Course Schedule and Catalog

Long Title: THE ART OF UNDERSTANDING CONCEPTS (MARTEL)

Department: College Courses

Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Language of Instruction: Taught in English

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 1

Description: "Throughout the course of our lives, we were bombarded with stimuli in an unknown world. So, we tried to understand this information with questions and other cognitive tools at our disposal. Gradually, we got older and for many of us, our ability to understand increasingly complex concepts has not caught up with our desire to do so. Though, through this course, this potential to understand is no longer a mystery. What we need is a restructuring of how we understand concepts. In this course, we will delve into the theory and application of understanding concepts through mainly cognitive science and philosophy. We will achieve this through reading the latest research on integrating conceptual information, mindmapping with proper chunking and interconnected techniques, utilizing self-guided questions in response to complex concepts, and working in teams to solve novel problems. For example, students will draw mindmaps for subjects like music theory or philosophy with the aim of high mastery of retention. Students will complete in-class progress cehcks, homework assignments, and a final project. Although this class has no prerequisites, there are high expectations for each student to come into each lecture ready to learn and participate in discussions."