ORAL REPORT INFO (Schedule and advice)
This course is aimed at non-science students. It will help students identify a scientific problem and then plan and execute a program of individualized learning aimed at the particular scientific knowledge required to understand and analyze the chosen problem. The main aims of the course are to develop self-education skills as applied to scientific understanding, to apply those skills to acquire some specific scientific knowledge, and to understand the process by which scientific knowledge and understanding is achieved.
Several main themes for the term will be selected for investigation by the participants. Themes might be topics such as biological consequences of nuclear energy, gene therapy, pesticide biology, or molecular evolution. Students will identify (with the instructor's guidance) the kinds of scientific knowledge that is needed to understand and analyze the topic selected. Each student will then plan and carry out an individual program of self-education in that field for most of the semester. This process will include study of introductory textbooks, review articles, and tutorials with the instructor. Thus, rather than being a survey, this course will allow each student to focus in some depth on a restricted area of science of particular interest to that student. Each week each student will organize and present to the seminar her or his ongoing analysis and findings related to the selected topics. This aspect of the course will emphasize the continuing role of discussion and feedback that is part of the scientific process. A final course paper will allow each student to individually formulate an analysis of the selected topic, using the knowledge and information acquired during the course.
In addition to the individualized programs for each student, such as introductory texts, review articles, and scientific research papers, all students will read and discuss selected articles on the nature of the scientific process.
Background:
This course will be a hybrid between a reading tutorial and a seminar. This approach will provide efficient use of faculty effort but still respond to individual student needs. For students who are not science majors and with a certain amount of science-math anxiety, an interactive strategy of teaching may be better than more traditional approaches. The main goal is to teach strategies for self-education in the sciences through a project-based method in which students undertake to learn scientific material which interests them, as well as to better understand science as a process of investigation and learning about the natural world.
Selection of Students:
Because of the format of this course, enrollment will be limited to 18 students per section. This course will be open to all students but non-science majors will have priority. The course sections may be oversubscribed. In this case, the selection process will be announced at the first meeting of the seminar on 11 September. It will not be by lottery this year.
Grading:
Grading will be based on class participation (50 percent) and the final, individually written report (50 percent). Attendance and participation are required to pass this course ... the quality of participation will determine the actual grade beyond merely passing (D).
Final Report:
The final paper (12-18 pages) will be prepared individually by each student in the form of an analytical report addressing the issue(s) raised by the original project plan. The report should identify the key issues, the applicable scientific information from diverse sources, and present the student's analysis and conclusions. TERM PAPER INFO
Project Topics:
Topics for student projects will be selected so as to provide the student with the opportunity to learn a body of scientific information, apply this information to real-world situations, and communicate this information and the process by which it was acquired to the rest of the class through oral and written presentations. Exemplary topics are:
Nuclear Waste
Gene Therapy
Origin of Life
Design of Drugs
Nutritional Science
9 September 2008: We will discuss what science is, basis of science-math anxiety, the project-based aspect of this course, and the need for independent
learning. The Common Culture of Science will be examined, including the following notions:
1) Beliefs about Nature: Realism, anti-realism, and in-between;
2) Ways of Knowing Facts about Nature;
3) Methods of Scientific Inquiry;
4) Discovery vs Construction;
5) Modes of Scientific Communication;
6) Consensus Formation.
We will discuss the basis for selecting the semester-long projects and the instructors will provide guidance and suggestions for projects.
We will discuss the initial readings on science as a process for learning about nature. The two topics for focusing of the discussion will be:
1) What do scientists do?
2) How does science differ from (or is it the same as) other human activities?
Each seminar participant should read C.P. Snow (The Two Cultures ) and selection from Ziman "What is Science?" to prepare for the seminar discussion on these two questions. These essays are classic descriptions of the nature of the scientific enterprise and represent diverse points of view. Copies are available online via the Resources File on ClassesV2.
Each student will present a formal oral report to the class in the form of a scientific seminar (10 minutes, timed). This will include the use of charts and graphs and will be followed by a question period (5 min). These reports will be scheduled for the final three sessions (including Reading Period): 18 Nov, 2 Dec, and 9 Dec. A final paper (12-18 pages) is due 10 December 2008 (Wednesday) at 5 pm. Papers can be dropped off in a labeled drop-box just outside of room WLH 315.
Goals:
1. Define issues in everyday terms: e.g., what is nuclear waste, why is it perceived as a problem, what are the options to deal with the problems.
2. Define what scientific information might be relevant to understanding the issues.
3. Analysis of the issues on the basis of the scientific understanding acquired by focused studies.
Specifically:
1. Find out about the kinds of nuclear waste, how it is generated, what is done with it now (and in the past): Readings in popular press, scholarly journals and intro texts on health physics.
2. Specific areas of scientific study: a) physics of radiation; b) basic genetics, cancer biology; biological effects of radiation; c) epidemiology of radiation exposures; d) hazardous waste management: chemical, physical and geological principles related to shielding, burial, ground water considerations, etc.
3. Each of these topics would form the basis of a 2-3 week reading and study project. Sources will include introductory textbooks, and journal articles (e.g., Scientific American level) as well as some monographs and more technical literature (e.g., government reports, medical studies).
Each week each seminar participant will give a 10-15 minute summary of her/his work for the week. This summary will include the strategy for learning (e.g., working through some physics problems, analyzing epidemiological data, or reading monographs on the subject), the progress made in terms of new information relevant to the overall goals, and plans for the next week to fill lacunae remaining. It will be expected that many new questions will be generated each week that will require additional investigation (e.g., reading epidemiological studies may require study of some elementary biostatistics materials in order to understand the ways such data are analyzed and presented). Students will be encouraged to pool their knowledge and get the needed information from whatever sources are relevant. The goal of learning strategies for self-education will have priority.
This page was last up-dated 25 May 2008.