Science, Engineering, Social Impact

Course Proposal Form

For consideration of courses proposed to satisfy the Science/Technology requirement

of the Union College General Education Program

November 17, 2005

(Click here to download this document, including S/T application form, as a Word document.)

Instructions.  This cover sheet explains the basis on which the Gen Ed Board will evaluate the attached application form. 

While your course might be quite different in content from the ones sampled, the completed forms should give you a better sense of the sort of rationale required for approval of a S/T course.

Basis of Evaluation.  In the Gen Ed Program that was approved on March 31, 2005, students are required to take 3 courses in quantitative and mathematical reasoning (QMR), natural and applied science, engineering, and the impact of science and technology on society.  In addition to one course in QMR, students must take

·       one course in natural sciences, with lab

·       one course selected from the following categories:

i.      natural sciences, need not have lab

ii.    course from engineering (includes CS), to foster understanding of technology

iii.   a team-taught ID course (including at least one faculty member from Science or Engineering (including Computer Science), with significant science or engineering content, about the impact of science and/or technology on the human world.

This application for Gen Ed credit addresses only the science and engineering courses, not QMR courses.

Any course in this category should describe an area of science or technology, using fundamental concepts about the physical/natural world, and acquaint students with past successes and current unresolved questions/problems in the field.  The primary goals of a course with “significant science or engineering content” or a course designed to “foster understanding of technology” are:

A. promote critical thinking, to enable students to evaluate evidence, results, and claims related to the natural sciences or technology and their impact on broader human or societal issues.

B. demonstrate problem-solving methods used in science and technology.  This should involve classroom activities, homeworks, and/or projects in which students must demonstrate logical reasoning through quantitative analysis (e.g., calculations, programming, graphical analysis).

C. Science courses should demonstrate scientific methodology through which an understanding of the natural and physical world is achieved. The scientific process should be clearly illustrated, particularly the development and modification of theory based on observations. 

D. In technology courses, there may be an emphasis on an application of scientific knowledge, but the empirical or theoretical underpinnings of this knowledge should be covered as well.  Technology courses can also be constructed so that students gain an appreciation of engineering principles and issues (e.g., design tradeoffs, maintainability, manufacturability, profitability) through the process of design and analysis of why things work (reverse engineering).

5.  In team-taught ID courses, fundamental science and engineering concepts should be related in an integral way to the broader human or societal issue under consideration.  In these courses the science/engineering content should make up at least 50% of the covered material, of the assignments, and of the exams and other projects.

The attached form asks for:

A.   A course description and core topics which will be covered in all sections of the course.

B.   A list of goals (from the above four) addressed by the course, each with a paragraph of explanation – in what way does the course address that particular goal?  This explanation should make any additional points that are NOT addressed in part C. 

C.   A description of some sample problems, labs, or other assignments (typically, 2 or 3) taken from the course. Accompany each with an analysis of how the activity addresses one or more of the goals, followed by the solution itself (or a discussion of the type of material that would be turned in).  Together, your samples should address 3 of the goals claimed in Part B (1, 2, and one of the remaining depending on the type of course).

What is part C about? It is the view of the Gen Ed Board that for a S/T course to meet any of the goals above, it should require that students engage in activities that promote critical thinking and involve students with the appropriate science and technology concepts.  If a proposal is for an already existing course, then sample activities should be chosen from ones that have actually been assigned to students, or that have appeared on tests or quizzes.  If proposal is for a new course, then sample activities should be ones that realistically will be assigned.

When you explain the ways in which a course activity embodies one of the goals, please appeal as directly as possible to the specific language of that goal.  When you present the solution itself, feel free to use the same technical terms that you would employ in explaining that solution to a student.  In other words, strive to be technical where appropriate, without bludgeoning us unnecessarily with jargon.  And don’t assume that we’re total idiots!  The sample problems and analyses at www.union.cantdoscienceeither/samples [under construction] should give you a better handle on what it is that we are expecting.

UNION COLLEGE                                                       November 2005
Science/Technology
Approval Form (including team taught ID courses)

DIRECTIONS:  Please provide the information below.  Using the template given on the next page, provide several examples of activities that will be assigned to students in the course.  These can include exam questions, homework questions, or lab assignments, or other forms of assignments.   The samples should exemplify all the S/T goals addressed by the course.

Department:                                                                                    Date:

Course number and title:

Course description, including core topics which will be covered in all sections of this course:

List each S/T goal addressed by the course, with a brief (one paragraph) explanation of how the course addresses that goal.  

Science/Technology Course Approval

Sample Problem

Course:

Problem:

Analysis of solution or student activity and its relationship to S/T goals:

Solution Method: