ISC 3120 - Scientific Process

URL: http://www.fgcu.edu/sciproc

Consult ANGEL for up to date assignments and grading policies

Text: Course packet contains required readings

Course Faculty

Course Description:

Students are introduced to the philosophy and methodology of the scientific practice in this discussion-format seminar. Through self practice and collaborative review, students learn: philosophical and practical differences between physical and historical science; ethical issues surrounding the practice of science, hypothesis generation and testing; experimental design; construction of a research proposal; composition of a scientific paper; oral presentation; facilitation of a discussion; and critical review of scientific literature and research proposals. Students should plan to take this course early in their Junior year, prior to the development of their research or internship plans. Students are encouraged to use this course to focus their own research interests, and may use this forum to develop a proposal and research plan for a subsequent investigation. In order to foster a mentoring environment and to introduce student to the variety of interests among FGCU’s scientific community, all members of the science faculty are encouraged to participate.

Teaching Philosophy:

Scientific Process is taught as an informal seminar course. Students and faculty interact through discussion and debate, creating a peer-group setting, rather than the traditional atmosphere of the classroom. There will be little or no lecturing. This course includes content that relates to religious beliefs that is necessary for achieving our learning objectives. In addition, the course is based in the disciplines of biology, geology, and ecology, which are dependent on the concept of natural selection as the mechanism for evolution. Professional respect for conflicting viewpoints is expected. The course has three principle objectives. First, students will be introduced to the philosophies and methods of science with the ultimate goal being preparation for conducting their own research. This will be accomplished through active participation in the scientific design process. Second, students will engage, and learn to critically review, scientific literature. Third students will get to know the science faculty and their fellow students. This will help students to define their own research interests and to identify research mentors. Visiting scientists will also occasionally attend class, allowing students exposure to scientists from outside of FGCU.

Grading Policies:

Student grades will be based on the following: 1) classroom assignments, 2) participation in class discussions, 3) summaries of the required readings, 4) the structure and content of your research proposal, and 5) the proposal oral presentation. The proposal and presentation will serve as the course’s capstone assignment. Failure on the written proposal results in failure for the course.

The percentages for these assignments vary from term to term depending on the faculty team teaching the course.

Course assignments

Discussion preparation and participation

(This includes On-Line Quizzes)

Summaries of readings

Midterm

Proposal presentation

Final written proposal

Participation: Participation is defined as a combination of attendance, discussion preparation (on-line quizzes), in-class participation and pop-quizzes.

Attendance: Because participation is such an integral component of this course, it is required of all students. Not being present in class reduces your learning opportunity and that will affect your grade. While you will be expected to do much learning on your own through reading and research, much scientific learning is due to verbal interactions with other scientists. You must learn how to ask questions, explain your ideas to colleagues, and defend a position in order to understand it. This can only occur if you attend class. We will be evaluating your participation in small group discussions in class and in online discussion boards through ANGEL. We understand that unusual circumstances can result in tardiness and absences will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The circumstance must be communicated to us as soon as possible in the cases of tardiness or within twenty-four hours from the class time missed in cases of absence. You will have to arrange and negotiate make-up work in the cases of excused absences.

Students with unexcused absence (see Student Guidebook, "Authorized Absence", and "Absences Due to Other Causes") of more than four (4) class meetings will automatically receive a grade of “F” for the course. Late assignments for unexcused absences will not be accepted.

Assignments: Assignment instructions are provided on the web site via the Schedule page. All assignments appear on the schedule on the due date to be turned in to your instructor. Students are expected to check the Schedule in advance of all classes to ensure completion of all assignments. Your instructor is not responsible for reminding you of any assignment(s). Most assignments will be turned in to ANGEL. Some assignments will be turned in to Turnitin.com. Please see the Turnitin.com folder in ANGEL “Lessons” folder for class ID and password.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism in any form is not accepted. Specifically, all ideas must be credited to their original source by citation, the source of all written words must be identified by citation and the words themselves must be identified by the use of quotations or indentations and font. For examples of plagiarism see: http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml

Turnitin.com also has additional material on plagiarism. Students agree that by taking this course all required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the Terms and Conditions of Use posted on the Turnitin.com site.

Academic Dishonesty/Cheating Policy:

All students are expected to demonstrate honesty in their academic pursuits. The university policies regarding issues of honesty can be found under the Code of Conduct Section V. Offenses, subsection A. Academic Dishonesty /Cheating in the Student Guidebook. All students are expected to study this document that outlines their responsibilities and consequences for violations of the policy. Any instances of academic misconduct or cheating will result in forfeiture of all points for any associated assignments, and possible failure of the course.

