Clare 102 Syllabus
Inquiry in the
Natural World
is one of the Core Area Courses in the Clare College core curriculum at Saint
Bonaventure University. Your Clare College courses are designed to give you a
well-rounded liberal arts education to complement the specialized training
within your major. Inquiry in the Natural
World introduces you to the mode of inquiry that is used in the natural
sciences.
Inquiry in the
Natural World
is not a run-of-the-mill science course. We know that you have already had a
number of years of science courses in high school, and we don’t expect a
one-semester college course will be able to introduce the content of modern
science in much more depth than you may have already had.
Instead, we will be focusing on the process of scientific inquiry. We will
be using key discoveries in the history of Western science as examples through
which we can explore how scientific advances happen. Since we are focusing on
process, there will be a minimum of traditional lectures. Instead, you will be actively involved in
discussions and group projects in class. And your performance in this work in
class will have an effect on your overall course grade.
Inquiry in the
Natural World
is organized in 13 one-week modules. Each module will start with a large
lecture in Dresser Auditorium, attended by all sections of the course. The
remaining classes will be in smaller sections and will emphasize class
discussions and group work.
With each new topic, you will receive a description
of the discussions and group learning assignments that are planned for the
week. These activities will require preparation on your part, as described in
the handout for each week. This preparation is an essential part of your
participation in Inquiry in the Natural
World. If you do not prepare to participate in class, your grade will
suffer. These topic objectives can also
be found on the course webpage.
There will be three examinations during the semester
and one comprehensive final examination. The examinations will be administered
in each section. You are
expected to take the exams at the scheduled times, unless
you have spoken to your instructor far in advance about other
arrangements. If you have non-academic
conflicts with the scheduled exam times, you should resolve them now or speak
to an instructor ASAP. An unexcused
absence from any of the exams will result in a score of zero points. There
will be NO makeups given for unexcused exam absences. You will only be permitted to make up a missed examination if your absence was due to documented illness
or emergency and if you have informed an instructor in a timely
manner (i.e. email or phone your instructor within 24 hours of
your missed exam). This rule will be
strictly enforced. If you have a
documented reason to miss an exam, it is your responsibility to contact your
instructor. Failure to do so will
result in a zero for the exam.
The examinations will consist of objective questions
(multiple choice, true/false, etc) and essays.
The questions will be directed toward both scientific content and the
process of scientific inquiry.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
St. Bonaventure University
has an official policy to protect the integrity of the academic process.
The policy can be found in the Student Handbook where a list of procedures and
unacceptable practices is given. All work on tests, quizzes, and
assignments (other than group projects) should be your own. Avoid
plagiarism, which is covered in points 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 in the list of
unacceptable practices.
Attendance in classes is strongly encouraged.
The material covered in the large lectures will not be recapped in the smaller
lecture settings, so it would be unwise to miss them. Some of the smaller
section meetings will include group learning exercises for which a written
product will be handed in and graded. You are expected to
attend class and be present for these active learning exercises. If you cannot attend class, it is your
responsibility to contact your instructor and make other arrangements. You will receive a zero on
any assignments on days that you missed.
Roll
will be taken intermittently and will be used in determining the final grade.
Attendance problems will also be reported to such authorized persons as
academic advisors, student counselors, and parents.
The
final grade for this course is determined as follows:
Examination 1 (topics 1,2,3,4) 100 points
Examination 2 (topics 5,6,7,8 ) 100
Examination 3 (topics 9,10,11,12) 100
Comprehensive final examination
(topic 13 + all earlier
topics) 100
Class activities 100
A
total of 500 points is available. Your final grade will be calculated as
follows:
A more than 465 points B- 400-414 points D+ 335-349
points
A- 450-464
points C+ 385-399
points D 315-334
points
B+ 435-449
points C 365-384
points D- 300-314
points
B 415-434 points C- 350-364 points F less than 300 points
A
few notes:
Midterm grades are assigned for a reason. This usually indicates the direction your grade is approaching
and should not be taken lightly.
However, your final grade is based upon the above criteria.
Your
laboratory grade is a separate value determined by the lab
instructor. Though the content of
lecture and lab are related, the grades do not depend on each other.
Withdraw policy
According to University
policy, the official final withdraw date is April 7th
. The instructors will stick by these
dates, so please be aware of it if this becomes a necessary step. You must have your course instructor sign
the appropriate forms. If you drop the
lab, you must have your lab instructor sign the forms.
Lecture
Instructors
Dr. Walter Budzinski Room 21 DeLaRoche 375-2669 wbudzins@sbu.edu
Dr.
