online class help

Foundations of Science:

Applications of Organismal and Environmental Biology

ISB 202

Summer 2017

Instructor: Samantha Noll

Office: 100 North Kedzie

E-mail address: [email protected]

READ THIS INFORMATION CAREFULLY. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS IN THIS HANDOUT.

Course Description:

The course focuses on the nature of science as a reliable method of acquiring knowledge

about the natural world. Students will learn how to apply key scientific facts, concepts, laws

and theories to distinguish science from non-science, bad science, and psedudoscience by

analyzing a variety of claims and case studies. By employing an innovative, interdisciplinary

approach to science education, this course is designed to increase science literacy and critical

thinking skills for introductory-level students who are not science majors.

The rationale for this course is to enhance your scientific literacy by making science both

interesting and relevant. This will be accomplished by helping you understand how science

works and how you can apply science in your daily life, especially when evaluating

extraordinary/unusual claims in which almost everyone is interested – including UFOs, ESP,

and mysterious creatures like Big Foot.

Course Objectives:

The experiences in the course are designed …

• to enhance your understanding and appreciation of science as a proven and

reliable method of comprehending the natural world.

• to distinguish scientific from non-scientific and pseudoscientific ways of thinking about

the world.

• to provide you with skills that will allow you to better engage with science material in

the future.

• to help you think more critically and to know how to make informed decisions.

Course Outline:

This course is completely online. There is no face-to-face component. Each week

the class will typically proceed through the following items:

1. Checklist – A list to keep you on track for what activities you need to do for the

module.

2. Instructor Video – Detailing how the module will progress and what to look out for

3. Reading – Detailed in the schedule below

4. Lesson – Voiced over Powerpoints that cover science content

5. Folder of additional resources – A list of some sites you might want to explore if there

are things you are confused about.

6. Scientist trainer –These exercises are to hone your skills to think, speak, see, and act

like a scientist.

a. Speak Like a Scientist: short presentation and activity that helps you to master

jargon. You have a discussion forum post associated with this exercise.

b. See Like a Scientist: activities that help you to interpret visuals. You have a

discussion forum post associated with this exercise.

c. Act Like a Scientist: podcast on how to get involved in science topics. You will

use some of what you hear in this podcast for your other posts.

7. Think Like a Scientist:

a. Critical Thinking Lesson: voiced over Powerpoints that cover science content

b. Case Study: You will be applying what you have learned in the reading, the

lesson, and critical thinking presentations. You will be assessed in this

course on your ability to critically think and synthesize information based on your posts to Think Like a Scientist discussion forums and these Case Study exercise.

c. Evaluation and assessment: You are required to complete these surveys and

quizzes so that we can measure how effective the experience is and how we

can improve in the future. It will also be a way for you to see what you have

learned over the course of the semester and to give us your thoughts and

opinions on the course, so please take these seriously…although they do not

affect your grade.

All of your assignments are listed on the Checklist for each module. Be sure to use

the checklist to make sure you are staying on target and not missing assignments.

Communication:

To communicate with course faculty, the fastest way is to post to the "Class

Questions" discussion forum under the “Help” tab in the toolbar of our course site.

We will try and answer posts within 24 hours (although if you know the answer to

someone else's question, please feel free to answer). Instead of emails, if you would

like to personally talk with the instructor and TA, we will be using D2L’s Private

Discussion Forum function. This will be a discussion forum that is available to just

you and course instructors (no other student will be able to see your post). We will

try to respond to posts in the Private Discussions forum (which is under the “Help”

tab in the navigation bar) within 48 hours. If the matter is not private, please post to

the Class Questions forum as this helps us to respond to questions in an open

forum where everyone can benefit. Once questions have been answered, I will move

the answers over to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) also under the “Help”

tab. In addition, you are always welcome to set up an office hour or a live Zoom

session.

Feel free to use our Twitter feed on the site to pass along new items or thoughts

that might be of interest to the class. Use the hashtag #MSUFoS to have it show up

on the course homepage. Please be respectful in any of your communication

approaches (See the netiquette suggestions below).

Students with Disabilities:

For students needing accommodations for disabilities, please contact your instructor

and The Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities at Michigan State University

at (517) 353-9642.