Course’s Objectives:

Objectives	Implementation
Introduce students to the practice of science (theoretical basis, philosophy and practical and theoretical methodology).	Students will read and discuss the writings (i.e., essays, opinions) of prominent philosophers and critics of science. The differences among science, non-science, and pseudoscience will be defined, discussed, and illustrated with examples. Different scientific practices and disciplines will be compared. A model for the framing of a scientific project (scientific design) will be presented, discussed, and applied.
Develop the ability to critically evaluate science and relate evaluations to peers through the application of principles above (1).	Primary journal articles will be discussed and their scientific structure and validity critiqued. Participants will take turns moderating the discussion of individual papers. At the conclusion of each critique, participants will suggest design changes to improve the quality of the science.
Transform creative scientific questions into testable hypotheses (i.e., scientific design).	The development of hypotheses will be explored by analyzing the design of others in published papers. Students will collaboratively work through the design of their own research project.
Develop skills associated with the presentation of scientific information (e.g., proposals, primary journal articles, poster and oral presentations).	a. Students will draft, review, and redraft their own unique research proposal and critically evaluate those of their peers. b. Proposals will be presented, either orally or as posters, and defended by individuals late in the semester.
Make students and other faculty aware of individual faculty research interests and expertise.	Each science faculty member will provide a brief research presentation or prospectus. Faculty not teaching the course may visit and participate periodically.  During these visits faculty will make brief presentations about their research interests.
Help students define their research discipline and identify potential research mentors.	The informal setting coupled with science faculty participation and on-line resources developed for the course should help students learn the research interests of FGCU faculty and help define their own interests. The published material reviewed during the semester will cover a diverse array of scientific topics, thereby exposing students to a wide range of research disciplines.
Students will develop a research proposal by the semester’s end. The proposal will be presented and scrutinized by peers and faculty.	After a research question is identified by a student, he or she will work collaboratively with other students and faculty to develop a research plan which will then be transformed into a proposal. Proposals and presentations will be peer reviewed.
Students will be introduced to various methodological techniques employed by researchers within the scientific disciplines represented among the research used as example material within the course.	The published papers reviewed during the course will introduce participants to various methodologies and technologies, allowing the student the opportunity to begin to learn about methodologies unique to many different fields of science. Throughout the semester faculty, students, or guest speakers may make presentations concerning the specialized methodologies and technologies they use in their research.
If possible, members from the scientific community outside of the university may occasionally participate in this course.	Course faculty periodically invite local or visiting scientists relevant to the day's discussion. Reading lists may be altered to include literature relevant to visiting scientists.
Instill within students an understanding of the ethics of scientific practice.	Students will read & discuss essays addressing ethical issues in science. Throughout the semester while journal articles and research projects are reviewed, ethical issues concerning scientific practice will be considered.

Topical Outline of the Course

This topical outline is presented for the purposes of providing an overview and reference for the student. The schedule for the course will be most helpful in allowing you to track our progress through Scientific Process.

I. Introductions

At the course's first meeting, faculty and students will introduce themselves and their research/scientific interests.

II. Introduction to Scientific Practice: Philosophy and Methodology

Subtopics:

A. Science vs. Non-Science

B. Falsification vs. Consilient Science

C. Problems of Assumption

D. Need for a Mechanism

E. Advancement of Science: incremental steps vs. revolution

F. A Model Framework for Scientific Design

Students and faculty will read, discuss, and debate the opinions of prominent philosophers of science and scientists. Research papers will be used to illustrate the different practices and disciplines. Faculty will moderate these discussions. Near the end of this topical section, students will be presented with a scientific design model which will be employed and critiqued throughout the rest of the semester.

III. Ethics of Science

Subtopics:

A. Ethical considerations of being a scientist

B. Society's application of scientific results

The class will consider ethical issues by first discussing the opinions of prominent scientists during this topical unit of the course and later, in subsequent topics, by interpreting the ethical implications of the research conducted by others.

IV. Design of Individual Projects & Generation of a Research Proposal

Subtopics:

A. Review Research Proposals & Their Structure

B. Identifying Questions & Defining Hypotheses

C. Project Design

D. Outlining and Drafting a Proposal

E. Peer Review

Students will work in small groups while assisted by faculty throughout this portion of the course.

V. Employing the Model: Scientific Design & Critical Evaluation

Subtopics:

A. Hypothesis generation

B. Problems of Assumption

C. Data Collection & Reduction

D. Falsification vs. Consilient Science

E. From Interpretation to Speculation

This section of the course will be spent reviewing and critiquing the scientific research. Primary journal articles, from a variety of disciplines and practices, will be chosen for review. These papers will be compared against the design model. Students will moderate these discussions.

VI. Presentation & Defense

After proposals have been drafted, each student will give a short oral presentation outlining their intended work. Participants will then have the opportunity to critique the presentation and scientific plan.

VII. The Science Faculty of FGCU & their Research

Interspersed throughout the semester the entire science faculty will visit the class to introduce themselves and their research interests. Faculty will be further invited to serve as active participants to further their interactions with students.

Disability Accommodations Services:

Florida Gulf Coast University, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the university’s guiding principles, will provide classroom and academic accommodations to students with documented disabilities. If you need to request an accommodation in this class due to a disability, or you suspect that your academic performances is affected by a disability, please see me or contact the Office of Adaptive Services. The Office of Adaptive Services is located in Howard Hall, room 137. The phone number is 590-7956 or TTY 590-7930 or e-mail at adaptive@fgcu.edu

© Meers, Savarese, Demers, Barreto, Kakareka, Volety, Everham, Cruz-Alvarez, Loh, Goebel, Fugate, Bovard, & Hartley 2008.

Last updated October 31, 2008