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Appendix: Personnel & Enrollment
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(
3
cr)
BIOL
120
Scientific Thinking
Same as PHYS 120, CHEM 120, MATH 120. Offered in the fall and spring.
The course emphasizes the unifying aspects of the scientific approach to the study of nature and human behavior. About one-third of the course is devoted to scientific inquiry and investigation. The course focuses on fact identification and concept formation and testing. In the remaining parts, the students are exposed to applications of the approach in various disciplines. The course sets some basic concepts and theories of science into broad historical, philosophical, and cultural context and traces the development of these theories to their present status. This serves the double purpose of acquainting students with the appropriate setting in which a given idea gained relevance and exposing them to the evolution toward the current methods of investigation. Moral and ethical issues in science are examined.