Course Timing:

Each module’s materials will be made available at 12:01 A.M. Eastern Standard

Time, the Monday morning that is listed on the schedule below. All materials for a

module (except some initial posts for discussion forums) are due by the end of that

week (SUNDAY 11:59 P.M. Eastern Standard Time). Discussion forum initial posts

might have specific due dates throughout that week (Weds., Fri., and Sun.) to allow

for response and conversation. All due dates will be noted in the Checklist for the week.

Late Assignments: Because of the tight schedule we have for this 7-week course,

late assignments are frowned upon. One day late is an automatic loss of 25%; two

days late is an automatic loss of 50%, and nothing is accepted later than 2 days.

Textbook:

Schick, T., & Vaughn, L. (2013). How to think about weird things: critical thinking for a

new age. (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Science/Languages.

You can use older editions of the text (6 or 5). Some of the details may be different

between editions, but the main take home points are the same. You will be drawing

examples from your book as well as other resources, so as long as you understand

the main argument, it doesn’t matter which details you use.

Withdrawal for behavior that Interferes with the Instructional Process:

Students should be aware that disruptive behavior that impedes the

teaching/learning process will not be tolerated. An instructor may withdraw a

student for disruptive behavior that is interfering with the instructional process.

Drops and Adds:

If you decide to drop or add, you should immediately make a copy of your amended

schedule to verify you have added or dropped this course.

Schedule:

Week Reading Critical

Thinking

Topics

Pseudos

cience

Topics

Science

Topics

1 Chapter 1 &

7/5-7/9 Introduction

Documents

2

7/10-7/16

Chapter 2

Chapter 5, 118-142

Chapter 7, 220-227

What am I

asked to

believe?

Witches/

Aliens

Psychology:

Observation

bias, perception

3

7/17- 7/23

Chapter 4 Scientific

ways of

knowing

Astrology Astronomy/Physi

cs: Introduction

to matter and

energy, gravity

and EM

4

7/24- 7/30

To be determined What is

evidence?

Atlantis Geology: Plate

tectonics,

buoyancy, and

thermal energy

5

7/31- 8/6

Chapter 7

Chapter 5, 142-150

Alternative

Evidence

Alchemy Chemistry: Form

and function and

chemical energy

6-7

8/7- 8/18

Chapter 6 Identifying

“best”

evidence

Cryptids:

Bigfoot

Biology: Ecology

and evolution

Technical Issues:

Regardless of how much we prepare, or how good we are with technology,

problems will arise. The University provides assistance with technical questions or

problems that come-up. Please call the technology 24 hour help line for assistance, and

keep this number close by at all times: Toll Free: (844) 678- 6200 (North America and Hawaii) or locally (517) 432-6200. Along these lines, it is recommended that for any assignment, assessment, or discussion forum that you do not type directly in Desire2Learn. Instead, you should create a file using a

word processing program, where you can compose your answers and then cut and paste them into Desire2Learn or any other desired location. Then SAVE this file. This will give you a record of your submissions (you can keep them all in the same file). In the case of technical difficulties, you will be able to resubmit without a problem.

Activities:

Read:

The book: aside from being fairly easy to read, our text for the course gives you

numerous examples to back up the theories we will be discussing each week. You

will be asked to include these case studies in your writing, so it is important for you

to read and synthesize the general messages. A schedule for when readings are due

is included in the schedule above.

Seeing like a Scientist: This document will give you some locations to visit on the

internet and ask you to put the information together to be able to evaluate different

types of graphics used to display data.

Watch:

Intro video and animation. For each module, I will give you a general overview of the

pacing of the module and give you an animation overview of the types of topics in

science we will be discussing. Watch these to give you the general gist of the

module.

You will then have three lessons to watch each week, one on a

science/pseudoscience comparison, one on critical thinking, and one on scientific

jargon. These are voiced over that will help prepare you for the activity and

discussion to follow.

Listen and Act:

Part of learning about science is getting involved with it. For each module, you will

be able to listen to a podcast that talks about citizens getting involved in the

scientific process. By the end of the course, you will be expected to have

participated in at least one of these citizen science projects.

