Q: Argument?! Why would I want to teach my kids to argue?
Q: What is the AA Teacher's Materials? What's included?
Q: Do I need the Teacher's Materials package?
Q: Why are there so many different quizzes/ tests in the Quiz/ Test Masters? Are we expected to give them all.
Q: Are there more books in the series?
Q: What is formal logic?
Q: What is informal logic?
Q: Are there other types of logic?

Q: Argument?! Why would I want to teach my kids to argue? 

A: Keep in mind that there is more than one meaning for the word "argue," and this title is deliberately addressing the fact that many people only tend to think of one of these meanings when they hear the word "argue," and so, perhaps we will get their attention by this title. (…We hope…) By "argument," we do not mean an emotional quarrel or a petty squabble, which may be the first thing that comes to the mind of many when they hear the word. By "argument" we mean a reasoned case for or against a point of view that includes reasons for or against it… and we do think that there is a very important art to this particular practice of persuasion. The Art of Argument is an attempt to introduce students to this art.  

Note that AA is only the first introduction to this art and that its primary focus is on sharpening their critical thinking skills when evaluating the arguments of others. Look out for more material (Coming soon!) that will get more into the "how-to" of learning to craft their own arguments. In fact, our dream is to eventually expand our logic line into a full fledge "series" of AA-type books, which deal with many other corners of, and critical keys to, the vital "art of argument."

Q: What is the AA Teacher's Materials? What's included? 

A: Included in the Teacher's Materials package are:

1. Keys for all the exercises in the student book
2. An extensive set of quiz and test masters
3. Keys for those quiz and test masters

Here is a PDF document on how to use the AA Teacher's Materials with the AA Student Text.

Q: Do I need the Teacher's Materials package? 

A: The short answer is that if you need the answers to most of the exercises and worksheets, yes, as they do not appear in the student book, so you'll need the TM to give you those. If you feel pretty confident going without those keys, yes you could probably go without it, as the book is pretty self-explanatory and more-or-less "teaches itself."

However, it can be handy to have, as those extra quizzes and tests give you lots of extra material with which to practice. 

Q: Why are there so many different quizzes/ tests in the Quiz/ Test Masters?
Are we expected to give them all. 

A: No. We (Jolie and I) taught through this curriculum many, MANY times before we finally went to print and over the years we'd created many different quizzes and tests. For example, maybe one year we'd want a cumulative quiz or test at a given point, whereas at the same point the next year, we just wanted a small quiz after that chapter to drill just that set of new fallacies. In putting together the Teacher's Materials package, we thought we'd put it all in there, so that you all would have the same range of options. I know that sometimes it gets confusing when you have 2 or 3 quiz/ test options at a given point in the book, but we figured that when it comes to giving the teacher options, more was more. Here's some rules of thumb in catching which quizzes are intended to be used at which points in the book: 

1. The "Cumulative Fallacy Quizzes" (affectionately known by my students as the CFQ's) are all cumulative (hence the name), all concentrate on drilling the fallacy recognition skills and all are intended to be used as a graded evaluation that can be given after the students have practiced their skills using one of the "Cumulative Fallacy Worksheets" (affectionately known by my students as the "CFW's") in the student book.
2. Quizzes or tests labeled after a given chapter are intended to be given after that chapter. They are a mixed bag, as some are cumulative, some are not, and some are more cumulative than others.
3. The two "Quarter Finals" are fully cumulative tests intended to be given after each of the two main units. 
   
   

An extra side benefit of having so many quiz/ test options is that ones that you aren't giving as the final evaluation for a given segment of study can be used as additional worksheets, or mined for additional practice examples, as I mentioned earlier.

Q: Are there more books in the series? 

A: Discovery of Deduction (scheduled release: 2008)

Q: What is formal logic?

A: Formal logic is the study of the types reasoning processes that depend primarily on the form or structure of the argument to determine its validity. Formal logic is like math in this regard; if you add two to two, you should always get the answer 4. Similarly, if you posit that, “All men are mortal,” and that, “Socrates is a man,” the conclusion, that “Socrates is a mortal,” should be something of a no-brainer. Formal logic is thus like math in that it is primarily about understanding these sorts of black-and-white, no shades of grey, binary system, types of reasoning. Also like math, formal logic generally tends to deal with deductive reasoning. 

Q: What is informal logic?

A: Informal logic is the study of everyday types of reasoning. It’s the logic of the give-and-take, shades of grey that is the real-world marketplace of ideas. It also, by extension, tends to give more focus to inductive reasoning, the scientific method and to the boundary areas where logic tends to segue into rhetoric. 

Q: Are there other types of logic?

A: Most types of logic can be put into one of these two categories (formal or informal), as they are very broad categories, but within these categories there are many different kinds and sub-divisions of logic, even, it could be said, many “worlds” of logic. In fact, one excellent college-level text that I highly recommend for those who want to further explore these many worlds of logic is entitled just that: “The Many Worlds of Logic.” Our own first book on logic focuses on one particular area of informal logic, the study of the informal fallacies, and our soon-to-be released first book on formal logic focuses primarily on one particular area of formal logic, categorical logic and syllogisms.