1579 - An Interdisciplinary Seminar on Knowledge, Science, and Policy

Author / Creator

AAPT WM21 (2021)

Conferences

AAPT WM21 B1.8 Teaching Science in a Culture of Mistrust (2021)

Available as

Online

Summary

What is science?  What are the psychological, economic, and political factors that shape people's decisions about truth or fact?  Do truth, facts, or opinions guide science and technology policies?...

What is science?  What are the psychological, economic, and political factors that shape people's decisions about truth or fact?  Do truth, facts, or opinions guide science and technology policies?  These are the questions we address in a one credit seminar for first-year students.  The seminars were developed as part of Spelman College's Big Questions Colloquia, and they cover many different areas.  In this seminar, students learn about how people reason and what science is. Eventually, students build skills to help them critique policies and differentiate between science and pseudoscience.  We explore controversial topics like big tobacco, and look at some conspiracy theories, such as the Apollo hoax. From the seminar, students gain experience critiquing, evaluating, and thinking about science and related policies.  I will present my experiences with developing the seminar, and some strategies for building an interdisciplinary approach to communicating about science.

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