RETURN TO PHYSICAL SCIENCE 

GOALS FOR PHYSICAL SCIENCE:

In general, this course describes science and scientific procedures to people who are not science majors. Before registering for this course, you should make sure that you do not need something like College Physics, Engineering Physics, General Chemistry, or some other science course for your major. This is science for non-scientists, and it will work for your graduation requirement if you are not majoring in science, engineering, or another closely related field. You should check requirements at the college or university where you intend to transfer.

 

  1. One goal of any science course is to allow you to experience the type of reasoning and activities that scientists engage in. That sounds mysterious, but it really just means making theory and experiment agree. The slide show Whut's a Scientist? gives you some more explanation about this. This course will be built around a several theories, and it will look at science from the point of view of trying to verify them by observation and experiment. You will be asked to reason in the way described here in this paragraph.
  2. Although science often contains a heavy math component, many principles of science can be discussed from the conceptual (that is, nearly non-mathematical) point of view. Therefore, in the exams and the classroom work you will be asked to describe various scientific concepts and principles from a non-mathematical point of view. See the course schedule for a more complete list of topics.
  3. Critical thinking and communication are important for any field of human thought including physical science. Therefore you will be asked to demonstrate these in various exercises and lab reports. Although tests and quizzes are nearly non-mathematical, there will be some calculation (calculator style) in some of the labs.
  4. You will be asked to find certain information related to science using library and possible internet resources.
  5. No course can ever present everything there is to know about any field of study. Therefore, you should approach this course from the point of view of "learning how to learn" the subject.