SCEN 102 - Physical Science and Technology: The Way the World Works

Syllabus for Sections 10-14, 17,18 (Shipman) - Spring 2001

If you are not in this section of the course, or if you wish to look at web pages from previous years, click here to go to a web page which can take you to other web pages for this course.

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Course Problems	Course Description	Course Goals and Objectives
Grading	Preparing for the Next Exam	General Hints on Preparing for Exams
Discussion Schedule	Big Class Schedule	Lab Schedule
Overheads from the Large Class	Why is Group Work part of this class?	Course Policies
Lunar Log - instructions if you do the observations yourself	Activities which were done in the large class	Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) About Working in Groups
How Students Can Provide Feedback	Results of the mid semester course evaluation, and what I'm going to do about it	Course Instructors

Information of Current Interest

This section of the syllabus will be used, as the course progresses, to direct students to sources of information that they may need to use immediately.

What is this course about?

This is an interdisciplinary science course which focuses intensely on four key questions:

• What is Energy and How Do We Use It?
• How Have Electricity and Electronics Changed Our Lives?
• What is Matter?
• Where is the Earth in Space?
• Where Did the Universe Come From?

These questions have been selected over the years because they are central to an understanding of the scientific habits of mind and because students find that these questions are interesting and meaningful. Science provides an understanding of the Universe and our place in it. It is also the source for a number of novel devices which continue to make our lives different. In spite of what you may have been taught, science is not an accumulation of dry, disconnected trivial facts. It is organized common sense, an evolving and changing way of understanding the world around us, of making sense of what we see, hear, and learn from experiments.

As I demonstrated in the first class, about 2/3 of the students in my section of this course are ETE majors, future elementary school teachers. These students will teach science - some of my alumni have become leaders in the state and region in science education. Many of the activities we do in class will be activities which can be used with some modifications in elementary school classrooms.

Why is Group Work part of this class?

You are working in groups in this course for two reasons:

• Ninety years of research and thousands of studies show that, when collaborative learning is done right, students learn better when they work in groups.

• In the 21st century workplace, you will be working in teams. If you have team skills, you will thrive. If not... the consequences should be obvious.

The lead instructor is Harry Shipman (see below for contact information).

I am available to talk to students any time I am in my office, which usually means normal working hours. "Office hours" are times when I will do my best to avoid other commitments and actually be in my office, though there may be rare times when committee meetings or travel assignments will take me away from the office then. If you have a quick question, one easy way to contact me is by e-mail (harrys@udel.edu). Feel free to stop by at most times other than my office hours, but you might want to call first to make sure I'm there, not working at the Math/Science Education Resource Center, working with colleagues in the College of Education on

science education research, visiting a Delaware school, working on NASA business, or at the ice arena. Please try to avoid dropping by my office right before class; I'm using that time for class preparation.

I have a separate web page which lists contact information for the various teaching assistants who are associated with the course this year.

Instructor: Harry Shipman, Annie J. Cannon Professor of Physics and Astronomy Office: 124 Sharp Lab, 302 831 2986. Office hours (times you can come in without an appointment to talk about anything): M 10-12, Tu 4-5. E-mail: harrys@udel.edu,

Spring 2001 Large Class Time: 12:30-1:45 Tuesdays and Thursdays, Room 131 Sharp Lab

This page is maintained and copyrighted by Harry L. Shipman (harrys@udel.edu).