Fall 2015 – MHC 20301
Science Forward: Macaulay Honors College Seminar 3
Meeting Time: HNR3 (80053): Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:30am – 10:45am
Location: NAC 6/307
Instructor: Dr. Joyce Fassbender ()
Office Hours: Tues. in Honors Center (NAC 4/150) from 1 – 2pm or by appointment
Instructional Technology Fellows:
Andres Orejuela Office Hours: TBD
Course Description
Science Forward is a skills-based course that focuses on scientific thinking in the context of a variety of different fields of science. We will focus on the specific skills that allow one to have good Science Sense. These skills fall into broad categories: Number Sense, Data Sense, and Knowledge Sense.
Science Sense is…
- being able to distinguish science from non-science.
- the ability to recognize how people collect and process facts into knowledge.
- the ability to recognize how a collection of facts becomes knowledge.
- being able to question and evaluate information that is presented as scientific.
- being an informed consumer, evaluator, and practitioner of science.
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students will hone their Science Sense during this course, specifically:
o Students will acquire a proper sense of scale and be able to make order of magnitude estimates with reasonable assumptions.
o Students will understand and get experience with measurement and data collection through activities in the field (including a BioBlitz common event) and be able to create and communicate their results using graphs and basic statistics.
o Students will become familiar with proper experimental design and the practice of scientific inquiry.
o Students will understand that science makes progress and changes through time based upon newly available evidence.
- Students will practice their critical thinking skills and employ reasonable skepticism.
- Students will learn how to communicate science to different audiences through two projects.
- Students will leave this course with an appreciation for the similar set of skills employed by scientists in seemingly disparate fields of scientific inquiry.
- Students will recognize that these skills are not only applicable to their coursework, but also to their daily lives.
Course Structure
Science Forward consists of three units built on the idea of grand challenges at different levels of scale (Environment, Society, Individual). These topics will serve as the context in which we will hone our Science Sense. This course requires students to read/watch the required science content outside of the classroom and to be prepared to use that content during discussions and activities inside the classroom.
It is very important to complete the required videos and readings before coming to class and think about the parts you find most fascinating or most difficult. If you are prepared for class in this way, then we can use class time to address the most difficult aspects of the material and work together to apply the knowledge you have gained.
Aug 27 – Sept 1: Science Forward Overview – What is Science?
Aug 29 – 30: BioBlitz!
Sept 3 – Oct 8: Unit 1 – Environment (Urban Ecology, Conservation, Evolution, Climate Change)
Oct 13 – Nov 11: Unit 2 – Society (Energy, Urbanization, Agriculture, Water)
Nov 12 – Dec 8: Unit 3 – Individual (Medicine, Neuroscience, Intelligence)
Dec 10: Science Forward Wrap Up – What have we learned about the nature of Science?
Attendance
Attendance is mandatory at all class meetings (including one 3 hour shift at the BioBlitz and one session of the end of semester poster conference). Attendance and lateness will be recorded in every class meeting. There will be a grade deduction for each unexcused absence and more than two unexcused absences will result in a failing grade. Absences can be excused for religious observances if notification is sent to me at least a week ahead of time. If you are sick and cannot come to class, you need to have a note from Student Health Services or your doctor in order for it to be excused and you need to tell me you won’t be in class. In all cases of absence, you MUST contact me to get a make-up assignment.
Academic Integrity
You are expected to follow both CCNY guidelines regarding academic integrity (available here:
and the guidelines put forth in the Macaulay Honors Pledge (available here:
Plagiarizing the work of others will not be tolerated. You are expected to be familiar with these policies.
Grade and Assignment Breakdown
Assignments for Science Forward include both individual and group work. You are expected to complete all assignments on time. Using scientific data, you will complete a group research project to be presented as a poster at the Seminar 3 Conference in December. Grading details for individual assignments will be provided to you in a separate document. Your final grade in this course will be a letter grade, although individual assignments will usually be graded on a number scale. The grade breakdown is as follows:
Participation – 30%
Small Writing Assignments – 10%
News Essay – 10%
Video Project – 20%
Research Project – 30%
Descriptions and Timelines
Participation – 30%
You are expected to attend every seminar and arrive on time. Participation includes attending every class, arriving on time to class, being actively engaged with the material we are discussing, and contributing to group work. Your participation will be judged by the group work you hand in at the end of class and by my observations of you during class.
