Week-by-week
Doing Science is
an 8 credit program offered in the Fall of 2003.
Meeting time: Saturdays 9 AM to 5 PM. Meeting place: Lib 3500.
Online discussion group and chat room
Welcome! This site is here to keep you informed. Please visit it often! Breaking news and items of interest will be posted on this page. Please use the links to the left to access program information.
Evaluations:
you can find the forms here.
You'll need MS-Word. Follow the instructions to install the forms on your
computer. Please bring 2 copies of your self evaluation and 1 copy of
the faculty evaluation.
The Doing Science CRN is 10188. The evaluation conference schedule for Kevin's students is here.
Evaluations (self and faculty) may be turned in to the program secretary Julie Douglass in Seminar Bldg 3127.
Are you wondering what you're supposed to know? Here's a checklist along with some example problems. Some answers have now been posted as well. You should review these pages before our next class, on the 6th of December.
Some of you wanted a copy of the statistics problems we were working on in class on November 8. The problems are available here. We also discussed real and made-up data for coin tosses. A worksheet with sample data on this is available from www.lhs.logan.k12.ut.us/~jsmart/streakwrk.htm
Genetically modified food: check out this list of recent articles in the magazine New Scientist. This magazine is published in the United Kingdom. Does that matter, for our purposes?
Here is an article that says we're due for a major worldwide flu epidemic. Their reasoning is based on a questionable assumption regarding probabilities. Can you find the problem?
Please note: the following lecture outlines are not intended to be a complete exposition of the ideas as presented in class.
- Week 2: 11 October 03: Epistemic values, and an introduction to modern evolutionary concepts
- Week 4: 25 October 03: Understanding the biological world, from Plato to Darwin and Wallace
- Week 5: 1 November 03: Mechanisms of inheritance and the neodarwinian synthesis
- Week 7: 15 November 03: DNA and inheritance
Science, society, and ethics: Why would someone want to create an artificial virus in the laboratory? (see also here) Should this be allowed? Post your comments to the online discussion group.
Take a look at this! What does it tell you about what you see versus what you think? Try reading it slowly, and then try just skimming it!
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteers are in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by itslef but the wrod as a wlohe.