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CUR 260: The Natural World
Spring 2012
Course URL: www.gac.edu/~mkoomen/cur260/springsyllabus260.html

Instructor:      Michele Hollingsworth Koomen, Ph.D

Office Location:      Education Department, Mattson Hall 121
Phone: Office: 507.933.6057
Mobile: 612.669.2319
E mail: mkoomen@gac.edu
Web site: http://www.gac.edu/~mkoomen/

This syllabus is electronically interactive. As such it will be updated over the course of the semester (look for current updates at the bottom of the page). Think about this syllabus as a contract; you are responsible for the information in it, even if I never bring it up in class.

Reread it regularly over the course of the semester.

 

Office Hours:  Tuesday and Thursday 3:30 to 4:20 pm; other times by appointment. I encourage you to come and talk with me at any time during the above hours about the course content and your learning, for assistance preparing assignments or making sense out of any readings.

Access to Education:
Every student has a right to learn and to participate in this class. I recognize that we all learn differently. If you have learning challenges, please see me about how we can work together to support your learning needs. Bring any documentation and suggestions about how I may assist you. We will work together to make this a great learning experience for you.

Required texts/materials

Note: There will be additional readings provided by the instructor on either her class schedule, Moodle or sent to you through e-mail.

Focus, Goals and Purpose of CUR-260

You will find that this is not your typical science course. The focus of this course is on learning and doing science situated within our regional natural history wherever appropriate.

The purpose of this course is to focus on the evidence, theories, methods and practice of science within the context of the natural world. Since this course will feature a broad overview of science, it will include fundamental and integrated concepts of life, earth and physical sciences. This course will illustrate a Natural Science Perspective (NASP) by introducing the student to the mechanics of natural and life processes, and the quantitative basis for understanding these processes. The focus of science will include several big ideas and systems, including the science content of two recent Nobel conferences (2009 & 2010), history and nature of science, evolution, the hydrologic cycle and water as a natural resource, ecological systems and interactions of species, and the application of science within food and nutrition. Together we will build an understanding of how we come to know what we know in science. In CUR 260 we will place emphasis on the strengths and limitations of the methods employed, the philosophical assumptions, the boundaries and connections with other disciplines, and relationships to social, ethical, political problems. We will build an understanding of how science shapes culture and society, public policy and ethics and intersects with equity and social justice. The course will embed discussion, group interactions, laboratory and field study components in most sessions.

Course Policy, Requirements and Evaluation

CUR 260: Course Policy
E-mail:
I will be using electronic mail to send you assignments, feedback, and other important documents, thus my expectation is that you check your Gustavus e-mail daily. Knowledge and application of sending, receiving, and attaching documents to e-mail is assumed for all students in this course. All students will be required to format e-mail using subject specific criteria that will be defined for each assignment.

Attendance (Updated on March 28, 2012)

Attendance is expected and anticipated from each student for every class. This course is highly participatory including book discussions, small research projects and exercises. Consistent attendance is one of the expectations for class membership. When you are absent you miss the participatory nature that is at the heart of this class and we, of course, miss participation from YOU!

Everyone will be allowed to be absent, for whatever reason, 3 times during the semester. As a courtesy to all, please notify the professor of your absence prior to the class. It is the student’s responsibility to make arrangements with another member of the class to keep up-to-date on assignments. Excess absences, determined by the professor, may result in grade deductions.

 

Honesty Policy
This course will abide by the Gustavus Adolphus Honor Code. The instructor is bound to abide by the College's Honesty Policy and therefore must report all incidents of academic dishonesty to the dean's office. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Please review this web site for an overview of plagiarism. All students will be required to abide by the policy and wrote the following honor code on every examination or graded assignment:

"On my honor, I pledge that i have not given, received, nor tolerated others' use of unauthorized aid in completing this work."

 

Note about electronic grading:
The majority of your assignments will be turned in electronically through e-mail. It is your responsibility to keep complete copies of all electronic assignments until your final grade is posted at the end of the semester.

