UBC ISCI 300
Interdisciplinary Seminar

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Course Details

Credits: 1. (This course is mandatory for all students in the Integrated Sciences Program.)

Pre-reqs: Integrated Sciences Major or Honours option. You may take this course at any point in your ISP program but it is recommended that you register in your first year with ISP. It is your responsibility to ensure schedule conflicts with other courses can be accommodated but ISCI 300 does offer some flexibility.

Co-reqs: None.

Web page: http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~fletcher/isci300/

Textbook: None.

Description

Critical analysis of recent scientific literature that combines disciplines that students are integrating in their Integrated Sciences curriculum. Graded Pass/Fail.

Science is not just a field of study, it's a way of thinking about the world around you--trying to explain and understand your experiences and checking whether those explanations stand up to testing. It means not accepting what you're told because it came from an authority figure but evaluating it for yourself. Unfortunately, the opportunity for thinking scientifically is often drowned out in science classrooms by the sheer volume of "facts" and equations that need to be covered. (Have you confirmed the Krebs cycle? Are you sure F=ma ? Or did you just memorize it for the exam?)

Of course, there are benefits to the science pedagogy we have chosen. For example, you obviously don't have the time or means to personally evaluate everything you want to learn. So you have to trust that the knowledge you are acquiring is correct. But this approach also has a hidden danger: as a student you get used to believing what you're told and stop questioning it.

That's where this course comes in--it's all about asking questions. Taking apart research and asking: "Does this make sense? Is it good science?" In all, it's not a bad approach to life. If you plan to "do" science in your career you should obviously have a good understanding of what it is. But even if you don't, the scientific method can be invaluable when considering difficult life choices.

Goals

The course has four goals:

1. To train ISP students to critically evaluate scientific material;
2. To promote public speaking and presentation of scientific concepts to an audience with diverse backgrounds;
3. To expose ISP students to a wide range of scientific disciplines; and
4. To foster camaraderie among ISP students.

Thanks to you for helping me work out how to run this course. You've come up with many great ideas I wouldn't have thought of and I hope they help you get that much more out of the course. I think we've come up with a new course format that will meet all four of the goals listed above. And beyond that, I hope the course trains you all to be curious skeptics so that you can take that mindset away with you and apply it in everyday life.

Schedule

Classes run weekly. Attendance at all classes is not required. However, it is strongly recommended that you attend the first class to receive general course information.