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Capstone in London CAP 3130: Science and Pseudoscience: Critiquing the World around You Summer 2022 Instructor: Carolyn Hildebrandt, Ph.D. Contact Information: 1077 Bartlett Hall, 273-7179, [email protected] Pre-Departure Meetings: We will have six meetings on Fridays from 4:00-5:50 p.m. in Bartlett 34. Dates: Feb. 4, Feb. 18, March 4, March 25, April 8, and April 22 Study Abroad in England: May 26 – June 9 Course description: Daily, we are bombarded with interesting and novel breakthroughs involving claims that may or may not be true. In this age of alternative facts and evidence-free assertions, critical thinking is of paramount importance. In this course, students will integrate their knowledge and apply critical thinking and scientific analysis to controversial topics from a broad variety of disciplines. Our home base will be London, where we will visit research institutes, museums, and historic sites. We will also take day trips to Cambridge, Bath, Stonehenge, and Downe. The focus of the class will be multicultural and interdisciplinary. Students from all majors and minors are welcome! Prerequisites: junior standing, 2.5 gpa, acceptance by the UNI Study Abroad Center. Learning Objectives: The purpose of the course is to explore science and pseudoscience from an interdisciplinary, multicultural perspective. Cross-cultural goals include interacting with faculty and students at London University, comparing the study of science and pseudoscience in England and the U.S., and learning about current social and cultural issues in England. At the end of the course, students should be able to: ● Distinguish science, pseudoscience, protoscience, and religion ● Describe the scientific method and identify uses and abuses of it ● Define theory, fact, and hypothesis; describe the importance of theories for scientific research ● List common logical fallacies and cognitive biases and give examples of each ● Define anomalistic psychology; give examples of anomalistic ideas, how they are formed, how they are maintained, and how they can be explained and/or refuted ● Discuss and critically evaluate current controversies (e.g., evolution, climate change, vaccinations) from multiple perspectives ● Explain how to identify misinformation, and disinformation in print and electronic media ● Describe similarities and differences in current social and cultural issues in the U.S. and England Travel Guide: Each student should purchase a travel guide to London in advance of the trip. Here are some that I would suggest: Eyewitness Travel: London; Rick Steves: London; Lonely Planet: London. Readings: There will be a course reader consisting of articles and chapters from selected sources: Foresman, G. A., Fosi, P. S., & Watson, J. C. (2017). The critical thinking toolkit. West Sussix, UK: John Wiley & Sons. This interdisciplinary guide takes a holistic approach to critical thinking by presenting tools and methods for clear, analytical, and logical thinking in a range of scholarly contexts and everyday situations. We will be focusing primarily on tools for detecting formal and informal fallacies, critical thinking about justification, and critical thinking about science and the scientific method. Vyse, S. (2013). Believing in magic: The psychology of superstition. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. (Available online through Rod Library) Winner of the prestigious William James Book Award, this book includes an engaging account of what superstition is, why we have superstitious beliefs, and who is most likely to be superstitious. It examines the science behind this normal part of human behavior and provides alternative ways to cope with life’s uncertainties. French, C. C., & Stone, A. (2014). Anomalistic psychology: Exploring paranormal belief and experience. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. This book provides a lively and thought-provoking introduction to the psychology underlying paranormal belief and experience. It covers the latest psychological theories and experiments within different psychological perspectives—including clinical, developmental, cognitive, and psychobiological—to shed new light on key debates. Grossman, W. & French, C. C., Eds. (2014). Why statues weep: The best of the Skeptic. New York, NY: Routledge, Chapman, & Hall. This edited volume includes articles from The Skeptic, a British Magazine billed as "the UK’s longest running and foremost skeptical magazine, which examines science, skepticism, secularism, critical thinking and claims of the paranormal.” Miller, P. H. (2016). Theories of developmental psychology, 6th Ed. New York, NY: Worth Publishers. Chapter 1: What is a theory? What is a developmental theory? What is the value of developmental theories? Chapter 3: Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory Hildebrandt, C. & Oliver, J. (2000). The mind as black box: A simulation of theory-building in psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 27(3), 195-197. Recommended TED Talks and Lectures: ● “Parapsychology and Science” by Dr. Christopher French ● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObXWLF6acuw ● “Why People Believe Weird Things” by Dr. Michael Shermer ● https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_shermer_on_believing_strange_things ● “Where Do Superstitions Come From?” by Dr. Stuart Vyse ● http://ed.ted.com/lessons/where-do-superstitions-come-from-stuart-vyse ● “Battling Bad Science” by Dr. Ben Goldacre ● https://www.ted.com/talks/ben_goldacre_battling_bad_science ● “The Mind at Play” by Dr. Stuart Vyse ● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knpNhARcy00 Pre-Departure Meetings: During the Spring 2022 semester, students will attend six two-hour meetings to get ready for the trip. Part of each meeting will be devoted to practical tips for traveling in England. The rest will focus on academic preparation for the trip. There will be a short online quiz or assignment due after each meeting. Detailed instructions for each assignment will be presented in class and posted in eLearning. ● Pre-departure meetings will be on Fridays from 4:00-6:00 p.m. in Bartlett 34 ● Dates: Feb. 4, Feb. 18, March 4, March 25, April 8, April 22 In England, students will: ● Attend a short lecture and discussion each day ● Go on daily excursions with the group ● Engage in extra-curricular activities of their choice ● Keep a daily journal where they record where they went; what they read, heard, and saw; the most important things they learned each day; and how this relates to the study of science and pseudoscience After we return, students will ● Submit a final project. It can be a 5 page paper, a poster, or a video/slideshow on a topic about science or pseudoscience. Final projects may be done alone or with one other person from the class. ● Present their final project to the group at a reunion dinner or afternoon tea in the fall (date TBA). Course Delivery: The course will be delivered face-to-face and online. Online assignments will include quizzes, blogs, and discussions. Online elements will be on Blackboard, UNI’s eLearning site and the course Facebook page. Credit hours: This course meets the Course Credit Hour Expectation outlined in the Course Catalog. Students should expect to work approximately 2 hours per week outside of class for every course credit hour. Attendance: Students are expected to attend all class sessions. Written assignments are closely related to the lectures, activities, and discussions, so it’s best not to skip class. Absences will be excused for illness, injury, bereavement, military service, or a university-sanctioned event (e.g., a concert, student government, or sporting event that you must participate in). Please arrange your work life, social life, and family vacations so that you don’t miss any class. Quizzes: During the Spring semester, students will take 5 online quizzes. The quizzes will consist of true-false, multiple choice, multiple answer, and short answer questions on topics covered during class. Study guides for these quizzes will be provided on eLearning. Blogs: During the Spring semester, students will submit two online blogs. In Blog 1, you will introduce yourself to the class. In Blog 2, you will describe three term projects that you might like to do. Specific guidelines for these blogs will be provided on eLearning. Daily Reflections in London: Students will submit a one-page, single-spaced daily reflection on eLearning at the end of each full day in London. The reflections should include highlights of that day’s curricular and extracurricular activities. (Curricular activities are required activities that we do as a whole group. Extra-curricular activities are optional activities that students do on their own or in small groups.) In addition, students should submit at least one photograph that they or a friend took that day. The reflections will be in the form of blogs and open to the entire class to read and comment on. Specific guidelines for these reflections will be provided in class and on eLearning. Final Project: At the end of the course, students will submit a term project on a topic of their choice. The topic must be related to the course and subject to prior approval of the professor. The project can be a 5-page paper, a video and/or slide show, or a poster. Students may do this project alone or in collaboration with one other student in the class. Assignments: Description Points Due online Blog 1: Introduce Yourself! 10 Feb. 9 Quiz 1: The Scientific Method 10 Feb. 23 Quiz 2: The Psychology of Superstition 10 March 8 Quiz 3: Science and Pseudoscience 10 March 29 Quiz 4: Logical Fallacies and Cognitive Biases 10 April 19 Quiz 5: Travel Essentials 10 May 3 Blog 2: Describe 3 Possible Term Projects 10 May 17 Daily Reflections in England (10 points per day) 140 End of each day Final Project 50 June 19 Total 270 Grading: A 93-100%, A- 90-92%, B+ 87-89%, B 83-86%, B- 80-82%, C+ 77-79%, C 73-76%, C- 70-72%, D+ 67-69%, D 63-66%, D- 60-62% Points earned for each assessment will be posted in the My Grades tools link in the eLearning website. The total will be figured into a percentage, and the grade will be determined by the grading scale above.