A note on attendance: If you have an excused absence, you will not lose any participation points for that day. However, participation points will be subtracted for being late to class or missing class without an acceptable excuse. You may make up some lost points for missing group work by doing BOTH of the following: 1) letting me know before class that you are unable to attend AND 2) requesting a make-up assignment and completing it on time.
You are also required to attend two common events: the BioBlitz and the end of semester Poster Conference. The BioBlitz is a 24-hour species diversity survey where students are teamed with scientists to find as many species as they can. Each student will attend one 3-hour shift at a time of their choosing. The Poster Conference is where you will present your semester research project.
Students are required to attend one session of this conference.
Small Writing Assignments – 10%
There will be a small writing assignment (one minute papers, reflections, blog posts, etc.) at nearly every class meeting. Occasionally, these writings will happen online. They can also be group worksheets. They will be graded on a three-point scale (3 = good, 2 = fair, 1 = poor). Your lowest writing assignment grade will be dropped. They will usually be administered at the beginning of class; if you are late, you won’t be able to make them up.
News Essay – 10%
The end of unit assignment for Unit 1 is a news essay in the style of the NY Times Science section.
You will chose one peer-reviewed science article from the past two years and write it up as the latest news for the Science section. You cannot choose an article that has already been written about in the popular press (including blogs). The word count should be between 400-500 words and the assignment will be graded on a four-point scale. Due dates are:
- Tuesday, September 8 – By the beginning of class, hand in the citation information (Author, Title, Journal, Year) for the article you are reporting on. You may email me this ahead of time if you are having trouble finding a journal article or if you want extra feedback from me on whether it is appropriate.
- Friday, September 25 – By 5pm, email me your News Essay Worksheet. These will be returned with my feedback on Thursday, 10/1.
- Thursday, October 8 – By the beginning of class, post your essay to the Science Times section of our eportfolio website.
Video Project – 20%
The end of unit assignment for Unit 2 is a group video project related to exciting BioBlitz results. The goal is to produce a 2-3 minute video that discusses some part of the science of the BioBlitz for a public audience. There will be time during class to work with your group and our ITF on this project. It will be graded on a four-point scale. Due dates are:
- Tuesday, October 20 – Outline due at the beginning of class.
- Thursday, November 5 – Completed video due. Post to our eportfolio site before class beings (we will watch them in class)
Semester Research Project – 30%
The semester research project is the largest portion of your grade. You and your group are to come up with a research question and test it using scientific data. The final output is a research poster to be presented at the end of semester conference. This project will be a large undertaking and so it is broken down into smaller parts that are due throughout the semester. Note that some of these dates fall within the due dates for the other unit assignments. The project will be graded on a four-point scale. Groups will be determined by interest and questions addressed will be determined in class and online during the month of September. Formal due dates are:
- Thursday, September 17 – Research question emailed or handed in at beginning of class.
- Thursday, October 1 – Question choice survey due by beginning of class.
- Tuesday, October 13 – Project proposal worksheet due in class. This worksheet can be handed in at any point before 10/13 if you need to begin extra data collection.
- Tuesday, November 10 – Annotated bibliography of 8 references due in class.
- Tuesday, November 17 – Data analysis and main findings due in class.
- Tuesday, November 24 – Poster draft due in class.
- Tuesday, December 1 – Poster presentation (as a slideshow) in class.
- Saturday and Sunday, December 5 – 6 – You will present your printed poster at the Seminar 3 Conference on one of these days.
Science Forward Reading List
Date / Science Sense / Topic / Required Videos and Readings8/27 / KS: Nature of Science / What is Science? / Video:1) Science Forward: The Sciences Senses -
2) Science Forward: Tools of Seeing –
8/ 29-30 / DS: Collecting Data / BioBlitz! / This will be the opening event for the course. It is 24-hour species diversity survey. You will attend a 3-hour shift.
