By Hans and Nathaniel Bluedorn
Christian Logic
www.ChristianLogic.com
PO Box 46
Muscatine, IA 52761
309-537-3464
Logic in 100 Minutes is a workshop video in two parts: Learning to Think Logically and Using Your Thinking Toolbox. Each part is about 50 minutes long. Part 1 is divided into seven chapters: the introduction, Authority Fallacies, Assumption Fallacies, Statistical Fallacies, Propaganda, Recommended Books, and the conclusion/questions and answers. Part 2 has six chapters: Using Your Brain, Opposing Viewpoints, History Detective, Does a Possibly Make a Probably?, Tools for Science, and Science Projects. Handouts are available when you insert the DVD into a computer, and there is a 20-minute Bluedorn family movie too.
Their presentation skills could be improved. As speakers, they need to make sure they enunciate clearly, and they need to guard against dropping their voices at the end of sentences. Although I believe Hans and Nathaniel Bluedorn are passionate about their topic, I wish they had expressed more enthusiasm in voice and gesture.
The overhead projections used in the presentation are difficult for the video audience to see and read. More description of the overheads was needed. The comic strips, which were not allowed by the publishers to be videotaped, needed much more description. There were times when the video camera was focused on the speaker while the discussion was about the overhead. It might have been more efficient to place the speakers to the side of a larger screen so that the viewer could see both the visual material and the speaker at the same time.
I liked the way the Bluedorn brothers invited audience participation by posing lots of questions. During the question-and-answer segment, it would have been helpful to have the questions repeated so that viewers would know what had been asked.
In the second part, I noticed a lack of continuity from chapter to chapter. I think there could have been better transitions to improve the flow. The first chapter, Using Your Brain, proposes that hands-on projects are a superior form of learning in contrast to memorization. The authors seem to downplay memorizing as a valuable learning tool. The last chapter, Science Projects, was an excellent primer on how to put together a science fair project, but I'm not sure what exactly this had to do with logic. The family video about cave exploration was very well done, but I'm not sure I got the connection there either.
The Bluedorns do a great job of introducing some logic basics in an entertaining way. They definitely piqued the interest of my son (age 12) and me. The list of recommended books was valuable in pointing me in the right direction as we continue our study of logic.
Product review by Kathy Gelzer, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC, August 2007
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