Scientific Reasoning, X200, Fall 2013

Instructor
Email
Office Hours
Textbook

Nick Zautra

Grading

Weekly Assignments 25%

Attendance/Class Participation 20%
Class Presentation 20%
Midterm Exam 15%
Final Exam 20%

nzautra@indiana.edu
Goodbody Hall, 009: Wednesday /Friday 11:15-12:15
Understanding Scientific Reasoning, 5th ed., by Ronald N. Giere (Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth, 2006). ISBN:015506326X

Science...is not like the onion in the often used analogy of stripping away layer after
layer to get at some core, central, fundamental truth. Rather it's like the magic well: no
matter how many buckets of water you remove, there's always another one to be had. It's
like the widening ripples of a pond, the even larger circumference in touch with more and
more of what's outside the circle, the unknown. This growing forefront is where science
occurs. - Stuart Firestein
Class Overview: Science plays an ever-increasing role in our society. As the public role of
science increases, and as new technologies that effect our lives are developed and implemented, it
becomes more and more important to understand scientific claims, and to know what questions to
ask to evaluate them critically. The objective of the course is to help you acquire cognitive skills
useful for understanding and evaluating scientific material as found in college textbooks and in a
wide variety of both popular and professional sources.
Class Structure: The class will be largely lecture/activity-style on the Monday and Wednesday
meetings and seminar-style on the Friday meetings.
Overall Grading System: Because the majority of the time and effort you will spend on this
class will take the form of weekly assignments, in-class activities, and participation during the
Friday meetings, your grade will be largely based on that effort, not simply on exams.
Weekly Assignments: On (most) Fridays, a short (about 300-400 words) homework assignment
will be due. The assignment should be an analysis and critique of the reasoning and conclusions
exhibited in a primary source by connecting the concepts from the recent textbook readings to the
weeks assigned primary-source reading, which will be loaded onto Oncourse.
Attendance/Class Participation: Classes will involve a great deal of participation. You are
expected to have read the assignments and be ready to discuss the material in depth. Attendance
will count toward the participation grade. Your overall grade for the course will be lowered by a
half letter grade for every unexcused absence you have beyond two permitted absences.
Class Presentation: At the beginning of the semester, you will sign up to co-lead one Friday
discussion section with one other student. You will prepare a brief (10-minute) presentation on
the assigned reading, then lead the class in an in-depth discussion on the assigned reading.
Midterm & Final Exams: The exams will cover topics and concepts introduced in the primary
textbook. Exams will be in the form of short-answer questions and short essays.

Monday/Wednesday Class Schedule

Ideally, readings for each week should be completed by the first class of that week, but it is only
necessary to prepare the first listed entry for Monday and the second entry for Wednesday.
Aug. 26-30
- Welcome, introduction to class (No readings)
- Stuart Firestein, Ignorance: How it Drives Science. (Oncourse)
Sept. 2-6
- Labor Day: No Class
- Ch. 1
Sept. 9-13
- Ch. 2.1- 2.2
- Ch. 2.3- 2.6
Sept. 16-20
- Ch. 2.7- 2.9
- Ch. 2.10- 2.12
Sept. 23-27
- Ch. 3.1- 3.3
- Ch. 3.4- 3.5
Sept. 30-Oct. 4
- Ch. 4
- Ch. 4, cont.
Oct. 7-11
- Statistics Introduction (No readings)
- Ch. 5.1- 5.3
Oct. 14-18
- Ch. 5.4- 5.7
- Ch. 5.8- 5.11
Oct. 21-25
- Midterm Review (No readings)
- MIDTERM : OCTOBER 23RD
Oct. 28-Nov.1
- Ch. 6.1- 6.2
- Ch. 6.3- 6.4
Nov. 4-8
- Ch. 6.5- 6.7
- Ch. 7.1- 7.2
Nov. 11-15
- Ch. 7.3- 7.5
- Ch. 8.1- 8.3
Nov. 18-22
- Ch. 8.4- 8.5
- Ch. 8.6- 8.9
Nov. 25 - 29
- Ch. 9.1- 9.7
- No Class November 27th Thanksgiving Break
Dec. 2-6
- Ch. 9.8-9.10
- Ch. 10.1- 10.2
Dec 9-13
- Ch. 10.3-10.4
- Final Exam Review: FINAL EXAM FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20TH 2:45PM-4:45PM

Friday Discussion Group Class Schedule

Friday readings and weekly assignments should be completed prior to the Friday meeting of each
week. Homework should be submitted online via Oncourse under Assignments.

Norwood Hanson, Observation, in Theories and Observation in Science.

No homework.
August 30th

September 6th Carl Sagan, The Fine Art of Baloney Detection in The Demon-Haunted World.
Homework: Select 5 types of fallacious arguments as presented in the reading, and provide one original
example of your own for each fallacy.
September 13th Charles Lyell, The Progress of Geology from Principles of Geology; Stephen Jay
Gould, False Premise, Good Science in The Flamingos Smile. Homework: 300-400 words on the
methodology issues therein.
September 20th A. Pannekoek, The Discovery of Neptune, Centaurus, 3(1953), pp. 126-137.
Homework: 300-400 words on the discovery of Neptune, with particular emphasis on the concept of a
scientific model.
September 27th Shuster and Lavoisier, Chapter 4: Different Theories, Different Facts:
'Oxygen' vs. 'Phlogiston' in 18th Century Chemistry in An Introduction to the History
and Social Studies of Science. Homework: 2 argument analysis exercises from pp. 4757.
October 4th Martin Gardner, Chapter 10: Freud's Flawed Theory of Dreams in Did
Adam and Eve Have Navels? Debunking Pseudoscience, Carl Sagan, The Man in the Moon and the Face
on Mars in The Demon-Haunted World. Homework: 300-400 word response.
October 11th Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Deadly Immunity, Gillian Woodford, Autism/MMR

link dealt fatal blow. Homework: Respond to the questions located at the beginning of the
readings in short essay form.
October 18th FALL BREAK: NO CLASS
October 25th Stephen Jay Gould, excerpts from The Mismeasure of Man. Homework: 300-400

word response.
November 1st Phillip Kitcher, Believing Where We Cannot Prove, Stephen

Jay Gould,
"Evolution as Fact and Theory." Homework: 300-400 word response.
November 8th Sir Ronald Fisher, Cigarettes, Cancer and Statistics, Parascandola, The debate

over smoking and lung cancer. Homework: 300-400 word response.

November 15th Regal, Rooney, and Wandas, Facilitated Communication: An Experimental Evaluation.
Homework: 300-400 word response.
November 22nd Donohue and Wolfers, Uses and Abuses of Empirical Evidence in the Death Penalty
Debate. Homework: 300-400 word response.
November 29th THANKSGIVING BREAK: NO CLASS
December 6th Sugarman and Sulmasy, Chapter 1: The Many Methods of Medical Ethics. Homework:
300-400 word response.
December 13th Rouse and Arce: The Drug-Laden Balloon: U.S. Military Assistance and Coca

Productions in the Western Andes. Homework: 300-400 word response.

Academic Honesty: Group learning such as the creation of study groups is encouraged.
However, unless otherwise noted, all assignments must be written individually. For general
information, students can refer to the IU Code of Ethics at: http://www.dsa.indiana.edu/Code/
Statement for Students with Disabilities: The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that all

students with disabilities be guaranteed reasonable accommodations to ensure an environment

conducive to learning. Please contact the instructor as soon as possible with any questions or
concerns. Disability Services for Students can be found at: http://www.indiana.edu/~iubdss/