David DiMattio Room 21 DeLaRoche 375-2007 ddimatti@sbu.edu
Dr.
Ted Georgian Room 207A DeLaRoche 375-2631 tgeorgian@sbu.edu
Dr.
George Lapennas Room 219 DeLaRoche 375-2639 lapennas@yahoo.com
Prof.
James Miller Room 207B DeLaRoche 375- 2632 jmiller@sbu.edu
All instructors have regularly scheduled office
hours; these are posted on their office doors and will be announced in class.
Instructors are eager to discuss any aspect of the class in addition to
answering your questions; please visit
them during office hours. If you are
not available during any of your instructor’s scheduled office hours, please
make an appointment to see your instructor at another time.
Fee for course learning
material
A fee has been charged to each student enrolled in
CLARE 102 and CLRL 102 in the amount of $35.
This course fee will cover the distribution of a laboratory manual and
the textbook How Science Really Works 1st edition by Dr. Joel
Benington. No other textbook will be
required for these course.
http://web.sbu.edu/physics/faculty/physics.dimattio.html
The schedule of topics on the following page lists
what will be covered each day in class, as well as when the examinations are
and what material will be contained in each examination. Each week, you will be
given a handout that describes the specific pages we will expect you to cover
in your reading of the textbook, as well as what we would like you to think
about as you read the supplemental readings. Remember that the textbook
contains only some of the material for this course! Each topic is covered in
three class meetings; the first meeting is as a large lecture (all sections
combined) in Murphy Auditorium and the second and third meetings are as
individual sections.
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SPRING 2004 |
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Sun |
Monday |
Tues |
Wednesday |
Thurs |
Friday |
Sat |
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JAN |
18 |
19- Topic 1 |
20 |
21-Topic1 (M) |
22 |
23-Topic 1 |
24 |
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25 |
26-Topic 1 |
27 |
28-Topic 2 (M) |
29 |
30-Topic 2 |
31 |
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FEB |
1 |
2-Topic 2 |
3 |
4-Topic 3(M) |
5 |
6-Topic 3 |
7 |
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8 |
9-Topic 3 |
10 |
11-Topic 4(M) |
12 |
13-Topic 4 |
14 |
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15 |
16-Topic 4 |
17 |
18-Topic 5(M) |
19 |
20 Exam1 |
21 |
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22 |
23-Topic 5 |
24 |
25-Topic 5 |
26 |
27-Topic 6 (M) |
28 |
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MAR |
29 |
1-Topic 6 |
2 |
3-Topic 6 |
4 |
5-Topic 7 (M) |
6 |
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7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
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14 |
15-Topic 7 |
16 |
17-Topic 7 |
18 |
19-Topic 8(M) |
20 |
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21 |
22-Topic 8 |
23 |
24-Topic 8 |
25 |
26 Exam2 |
27 |
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APR |
28 |
29-Topic 9(M) |
30 |
31-Topic 9 |
1 |
2-Topic 9 |
3 |
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4 |
5-Topic 10 (M) |
6 |
7-Topic 10 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
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11 |
12 |
13 |
14-Topic11(M) |
15 |
16-Topic 11 |
17 |
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18 |
19-Topic 11 |
20 |
21-Topic 12(M) |
22 |
23-Topic 12 |
24 |
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MAY |
25 |
26-Topic12 |
27 |
28-Topic 13(M) |
29 |
30-Exam 3 |
1 |
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2 |
3-Topic 13 |
4 |
5-Topic 13 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
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9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
M= Murphy Aud.
Topic 1 – Dr. Georgian What is inquiry in the natural world?
Topic 2 – Dr. DiMattio Keep Looking Up!
Topic 3 – Dr. DiMattio Motion
Topic 4 – Dr. Budzinski Who is this guy Newton?
Topic 5 – Prof. Miller Early Ideas about Matter
Topic 6 – Dr. Benington Discovering "Airs"
Topic 7 – Dr. DiMattio Atoms and Molecules: Classifying the Elements
Topic 8 – Dr. Budzinski Energy and the Price We Pay
Topic 9 - Dr. Lapennas How does life use energy?
Topic 10 – Dr. Lapennas What is Life?
Topic 11 – Dr. Georgian Why do we resemble our parents?
Topic 12 – Dr. Adam Brown, School of Education How do living things evolve?
Topic 13 – Dr. Steve Stahl, Dean of Arts and Science Geology topics
Final Exam Saturday May 8th, 2004 3:45pm