Discussion Forums:

For each module, you will be asked to post answers to discussion forum questions

associated with the See, Speak, and Think Like a Scientist exercises. Even though

these are recorded in a discussion forum format, the main purpose is for you to

reflect on these experiences with minimal interaction with other students. For the

Case Study we have required that you respond to two other students’ posts. The

Case Study is meant to have us process some of the critical thinking concepts as a

community.

Evaluation / Assessment:

At the beginning and end of each module, you will be asked to fill out mini-quizzes

that either test your understanding of content or test your abilities with regard to

different skills sets (critical thinking, understanding of science, preparedness for

learning online, etc.). This feedback will be used to try and improve the course for

future classes, as well as the class you are currently taking. Partly these

assessments help me get constructive criticism for what is working and what isn’t.

You should feel free to be positive or negative as long as it is constructive. (i.e. “This

is great.” or “This sucks.” doesn’t tell me anything. “Lectures helped me understand

. . .” and “I wasn’t interested in the podcast topic because . . .” does). They also help

you to be aware about your learning experience and hopefully make you a better

student.

Grade Breakdown:

Introductory Module

This week’s exercises are 15 pts

graded on participation only

Science Modules Science Skills

Posts (each module will have)

1. See like a Scientist 6 pts / module

2. Speak like a Scientist 6 pts / module

3. Think like a Scientist 15 pts / module

SubTotal: 27 pts X 5 modules 135 pts

Case Study

Forum Posts (each module will have)

Activity 3 pts / module

Post 10 pts / module

Responses 6 pts / module

SubTotal: 19 pts X 5 modules 95 pts

Final Module Posts

Summary posts 30 pts

Total Course Points 275 pts

Before you ask, there are no exams and no final. This course evaluates your learning

through your developing and answering questions in your various posts. You will

be provided with a rubric that explains what we are looking for each module’s

postings. This writing is expected to be thoughtful and integrate things that you

have learned from the different digital experiences.

Grading Standards:

4.0=90-100% 3.5=85-89% 3.0=80-84% 2.5=75-79% 2.0=70-74% 1.5=65-69% 1.0=60-64%

Academic Integrity:

Article 2.3.3 of the Academic Freedom Report states that "The student shares with

the faculty the responsibility for maintaining the integrity of scholarship, grades,

and professional standards."

This course adheres to the policies on academic honesty as specified in General

Student Regulations 1.0, Protection of Scholarship and Grades; the all-University

Policy on Integrity of Scholarship and Grades; and Ordinance 17.00, Examinations.

(See Spartan Life: Student Handbook and Resource Guide and/or the MSU Web

site.)

Therefore, unless authorized by your instructor, you are expected to complete all

course assignments, including homework, lab work, quizzes, tests and exams,

without assistance from any source. You are expected to develop original work for

this course; therefore, you may not submit course work you completed for another

course to satisfy the requirements for this course. Also, you are not authorized to

use the http://www.allmsu.com or www.koofers.com web site to complete any

course work for this class. Students who violate MSU rules may receive a penalty

grade, including--but not limited to--a failing grade on the assignment or in the

course. Contact your instructor if you are unsure about the appropriateness of your

course work. (See also the Ombudsperson’s website on academic dishonesty:

https://www.msu.edu/unit/ombud/academic-integrity/).

Limits to Confidentiality:

Essays, journals, and other materials submitted for this class are generally

considered confidential pursuant to the University's student record policies.

However, students should be aware that University employees, including instructors,

may not be able to maintain confidentiality when it conflicts with their responsibility

to report certain issues to protect the health and safety of MSU community

members and others. As the instructor, I must report the following information to

other University offices (including the Department of Police and Public Safety) if you

share it with me:

• Suspected child abuse/neglect, even if this maltreatment happened when

you

were a child,

• Allegations of sexual assault or sexual harassment when they involve MSU

students, faculty, or staff, and

• Credible threats of harm to oneself or to others.

These reports may trigger contact from a campus official who will want to talk with

you about the incident that you have shared. In almost all cases, it will be your

decision whether you wish to speak with that individual. If you would like to talk

about these events in a more confidential setting you are encouraged to make an

appointment with the MSU Counseling Center.