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Explore how science works and what constitutes "good" science through case studies drawn from a wide spectrum of people's experience, for example superheros, movies, and real world issues such as global warming.
Syllabus
Week Two: Numbers and Equations. Determine the accuracy and precision of a measurement. Analyze a numerically based argument in a news article. Interpret a graph.
Week Three: Science Methodology. Execute a quantitative experiment. Propose an explanation of the results of the experiment. Propose further tests of the explanation.
Week Four: Scientific Community. Determine if a particular method of analysis is scientific or not. Discuss the sociology of the practice of science.
Week Five: Classical Mechanics. Describe the motion of an object in terms of its position, velocity, and acceleration.Analyze a physical situation to determine when there is a net force on an object from either a description of its motion or the interactions it has with other objects. Identify “correct” and “incorrect” physical motions and interactions in video clips.
Week Six: Superhero Week! Design your own superhero,Justify the origin and powers of a self-designed superhero. Rate the origin and powers of the other superheroes.
Week Seven: More Science. Explain the range of applicability of a scientific theory. Explain the difference between disproving a theory and expanding a theory.
Week Eight: Science Fiction or Science Fact? Identify fundamental versus technological limits. Use your understanding of these limits to evaluate the likelihood of various technologies.
Week Nine: Science and Society. Explain the arguments presented in the case studies in Chapter 6. Provide your own analysis of at least one of the case studies.
Week Ten: Evaluate whether or not Intelligent Design is a scientific theory. Evaluate the issue of global warming using the criteria developed in this class.
Instructors
- - Physics; Office of Teaching and Learning
Content Designer
The University of California, Irvine (commonly known as UC Irvine) is a campus of the University of California, founded in 1965 and located in Irvine.
Located in the centre of Orange County, UC Irvine serves the five most populated regions in the United States.
Platform
Coursera is a digital company offering massive open online course founded by computer teachers Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller Stanford University, located in Mountain View, California.
Coursera works with top universities and organizations to make some of their courses available online, and offers courses in many subjects, including: physics, engineering, humanities, medicine, biology, social sciences, mathematics, business, computer science, digital marketing, data science, and other subjects.
