• Introduction
• Objectives
• Readings & Articles
• Lecture
• Global View
• Assessment

Introduction

How do you feel about Science?  While most of us are probably indifferent to Science, many students have very strong reactions to it.  Some students are scared to learn about it, having been labeled as “bad at science” at an early age – something I don’t believe.  Others don’t want to understand it because they are afraid that it will conflict with other beliefs.  Still others just aren’t curious about it at all; and others, I hope, are uncontrollably enthusiastic about it.

While most Americans have a general attitude toward science, for the most part, the general public does not understand science.  A 2004 publication by the National Science Board stated that: 

Although Americans are highly supportive of Science and Technology, their knowledge is limited. Many people do not seem to have a firm understanding of basic scientific facts and concepts. Experts in science communication encounter widespread misunderstanding of how science works. Moreover, 2001 surveys conducted by the National Science Foundation and other organizations show minimal gains over time in the public's knowledge of science and the scientific method and suggest that belief in astrology and other forms of pseudo-science is widespread and growing.

This study showed that Americans love what science can do even though they don’t understand exactly what science is.  This lack of understanding of what science is (and isn’t) leads to a fair amount of misplaced skepticism about science. In September of 2011, Psychology Today published a short article that asked the question:  “Are Americans becoming more skeptical of scientific inquiry?”  The answer was:  yes and no.  Yes, Americans are skeptical about some things like the science behind Climate Change – even though the Theory is well accepted by the scientific community – but then Americans are not skeptical about the science behind the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse REsistance) program – even though many sociological studies show that there is no difference in drug and alcohol use outcomes between students who do and students who don’t participate in the program.  In one case, Americans don’t want to believe the science and spend money for one idea that is based on good science; and in another, Americans do want to believe that a scientifically unsupported idea does work and are willing to spend the money on programs based on the idea.  This shows a great paradox: Americans put great trust in science, while at the same time showing great disregard for science.  (The article does say that in 2009, the D.A.R.E. program was re-tooled with the expectation of improving outcomes.)

As Americans, we tend to really want to believe in science, but don’t understand how it works. 

What can we do to better understand it? Well, in this Module, we’ll begin by first understanding what a discipline is and the limits which define some of the disciplines you can study here at the Indiana University – Purdue University, Indianapolis – or any university. We will then focus specifically on Science: what it is and, very importantly, what it isn’t. (Notice that the Lecture is broken into two sections: “What Science Is” and “What Science Isn’t”.) To help you to get into the mindset of this Module, stop here and post the answer to the following question in the class Chat Room: When was the last time you heard someone discuss something “scientific”? Who told you? Did s/he use the word “theory”? If so, what was discussed and what did you think of the information that was presented?

(Note, when you see questions like this that ask you to post to the Chat Room, you are not required to post. However, because we are not in a classroom, discussions are even more difficult to start and maintain. Learning is about discourse, the exchanging of ideas. I like to read what you are thinking and see your ideas! Otherwise, it’s just me talking the entire semester…)