New Science Course for Non-Majors — Science in Our World — to Debut this Fall

Do worms make kids stupid? Do fish feel pain? How much of you is human? Is smoking really bad for you? The answers to these and other unusual science questions will be answered this fall in SC 200 Science in Our World — Certainty and Controversy. This course, which is for non-science majors, is aimed at making non-scientists better consumers of science.

Science is often in the news because it affects our everyday lives, shapes our view of the world and our place in it, and will have a profound impact on our future. Science in Our World — Certainty and Controversy will teach a critical appreciation of science and scientific thinking. The course aims to help make non-scientists distinguish good science from bad science and science from non-science.

Andrew Read, Professor of Biology and Entomology and Eberly College of Science Distinguished Senior Scholar, will offer the course for the first time this fall. Teaching will be delivered by case studies of controversies within science, some of which are resolved, some of which are not. The course assumes no background knowledge - it is intended as a general education course for non-majors. Science majors are deliberately excluded.

One section of the course will study arguments that are now largely resolved, but which still resonate, likely including child health and IQ, smoking, vaccine safety, and why the peacock has such a ridiculous tail.

Another section will focus on unresolved scientific controversies which may include climate change, personalized genetic medicine, passive smoking, nanotechnology, the scientific evaluation of the healing power of prayer, and deer management in Pennsylvania.

The course will end by discussing some radical changes in the scientific understanding of ourselves and our universe that have occurred during the lifetimes of today’s students – and predict “paradigm shifts” that might occur in the next twenty years.

Part of the in-course assessment will involve the evaluation of an open scientific issue, live in the contemporary media: why it is in the news, what are the scientists involved actually doing and arguing about, and how is the media is handling the science.

The course will draw on Penn State experts. The focus of the course will be on the nature of scientific arguments, the way scientists evaluate problems, and why that process can generate controversy within science and beyond science – but at the same time, generate knowledge which profoundly affects our well-being and our understanding of ourselves.

The course schedule number is 575293 and is on Tuesday/Thursday from 3:35-4:50 p.m. To enroll in this course for Fall 2010, contact the University Registrar.

For more information on the course, contact Dr. Read at 814-867-2396 or via email.