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Arts and Sciences 710: A Graduate Seminar in Scientific Literacy - Fisher WI 08

Instructor: Professor Susan Fisher
Department of Entomology
400 Aronoff Laboratory
Phone: 292-8209
Email: fisher.14@osu.edu

Prerequisites: English 750 (Introduction to Graduate Study in Literacy) or consent of instructor

Course Rationale: It is increasingly clear to more and more people—scientists, other educators, policy-makers and citizens-- that success in the workplace and effectiveness as a citizen require "scientific literacy". Despite the growing need to be scientifically literate, there is significant debate over what the term actually means and a growing consensus that our methods for teaching scientific literacy succeed only in making science inaccessible and irrelevant to students. Evidence of the problem is all around us: In 1980, the Ohio Poll determined that 80% of Ohioans believed in a geocentric universe in which the sun revolves around earth. In 2000, 76% of Ohioans agreed with this view. In 2005, 60% of Ohioans agreed with the statement: "Humans were created in their present form about 6,000 years ago." Recent efforts by the State Board of Education to amend science standards to permit inclusion of "Intelligent Design" as a scientific alternative to evolution suggests that not only are our citizens ignorant of scientific content, but that they have difficulty separating scientific thought from other modes of thinking.

Despite its growing importance, scientific literacy is poorly defined and understood. It is not, for instance, simply a more in depth understanding of the scientific method. Nor is the goal to create practitioners of science. Rather, the scientific literacy depends upon encompassing the concerns, interests and activities of citizens as they go about their daily lives. Scientific literacy is not the possession of an individual but a characteristic of the collective. Similarly, educating people about scientific literacy is not a focus on individual performance but about democratic participation of citizens in the struggle to create a better community and world. As such, scientific literacy requires a multidisciplinary understanding of the nature of science and the scientific method but must also address the relationship of science to technology, the ethical significance of scientific progress, and the implications of scientific achievement to social responsibility. . This course seeks to provide an overview multiple strands of knowledge that are embedded in the concept of scientific literacy.

The goals for this course are:

To define scientific literacies and understand the different types of scientific literacies;

To develop an understanding of the historical roots of western science and technology;

To understand the nature of science and how it is different from other modes of thought;

To explore the relationship between scientific literacy and other forms of literacy, e.g., written, visual, spatial;

To probe how the teaching of science must change in order to achieve scientific literacy and the role of technology in facilitating this change;

To understand the relationship between science literacy, ethics and the citizen scientist. To explore the relationship between science, ethics and moral reasoning.

Class meeting schedule: T,R 1:30-3:18
Office hours by appointment

Class Format: The Tuesday class meeting will normally consist of a didactic lecture and discussion led by Professor Fisher on the topic selected for the week. Thursdays will be devoted to student seminars and discussions.

Grading and Evaluation: Seminars are designed to foster independent thinking through discussion of assigned readings and leadership of seminars. Your grades will be determined as follows:

Assigned readings: Several readings will be assigned to the class each week. When possible, the materials will be posted on Carmen. Sometimes, the readings will be available on-line. Books will be placed on reserve in the library. Students are expected to have read the materials before coming to class on Tuesday. In addition, students are asked to come to class prepared with written questions derived from the readings and assessments of the readings. You may be called upon in class to share your questions. The quality of the questions will be evaluated for their insight, comprehension and originality and will constitute 10% of the final grade.

Student Journals: Students will write and turn in 5 1-2 page papers based on the weekly readings. These are not to be synopses of the readings. Rather, the journal entries are meant to analyze the reading materials, present strengths and weaknesses, comment on the cogency (or lack thereof) of the arguments made and connections to other areas of scientific literacy. The journals are due at the end of week eight. Twenty percent of the final grade will be determined by the journal entries. Please note, the journals are not meant to be merely an expression of your opinion about the reading materials. An analysis of the material is expected.

On-line student evaluation of journal entries will occur during weeks 4-8 of the quarter. Each student will be asked to file one of his journal entries on Carmen which he considers particularly well done. Other students in the class will comment on the entry. Students may respond to posted comments on Carmen as well to facilitate a discussion of relevant issues.

Student Seminars: Each student will be responsible for leading a Thursday seminar during the quarter. Each student will choose and disseminate reading material to the class at least 2 days prior to the seminar. Each student seminar will consist of a review of pertinent literature in the field, a 40-60 minute presentation of the material, followed by a one-hour discussion led by the student. Finally, the student seminar leader will write a 10 page paper on his or her topic that summarizes the literature and presents ideas for further exploration. Papers are due at the end of week nine. Seventy percent of the final grade will be determined from the seminar and paper. A list of topics that students might choose will be disseminated the first week of class. However, you are not limited to this list. Approval of the topic by the instructor by the second Monday of the quarter is required.

Absences and Late Work: Delayed work will suffer reduced credit. A reduction of 20% of the possible points is levied for each day late unless a valid medical excuse is presented.

Academic Misconduct: OSU has a strict code of academic conduct that requires us to report any and all cases of suspected misconduct (e.g. cheating on exams, plagiarism etc.). to the OSU Committee on Academic Misconduct for adjudication. I adhere to this policy.

Week 1: What is Scientific Literacy?
Godin, B. and Y. Gingras (2000). What is scientific and technological culture and how is it measured? A multidimensional model. Public Understand. Sci. 9: 43-58.

Hively, W. (1988). How much science does the public understand? Am. Scientist 76: 439-444.

Week 2: Historical Roots of Scientific & Technological Literacy
Gates, D. and T. Clifton (1988). Say Goodnight Socrates (Stanford University and the Decline of the West). Newsweek, Feb. 1, 1988.

Kuhn, T.S. (1970). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 2nd Ed. The University of Chicago Press, chpt. 1.

Eugene-Ferguson (1977). The Mind's Eye: Nonverbal Thought in Technology. Science 197: 827-836.

Stevens, E. (1995). The Grammar of the Machine: Technical Literacy in the Early Industrial Expansion in the United States. Yale University Press.

Hall, A.R. (1973). The Revolution in Science, 1500-1750. 3rd Ed. Longman, London, chpts. 1-3.

Burnham, J.C. (1987). How Superstition Won and Science Lost; Popularizing Science and Health in the US. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, Chpts 1-4.

Brock, W.E. (1987). The Bozeman Chainsaw Massacre. Discover (November) 119187: 79-85.

Week 3: Types of Scientific Reasoning, Objectivity, Disciplinary Differences in the Scientific Methods
Scott, E. (2004). Evolution vs. Creationism. University of California Press, Berekeley, Los Angeles, London, chpts 1 & 2.

Carrier, R. (2001). Test Your Scientific Literacy! http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/SciLit.html

Blystone, R.V. and K. Blodgett (2006). The Scientific Method. CBE Life Sci Educ. 5(1): 7-11.

Tabak, I., B.K. Smith, W. A. Sandoval and B.J. Reiser (1996). Combining General and Domain-Specific Support for Biological Inquiry. Proc. ITS, June, 1996: 1-9.

Week 4: Science, Pseudoscience, Religion and how to tell the difference
Scott, E. (2004). Beliefs: Religion, Creationism and Naturalism. In: Evolution and Creationism, University of California Press, pp. 47-70.

Clark, J.F.M. (2006). History from the Ground Up: Bugs, Political Economy, And God in Kirby and Spence's Introduction to Entomology. Isis 97: 28-55.

Ham, K. (1987). The Lie: Evolution. Master Books, Green Forest, AR. Chpts. 1,2.

Isaak, M. (2007). The Counter-Creationism Handbook, University of California Press, Berkley. Chpts. 2,3.

Week 5: The Role of Technology in Shaping Science; How do ethics Figure into scientific literacy?
Gould, S.J. (1998). The Great Asymmetry. Science 279: 812-813.

Hall, A.R. The Revolution in Science, 1500-1750. Chpts 5,6.

Augustine, N. (1998). What we don't know does hurt us. How scientific Illiteracy hobbles society. Science 279: 1640-1641.

Uhl, C, (2004). Developing Ecological Consciousness: Paths to a Sustainable World. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers , Chpts. 5,6.

Week 6: Redesigning Science Curricula
Hodson, D. (2002). Some Thoughts on Scientific Literacy: Motives, Meanings and Curriculum Implications. Asian-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching 3: 1-5.

Roth, W.-M. and A.C. Barton (2004). Rethinking Scientific Literacy. Routledge Falmer, publisher, N.Y., London, chpts. 1&2.

Week 7: The Interdependence of Science Literacy and Visual Literacy: Using Art to Teach Science
Wise, M.N. (2006). Making Visible. Isis 97: 75-82.

Smith, P. (2006). Art, Science and Visual Culture in Early Modern Europe. Isis 97: 83-100.

Morus, I.R. (2006). Seeing and Believing Science. Isis 97: 101-110.

Miller, A.I. (2000). Insights of Genius. MIT Press. Chpts. 1,2.

Week 8: Toward A Citizen Scientist: Scientific Literacy and Public Discourse
Miller, J.D., (1998). The measurement of civic scientific literacy. Public Understanding of Sci. 7: 203-223.

Shortland, M. (1994). Advocating science: literacy and public Understanding. Impact of Science on Society 38, No. 4: 305-316

Flannery, T. (2005). The Weather Makers. Harper-Collins Publishers, New York. Chpt. 35.

Brooks, S. (2003). Adam, Eve and the Genome: The Human Genome Project And Theology.

Week 9: Case Study on Sequencing the human genome: How do science and technology determine treatment of disease, cloning, stem cells? Can scientific literacy affect the outcome?
Murray, R.F., M.A. Rothstein and T.H. Murray (1996). The Human Genome Project and the Future of Health Care. Chpts. 3,4.

Ifekwunigwe, J.O. (2004). Mixed Race Studies. Routledge Press, London Chpt 33.

National Research Council (1998). Serving Science and Society in the New Millennium (Human Genome Project). National Academy Press, Washington DC., Chpts. 2,3.

T. Takala and H. Gylling (2007). Who Should Know About the Our Genetic Makeup and Why. In: How would you vote? Readings For Critrical Thinking in Science. Thompson Publishers. Chpt. 1.

Week 10: Case Study on Global Warming: How do science and technology influence the debate? What is the role of literacy?
Flannery, T. (2005). The Weather Makers: How we are changing the climate and what it means for life on earth. Part 3: the Science of Prediction. Pg. 153-212.

Schwerin, D. (2005). Conscious Globalism. Digital Junction Press. Chpts. 1,2.