9/1 / KS: Communicating science, Nature of Science / What is Science? / Video:1) Science Forward: What is Science? –
2) Carl Sagan’s Last Interview – The link is to the first 5 minutes of a 20 minute interview.
Unit 1: Science at the Global/ Environmental Scale
9/3 / KS: Asking scientific
questions / Urban Ecology / Video: 1) Science Forward: Urban Ecology –
2) Bozeman Science: Biodiversity –
9/8 / KS: Designing experiments, Understanding scientific progress / Urban Ecology / Video: 1) SciShow: The Times and Troubles of the Scientific Method –
Reading: 2) Kellermann JL, MD Johnson, AM Stercho, and SC Hackett. 2008. Ecological and economic services provided by birds on Jamaican BlueMountain coffee farms. Conservation Biology. 22:1177-1185.
3) Stern, R, Dale, I, and L. Sandro. Glossary of Statistical Terms.
9/10 / Monday Schedule
9/15 / No Class
9/17 / KS: Applying scientific knowledge / Conservation / Reading: 1) Kareiva P and M Marvier. 2007. Conservation for the people. Scientific American. Pgs. 50-57.
9/22 / No Class
9/24 / NS: Using different scales, Making estimates / Conservation / Video: 1) Pavan Sukhdev TED Talk: What is the price of nature? –
9/25 / DS: Data analysis, finding trends /relationships, visualizing data; KS: Designing experiments, communicating science, applying scientific knowledge / Evolution / Video: 1) Science Forward: Evolution –
Reading: 2) Palumbi, SR. 2001. Humans as the world’s greatest evolutionary force. Science. 293(5536):1786-1790.
9/29 / KS: Science vs. Pseudoscience / Evolution / Reading : 1) Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District. Case No. 04cv2688. US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. 2005. ONLY PAGES 735-746 and 765-766 ARE REQUIRED
2) Chapter 7: Science in the Courtroom from Pigliucci M. 2010. Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
10/1 / KS: Communicating Science / Evolution / Field trip to AMNH
Fieldtrip will take place outside of class.
10/6 / KS: Modeling; DS: Using proxies; NS: Using different scales / Climate Change / Video: 1) Science Forward: Climate Change –
Reading: 2) Hansen J. 2004. Defusing the global warming time bomb. Scientific American. Pages 69-77.
3) What are proxy data? National Centers for Environmental Information.
10/8 / DS: Analyzing data, finding relationships, interpreting graphs / Climate Change / Reading: 1) Chapter 6: Science and Politics from Pigliucci M. 2010. Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Unit 2: Science at the Society Scale
10/13 / NS: Making estimates / Energy / Video: EVERYONE WATCH:
SciShow – The Why, How, and How Much of Oil –
WATCH ONLY 1 (assigned in class)
- Green Revolution: Hydrogen -
- Green Revolution: Biomass -
- Green Revolution: Wind Power –
- Green Revolution: Solar Power -
- Green Revolution: Microbes -
10/15 / KS: Making evidence-based arguments, Communicating Science; DS: Analyzing data / Energy / Video: 1) SciShow: Facts About Fracking –
10/20 / KS: Making progress in science, Using mathematical models / Urbanization / Video: 1) Geoffrey West TED Talk – The Surprising Math of Cities and Corporations
Reading: 2) Is it Time to Move Past Urban Studies and Toward Urbanization Science, E. Jaffe
10/22 / KS: Applying scientific knowledge / Urbanization / Video: 1) Science360: Green Revolution: City Car -
10/27 / DS: Analyzing data, Statistics, Interpreting Graphs; NS: Having a sense of scale, making estimates / Water / Videos: 1) Science360: Sustainability: Water –The water cycle –
2) Science360: Sustainability: Water –Ogallala Aquifer -
Reading: 3) Pimentel D et al. 1997. Water Resources: agriculture, the environment, and society.
10/29 / KS: Making evidence-based arguments, Communicating science, applying scientific knowledge; DS: Analyzing data, recognizing bias, measuring uncertainty / Water / Video: 1) Science360: Sustainability: Water – Baltimore’s Urban Streams –
2)Science360: Sustainability: Water –Los Angeles and Water Imports
3) Science Forward: Water –
11/3 / KS: Applying scientific knowledge / Urbanization / Water / Field trip to High Bridge Park; Class will start at 9AM; Field trip will take place during class.
