GEN1000 Perspectives on General Education
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This module examines how scientists apply critical reasoning skills and a standard experimental procedure to solve various theoretical and practical problems. Specifically, three general issues are addressed, namely, (1) Why do we need to think like a scientist, (2) How to think like a scientist, and (3) What is the development of scientific reasoning. Topics such as astrology, parapsychology, extrasensory perception (ESP), creationism versus evolutionary theory, alternative medication, and progress of science are covered to help students develop, apply, and consolidate their scientific reasoning skills. The humanistic and social impacts of the modern scientific reasoning will also be examined.
Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
a. identify sources of knowledge and how they are subject to various perceptual and cognitive biases.
b. familiarize with the operation of scientific method and the criteria of adequacy that distinguish between science and pseudoscience.
c. apply scientific reasoning in analyzing normal and paranormal physical or psychological issues in our daily lives to evaluate their humanistic and social impacts.
d. examine some of the most important conceptions (e.g. falsification and paradigm shift) during the development of modern scientific methodology
1. What is knowledge?
1.1 Justified true belief
1.2 Good reason and bad reason
1.3 Scientific knowledge and non-scientific knowledge
2. Why do we need to think like a scientist?
2.1 Bias on perceptions
2.2 Bias on memories
2.3 Bias on cognitive intuition
2.4 Bias on logical reasoning
3. How to think like a scientist?
3.1 Hypotheses formulation and verification
3.2 Explanation: deduction and induction
3.3 Prediction
3.4 Scientific control
3.4.1 Randomization
3.4.2 Double-blinded test
3.4.3 Placebo effect
3.4.4 Ceteris paribus
3.5 The humanistic and social impacts of scientific reasoning
4. What is the difference between science and pseudoscience?
4.1 Testability
4.2 Fruitfulness
4.3 Scope
4.4 Simplicity
4.5 Conservation
5. Case study
5.1 Astrology
5.2 Extrasensory perception (ESP)
5.3 Déjà vu
5.4 Miracle cure
5.5 Near death experience (NDE)
6. Development of scientific methodology
6.1 Hempel: D-N model and verification
6.2 Popper: falsification
6.3 Kuhn: scientific revolution and paradigm shift
6.4 Lakatos: research program
1. Class participation (10%)
2. Short Reflective Papers (30%)
3. Mid-term Test (30%)
4. Group project (oral presentation and written report) (30%)
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2. * Chalmers, A. F. (2000). What is This Thing Called Science? (3rd ed.). Buckingham: Open University Press.
3. Dennett, D C (2014) Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking. London: Penguin Books.
4. Flew, A. (ed.) (1987). Readings in the Philosophical Problems of Parapsychology. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books.
5. Godfrey-Smith, P. (2003). Theory and Reality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
6. Goldacre, B. (2008) Bad Science, Harper Collins
7. Hines, T. (1998). Pseudoscience and the Paranormal: A Critical Examination of the Evidence. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books.
8. Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. (New York L Farrar, Straus and Girous).
9. Klee, R. (1996). Introduction to the Philosophy of Science: Cutting Nature at Its Seams. New York: Oxford University Press.
10. Kuhn, T. S. (1996). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (3rd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
11. Levitin, D J (2016) A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age. New York: Dutton
12. Popper, K. R. (1989). Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge (5th ed.). London: Routledge.
13. Porter, B. (2002) The Voice of Reason: Fundamentals of Critical Thinking. Oxford University Press.
14. Sagan, C. (1996). The Demon-Haunted World. New York: Random House.
15. * Schick, T. & Vaughn, L (2011). How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age (6th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
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