Grades of Incomplete: A grade of incomplete will be given only for work not completed due to circumstances beyond the control of the student.

Participation: An important component of this class is group discussion. Thoughtful participation with evidence of preparation (reading and research) in our class conversations is expected. There are a variety of ways that one can participate in class discussions: including asking questions, contributing information or insight, summarizing the discussion, playing "devils advocate", brainstorming and being a group discussion leader.

CUR 260 Course Requirements

The emphasis of this course is on the understanding and learning of fundamental concepts of the natural world and how we come to know and process science. You will be doing science throughout the semester. Expectations are high for all students in terms of the quality, integrity and consistency in completion of assignments, preparation and participation. The evaluation for a grade will de-emphasize the rote learning of science facts and terminology. Your grade will be a reflection of your efforts to understand, process, and investigate the science content. All assignments and written reflections are expected to be thoughtful, purposeful, and developed with integrity that is required in science.

 

Written Assignments (90%) or 90 points
Science notebook 25 points or 25 %
Overall the purpose of the science notebook is to provide you with opportunities to process the readings, discission and presentations from the course and lab/field content. A science notebook is a place to focus your attention on nature and natural events that you encounter in (y)our daily experiences and in class. Science can be thought of as a way of knowing our natural world. Therefore your science notebook will include observations in lab and in the natural world (field), botanical collections/drawings, responses to questions posed in class, lab investigations, processing of questions and or comments related to assigned readings, documentation and observation of monarch life cycle and rearing, at least four phenology observation and walks through the ARB, weather observations, reflections on field excursions (Science Museum and possibly environmental learning center), carbon and ecological footprint (1 & 2), science news and a checklist for completion. Botanical collections may be included in science notebook or in a separate notebook. Two notebook checks: (Tuesday, March 22, 2012: 10 points & Thursday, May 19, 2012: 10 points).

Experimental Design (35 points or 35%):

Short research projects: (10 % or 10 points). Four short research projects (Birds and Feeder Study, Plant Propagation Experiment, Experiments with Danaus plexippus and Investigative or Field study of food) will allow you to become familiar with how we do science including developing research questions, collecting and analyzing data, and drawing conclusions. Each short project will be worth 2.5 points (more direction to come in class).

Complex research projects (25 % or 25 points): including independent and dependent variables, due Tuesday, May 8, 2012. Students will have a choice of a variety of topics to explore via experimental design, including plants, invertebrates, water, and food. The process that will be documented using experimental design will include: observation, coming up with a question, literature review, developing multiple hypotheses, data collection and interpretation, presentation of results, conclusion, including limitations and constraints, and next steps. Raw data will be displayed in a bar, histogram or pie graph using Excel with identification of the descriptive statistics including mean, medium and mode. This experimental project will also include the importance of sampling techniques (including random sampling), replication, controlling variables and using constant procedures. Data analysis and conclusions will incorporate inferential statistical analysis using a T test (for continuous data) or the Chi-square test (categorical data) as a method to determine the significance of the results. See additional assignment description.

Research and Literature Synthesis Paper: (30 points or 30%) due, in lieu of a final examination on Saturday: May 19, 2012 from 10:30-12:30pm (Note time) in NHS 305. You will present the substantive content of your synthesis paper on the finals day.

 

Participation, Preparation and Engagement (Self and instructor rated) (10 points or 10%)
How are these points earned?
Through your consistent and punctual attendance,your consistent preparation of readings for class, your engagement, interest and curiosity in the science content, and your participation and contribution to discussions and classroom conversations. This means that you appear interested and engaged in the science course content. This means that your attention is focused on the class (side conversations or other disruptions are not part of your class interactions). Your participation in small and large group contributes to the learning of all (about science).

 

CUR 260 Course Evaluation

Total points for class: 100 points.

A = 94 -100 total points
A- = 90-93.99 points
B+= 87.5-89.99 points
B= 84-87.49 points
B- = 80-83.90 points
C = work less than 79.9 total points

Syllabus updated: February 3, 2012