CLASS TIME: MW 11:00-11:50

Friday Discussion Sections

Section #001: F 10:00-10:50 BEH 104

Section #002: F 11:00-11:50 BEH 104

Section #003: F 12:00-12:50 BEH 104

Graduate Teaching Assistant:

Mr. John Wolfe

Faculty Office Building (FAO) 242

813-974-5811

jwolfe@luna.cas.usf.edu

Office hours:

Section #004: F 10:00-10:50 HMS 210

Section #005: F 11:00-11:50 HMS 210

Section #006: F 12:00-12:50 HMS 210

Graduate Teaching Assistant:

Mr. Nathan Ellebracht

Faculty Office Building (FAO) 242

813-974-5811

ellebrac@helios.acomp.usf.edu

Office hours:

This class can satisfy EITHER the USF general education requirement in the social sciences or in the natural sciences. It ALSO satisfies the Gordon Rule Communications requirement.

Objectives and Contents:

What percentage of young people use illegal drugs? Is there a gene responsible for homosexual behavior? Are carbon dioxide emissions making the world warmer?

In a democratic society, we all need to participate in decisions that depend on knowing the answers to some of these questions. But how do we go about finding the answers? The objective of this class is learn to become a better “scientific citizen”; i.e. to be able to better understand and participate in the process by which we come to conclusions about the natural and social world that matter to us as a society. To be able to do this is a skill, and skills are best learned by practice. Throughout the course, therefore, we will focus on examples like the ones above to practice our scientific reasoning skills.

TEXTS:

Ø R. N. Giere, Understanding Scientific Reasoning.

Ø J. D. Watson, The Double Helix.

Ø H. Collins and T. Pinch, The Golem: What you should know about science.

Ø Virtual Course Packet (all available on Blackboard)

Topics; readings:

I: Introduction

Section on Academic Misconduct, p11-12, 2002 Undergraduate Catalog.

Watson, Double Helix
Giere 2.1-3

II: Testing Theories
Giere 2.4-11, 3
Golem 4-6

III: Science, Nonscience and the Fringes

Giere 4
Golem 1,

Popper “Conjectures and Refutations” (VCP)

IV: Statistical Hypotheses

Giere 5-6

V: Causation
Giere 7-8
Hume An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, §7 (VPC)

VI: Case studies
“Summary for Policymakers” report on global warming of the IPCC. (VPC)

TBA

Assignments and Grades:

Your grade for this course will based on the following:

Quizzes:

§ There will be a total of four quizzes. Each quiz will take between 20 and 50 minutes to complete.

§ Quizzes will cover material given in BOTH lectures AND readings.

§ Quizzes will have a variety of question types including, but not limited to, true/false, short answer, fill in the blank, multiple choice, and identification/explanation of passages of text.

§ Quizzes will be graded by points. You must earn each point. For instance, if you answer every question incorrectly, you will receive 0 points for that quiz. If you answer every question correctly, you will receive the maximum number of points=25.

§ Your combined score on quizzes will constitute 30% of your course grade.

Papers:

· There are THREE required papers for this course.

· Essay topics will be assigned by the professor. Details about essay topics and instructions on how to write a successful philosophy paper will be provided as the semester progresses.

· These papers are NOT research papers. Not only is no research recommended, additional research is prohibited by the terms of the assignments. With the sole exception of a dictionary, you may not consult, cite, or otherwise use any sources not assigned for this course in writing your papers. You may not consult or cite Internet resources in preparing or writing your papers.

· Your essays must be your own original work. Buying, renting, or copying anyone else’s work is considered academic dishonesty or plagiarism and will be severely penalized. See below on Academic Dishonesty and Disruption.

· Each paper will be aprox. 1500 words and is worth 15% of your grade (each).

Short Homeworks.

There will be three short homework assignments. These will be graded pass/fail and are worth 5% of your grade (each).

Participation:

· Participation in your discussion section will constitute 10% of your course grade. Note that your participation grade can mean the difference between an A and a B in the course!

· The graduate Teaching Assistant for your discussion section, in consultation with the professor, will determine your participation grade.

· Participation grades range from A to F. To receive an A for participation, you must both attend class regularly and contribute intelligently and regularly to discussion. To contribute intelligently, you must read and be prepared to discuss the assigned texts.

Course Policies:

Attendance:

· Regular attendance of both lectures and discussion section is mandatory. If you must be absent, you should notify your Teaching Assistant in advance of the missed class whenever possible. Notification does NOT mean that your absence is automatically excused. Each absence over and above three will result in a lowering of your grade.

· If you plan to miss class in order to observe a religious holiday, your absence will be excused if and only if you notify the Teaching Assistant by the second meeting of your discussion section of the name and date of the holiday.

Assignments:

· If you miss class for any reason, it is your responsibility to find out the reading or other assignments by asking another student or emailing your Teaching Assistant.

Tardiness:

· BE ON TIME! This class only meets for 50 minutes, so it is especially important that you arrive on time. Recurrent tardiness will lower your participation grade.

Preparedness:

· You are expected to bring your book or the assigned reading to every class meeting. You are expected to read every assignment.

Etiquette:

· You may consume beverages, but not food in class.

· You may not talk with other students during lectures or discussion. You are expected to give your undivided and respectful attention to whoever is speaking, whether that is the Professor, the Teaching Assistant, or another student in your discussion section who has been called upon to offer a question or comment.

Cell phones and other electronic devices:

· TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONES, PAGERS, PALM PILOTS, HEADPHONES AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES BEFORE ENTERING CLASS.

· Audio and/or video recordings of lectures are strictly prohibited. You may not record, circulate, sell, lease, or otherwise distribute transcripts of lectures or lecture notes for this course.

Learning Disabilities:

· If you have a learning disability that you believe requires special accommodation in this course, you must SPEAK in person to the PROFESSOR no later than the third lecture. Be prepared to provide the appropriate documentation.

Academic Dishonesty and Disruption:

· While students are encouraged to discuss the material, and even the problems, all submitted work must be your own. The university has strict sanctions for plagiarism: it is your responsibility to understand these issues. Academic dishonesty will be pursued to the full extent of the law: No second chances will be given. If you are caught cheating or plagiarizing in this course, the minimum penalty will be an F for your course grade. To read USF policies, go to the USF Undergraduate Catalog at: http://www.ugs.usf.edu/catalogs/0304/adadap.htm

· Academic dishonesty includes cheating and plagiarism. If you have any doubts about what constitutes cheating on a given assignment or quiz or about what plagiarism is, you should consult the professor and/or the teaching assistant before it is too late!

· The University of South Florida has an account with an automated plagiarism detection service that allows instructors to submit student assignments to be checked for plagiarism. I reserve the right to 1) request that assignments be submitted to me as electronic files and 2) electronically submit assignments to Turnitin.com. Assignments are compared automatically with a huge database of journal articles, web articles, and previously submitted papers. The instructor receives a report showing exactly how a student’s paper was plagiarized. For more information, go to www.turnitin.com and http://www.ugs.usf.edu/catalogs/0304/adadap.htm#plagiarism.

Philosophy 1401, Spring 2004

Friday Discussion Sections