Ongoing, varied, and frequent assessments are conducted throughout the course to inform instruction. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Assessment strategies and tools make the student continuously aware of his/her progress in class and mastery of the content. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Assessment Resources and Materials |
Rating
|
Comments |
| Assessment materials provide the instructor with the flexibility to assess students in a variety of ways. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Grading rubrics are provided to the instructor and may be shared with students. |
Fully Met
|
|
| The grading policy and practices are easy to understand. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Course Architecture |
Rating
|
Comments |
| The course architecture permits the online instructor to add content, activities and assessments to extend learning opportunities. |
Fully Met
|
|
| The course accommodates multiple school calendars; e.g., block, 4X4 and traditional schedules. |
Fully Met
|
|
| User Interface |
Rating
|
Comments |
| Clear and consistent navigation is present throughout the course. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Rich media are provided in multiple formats for ease of use and access in order to address diverse student needs. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Technology Requirements and Interoperability |
Rating
|
Comments |
| All technology requirements (including hardware, browser, software, etc...) are specified. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Prerequisite skills in the use of technology are identified. |
Fully Met
|
|
| The course uses content-specific tools and software appropriately. |
Fully Met
|
|
| The course is designed to meet internationally recognized interoperability standards. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Copyright and licensing status, including permission to share where applicable, is clearly stated and easily found. |
Fully Met
|
|
| Accessibility |
Rating
|
Comments |
| Course materials and activities are designed to provide appropriate access to all students. The course, developed with universal design principles in mind, conforms to the U.S. Section 504 and Section 508 provisions for electronic and information technology as well as the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility guidelines (WCAg 2.0). |
Fully Met
|
|
| Data Security |
Rating
|
Comments |
| Student information remains confidential, as required by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). |
Fully Met
|
|
Review Conducted By: eDynamic Learning
Date of Review:
07/22/2018
1. The World of Wonder
2. From Mythology to Philosophy
3. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle
4. Hellenistic Philosophy: How Can Humans Be Happy?
5. Christianity and Philosophy in the Middle Ages
6. The Rise of Modern Western Philosophy
7. Western Philosophy in the Nineteenth Century
8. Western Philosophy in the Twentieth Century
| Term Type |
Enrollment Opens |
Enrollment Ends |
Random Draw Date |
Enrollment Drop Date |
Course Starts |
Course Ends |
# of Seats |
Course Fee |
Potential Additional Costs |
|
Open Entry / Open Exit |
08/01/2024 |
07/31/2025 |
|
|
|
|
100 |
$275 |
$0 |
| Drop Policy |
Completion Policy |
Term Type |
Enrollment Opens |
Enrollment Ends |
| Full refund when withdrawn within 14 days of enrollment. |
EdisonLearning Instructional Support Staff provide instructional feedback on all teacher-graded assignments. Grades are submitted upon course part completion or upon request from the student’s Advisor. |
Open Entry / Open Exit |
08/01/2024 |
07/31/2025 |
Flexible; online facilitator, blended, or traditional classroom