Reading:1) Fuller, RA, KN Irvine, P Devine-Wright, PH Warren, and KJ Gaston. 2007. Psychological benefits of greenspace increase with biodiversity. Biol. Lett. Pgs. 390-394
2) The High Bridge. NYC Parks Department.
11/5 / NS: Making estimates; KS: Applying scientific knowledge / Agriculture / Video: 1) Science Forward: The Challenge of Food –
Reading: 2) HCJ Godfray et al. 2010. The challenge of feeding 9 billion people. Pgs. 812-818.
11/10 / DS: Analyzing data, Statistics; KS: Applying scientific knowledge / Agriculture / Videos: 1) Jonathan Foley TED talk: The other inconvenient truth -
Reading: 2) Freedman, DH. 2013. Are engineered foods evil? Scientific American. Pgs. 80-85
Unit 3: Science at the Individual Scale
11/12 / KS: Applying scientific knowledge, Ethics / Medicine: Genes and Patents / Video: 1) SciShow: Patenting Person Parts.
Reading: 2) Maxmen, A. 2013. Personalized medicine enters new era. Source: NOVA Next.
3) Marshall and Price. 2013. US Supreme Court strikes down gene patents. Source:
11/17 / KS: Applying scientific knowledge, Using models / Medicine: Drug Discovery / Video: 1) Francis Collins TED Talk: We need better drugs – now
2) Science Forward: Drug Discovery –
Reading: 3) Ashburn, TT, and KB Thor. Drug repositioning.. Nature. 3:673-683.
11/19 / KS: Designing experiments, Ethics; DS: Analyzing data, interpreting graphs / Medicine: Drug Trials / Reading: 1) FDA Drug Review Process website.
Be sure to look at both the text on these two pages and the infographic.
AND
2) Garber, K. 2009. Melanoma drug vindicates targeted approach. Science. 326:1619.
Video: 3) A clip from the short, Here Be Dragons (2008) by Michael Dunning.
Find the video here: Watch from timestamp 24:35 – 26:58
11/24 / KS: Science vs.Pseudoscience; NS: Having a sense of scale / Medicine: Counterfeits and pseudodrugs / Video: 1) Science360: 21st Century Scientists: Facundo Fernandez,
2) A clip from the short, Here Be Dragons (2008) by Michael Dunning.
Find the video here: Watch from timestamp 26:59 – 29:21
Readings: 3) Chapter 26 from Bad Medicine by Christopher Wanjek
11/25 / No Class
12/1 / KS: Communicating Science / Poster Practice / No required readings or videos.
We’ll be running through our presentations as a slideshow. Make sure the instructor has the most recent version of your file (or bring it with you on your laptop).
12/3 / DS: Collecting and analyzing data, statistics, uncertainty / Neuroscience / Reading: 1) Chapter 1 and 3 Thinking about the brain from The Brain: A very short introduction
12/8 / NS: Having a sense of scale; DS: Recognizing bias; KS: Applied and Ethics / Intelligence / Video: 1) Science Forward: Artificial Intelligence -
12/10 / KS: Nature of Science / What have we learned about science? / Readings and Videos TBD
Science Sense is…
- Being able to distinguish science from non-science.
- The ability to recognize how people collect and process facts into knowledge.
- The ability to recognize how a collection of facts becomes knowledge.
- Being able to question and evaluate information that is presented as scientific.
- Being an informed consumer, evaluator, and practitioner of science.
Science Sense Skills included
Number Sense
Having a sense of scale
Making order of magnitude estimates
Data Sense
Understanding and analyzing data
Interpreting graphs
Finding relationships and trends
Making measurements
Measuring uncertainty
Recognizing bias
Using proxies
Doing statistical analyses
Knowledge Sense
Asking a scientific question
Using proper experimental design
Using mathematical models
Choosing a research question
Communicating your results to scientists and the public
Understanding how science makes progress
Thinking critically
Being reasonably skeptical
Applying scientific knowledge
Understanding when science can inform ethical decisions
Distinguishing between science and pseudoscience