Course Catalogue

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Utilising science is essential to being a successful citizen: scientific findings have direct applications for contemporary challenges, including those related to climate change, social inequality, and public health. The course provides students with fundamental tools required for successfully meeting these challenges, by developing students' scientific literacy and ability to navigate the boundary between science and wider society.

The course centres on real world debates about socially relevant scientific and pseudo-scientific theories and equips students to address these debates via the scientific method. The course will encourage students to practically engage with these challenges - that sit at the heart of the sciences' relationship to society - and to better develop their capacities as scientifically literate citizens in a world facing civilizational challenges. The course will also introduce students to different scientific ways of knowing and the philosophical differences between diverse scientific disciplines, with a focus on the distinctive ways in which the social and cognitive sciences impact individuals and society.

Students will gain practical skills in assessing, reporting on, and communicating the way science impacts both their own decision making and public policy, with specific applications to climate change, social inequality, and public health. They will do so in a group setting, which will require them to distribute research tasks and collaborate on a research report and a short podcast.

Timetable on-campus teaching: 

10x 2-hour Collaborative Class, 1 per week.

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The standard assessments for this course are: 

■ RESEARCH REPORTS (1000 words; weighted 40%) will propose a scientifically literate solution to a societal problem covered in the course.

■ PERSONAL REFLECTION (300 words; weighted 20%): Students will individually reflect on the process of crafting a team-written report.

■ PODCAST (~15 mins; weighted 40%): Research teams will produce a podcast discussing a social problem connected to scientific findings.

If required, for instance where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, the following alternatives are available: 

■ Individual report of equivalent length as alternative to group research report.

■ Individual reflection of equivalent length as alternative to reflection on group research.

■ Individual video of equivalent length as alternative to podcast.

Further reasonable adjustments may be provided where necessary. Students are encouraged to consult with the course convenor.  

■ Empower students to make scientifically literate contributions to the public policy sphere.

■ Encourage students to think critically about connections between scientific methodology and social decision-making.

■ Provide a robust, foundational understanding of the scientific method and differences between science and pseudoscience.

■ Equip students with the conceptual tools to recognise and evaluate value-laden decisions in the development and deployment of science-based public programs.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

1. Apply scientific findings to contemporary social problems.

2. Explain key concepts in major science-facing debates around public policy, including climate policy and reliance on medical experts.

3. Critically discuss public policy decisions that rely on or impact scientific investigation, including the ethical implications of data collection and decision-making based on algorithmic models.

4. Critically evaluate the ethical, social, and cultural values that underlie the subjects of scientific investigation and content of scientific theories.

5. Investigate the scientific basis for public policy decisions.

6. Deliver research reports in a group setting.