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Introduction to Oceanography with Professor Chamberlin This page last updated: Monday, April 27, 2009 7:23 PM 2. Student Learning Outcomes: What You Are Expected to Know and Demonstrate by the End of the Semester Many, if not most, of you wonder why you have to take a science class, especially a physical science class, which oceanography is. After all, few of you want to become scientists and as far as you are concerned, science has nothing to do with your life. You're just here for the credit and because college transfer requirements demand that you take a physical science class, right? Well, if you approach this course with an open mind, you might discover that this course has everything to do with your life, regardless of any career or life goal you choose. First, any science class demands that you develop vocabulary skills. In fact, learning the vocabulary of science can be as challenging as learning a new language. But you should not view this task as an unpleasant one. Learning how to learn new words can be one of the most valuable skills you will ever develop. It will help you in business, in travel, in relations with people and in figuring out anything new that you pursue. The world of business, arts, literature, sociology, technology and the like each have their own unique language. An important goal of a science class is to help you develop the skills to quickly learn new vocabularies. Second, science classes expose you to the foundations of human knowledge. Scientists work to obtain repeatable and verifiable evidence of how nature works through observations and experimentation. Nonetheless, the interpretation of those data may vary depending on the availability of new data or simply a new perspective. As new information is discovered and verified, human knowledge grows. But this approach is not confined to scientists. Any person faced with an important decision in life has to weigh the evidence and perhaps seek pertinent information. All of us practice the scientific method in our lives and work. The choices we make day to day and over the years depend on our ability to find, analyze and apply information. Science classes improve your ability to arrive at the right decision more often and more quickly. Thirdly, science classes teach you that human problems have no simple answers. In some cases, there may be multiple solutions to a problem. In others, there may be no reasonable answer at all. Global warming, overfishing, habitat destruction, hunger, disease, poverty and all of the myriad problems of the world are immense problems with no easy solutions. Local problems of air quality, water quality, food quality, crime, overcrowding, education present more immediate challenges. Science classes prepare you to analyze these problems, break them into smaller parts, solve the small parts first and seek tentative solutions for the difficult parts. Learning about science teaches you to be a science literate person and makes you a better informed decision maker where matters of local and global human importance are concerned. In the broadest sense, science classes give you a blueprint for living, a way of thinking, an approach to the world that helps you better apply yourself to your life and career. While some of the topics may seem far afield from your interests, your approach to learning them applies directly to how you will grapple with unfamiliar concepts and ideas that you encounter in other fields of study or endeavor. Consider this course a 24-hour fitness center for your brain! Finally, a major aim of science classes is to produce a science literate public. To give you a glimpse of how scientists and sociologists and education specialists define science literacy, consider these three characteristics of a science literate person from Hurd (1998):
If you are successful in this course, you will be well on your way towards achieving the above goals, expanding the horizon of what is possible in your life, and becoming a science literate person! In this course, I expect students to develop the skills, knowledge, and understanding to successfully demonstrate the following:
Think about these learning outcomes and consider how you may work to achieve them as you explore the science of oceanography in the coming weeks. |
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