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Appendix: Personnel & Enrollment
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PHYS
120
Scientific Thinking
3 cr
Offered in fall, spring and summer.
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 a discussion of the nature of scientific inquiry and investigation. The course focuses on the processes of fact identification and concept formation and testing. In the remaining part, the students are exposed to applications of the approach in various disciplines. The course sets some of the major basic concepts and theories of science into a broad historical, philosophical, and cultural context and traces the development of these theories and concepts to their present status. This serves the double purpose of acquainting the students with the appropriate setting in which a given idea gained relevance and exposing them to the evolution toward the current methods of investigation.