EXD 355-103 Achieving Scientific Literacy

3 Semester Hours
Dr. Shelli Williams
Shelli.williams@gmail.com
12 month contract

*Contract director prefers contact to be made via email at shelli.williams@gmail.com. If further contact or discussion is needed, a scheduled phone conference will be arranged.

Important Contract Policies

Science impacts all aspects of life, in the obvious forms of medical advances and more energy efficient cars, to the less apparent nutritional advances and the quest to colonize space. Every consumer decision, every ballot cast on Election Day impacts the way science will advance in American. The conscientious citizen should strive for a basic understanding of the sciences in a general sense. This course seeks that understanding through exposure to the resources discussed below.

Learning Objectives

The primary goal of this course is the transfer of a basic scientific vocabulary and understanding to those not trained in a scientific discipline. As this is a survey of several broad ‘sciences, such as medical, astronomy, and physics to name only a few, this course will by necessity cover each topic in a brief examination. More in-depth knowledge will be conveyed to the students through on-line researching of a topic pre-approved by the instructor.

Methodology

The books listed in the Resources section will be read by each student and an essay prepared as detailed below for each resource (4 essays total). Each essay must be 5-7 double-spaced typewritten pages, using Times New Roman 12-point font.

Each essay must contain the following:

1. A critical discussion of the book, offering a general summary of the entire work.
2. A more detailed discussion of any single aspect of the book which the student felt particularly affected him/her.
3. A summary discussion of how the book impacted the student’s scientific breadth of knowledge or impression of science.
4. Essays should be submitted individually. Students will await feedback on each submission before proceeding with the next essay.

Additionally, students will choose one topic discussed in any of the books for further research on their own and for preparation of a 5 th essay. This topic (which must be pre-approved by the contract director) will then be discussed in an essay of 6-8 pages, using the same font criteria as above. The goal of this exercise is two-fold:

1. To further expand knowledge of a particular aspect of science
2. More importantly, to teach the student the valuable skill of internet-based research into a topic.

For this essay, students must provide at least 5 references used in the writing of this essay. Notation for these references should be parenthetical in the text with a final reference list at the end of the essay (page not included in the page count).

Resources

The following resources can be purchased from any online bookseller such as Amazon.com or Abebooks.com. Addall.com is a useful site for searching multiple booksellers.

1. A Brief History of Time Stephen Hawking (Bantam Books, 1996, updated edition)
2. A Short History of Nearly Everything Bill Bryson (Broadway Books, 2003)
3. Science Matters: Achieving Scientific Literacy Robert M. Hazen and James Trefil (Anchor, 1991)
4. The Ascent of Man Jacob Bronowski (Little Brown & Co, 1976)

Evaluation

All written assignments will be evaluated by the Contract Director for both content as outlined above and writing style (proofreading, grammar, etc.). All written assignments will carry the same weight in determining the final course grade (4 essays on course resources and 1 additional essay on topic of choice). The final essay carries the same weight despite its longer length as preparation time should be less for this assignment.

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