Students who successfully complete the Scientific Inquiry requirements of Science as a Way of Knowing, Scientific Inquiry Lab, and Scientific Inquiry Elective will be able to:
Science as a Way of Knowing
Students will be able to:
- Identify the types of questions that can and cannot be answered by science, and recognize the strengths and limitations of science in answering questions about the natural world.
- Critically evaluate the assumptions that underlie scientific investigations.
- Substantiate the claim that scientific knowledge is durable but can evolve with new evidence and perspectives.
- Connect evidence to the predictions made by theories and hypotheses, and then assess the extent to which the presented evidence supports or refutes a scientific claim.
- Evaluate the role of creativity, curiosity, skepticism, open‐mindedness and diligence of individuals in scientific discovery and innovation.
- Recognize the uncertainty inherent in the scientific approach and evaluate scientists’ efforts to minimize and understand its effect through experimental design, data collection, data analysis and interpretation.
- Evaluate the role of communication, collaboration, diversity and peer review in promoting scientific progress and the quality of scientific evidence and ideas, and ensuring compliance with ethical standards.
- Determine the extent to which science both influences and is influenced by the societies
- Apply scientific approaches to problem solving and decision‐making in their own lives, and evaluate how scientific knowledge informs policies, regulations, and personal decisions.
Scientific Inquiry - Lab
Students will be able to:
- Pose meaningful scientific questions and generate testable scientific hypotheses.
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Plan, design and conduct scientific investigations in a collaborative environment using appropriate tools and techniques to gather relevant data in order to test and revise scientific hypotheses.
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Develop and use scientific models (conceptual, physical, and mathematical) to make predictions and develop explanations of natural phenomena.
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Address variability in the data and recognize and analyze alternative explanations and predictions.
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Communicate scientific procedures, results, and explanations and engage in arguments based on scientific evidence.
Scientific Inquiry - Elective
Students will be able to:
- Apply appropriate concepts, tools, and techniques of scientific inquiry.
- Describe how natural scientific, mathematical, and/or computational methodologies function as mechanisms for inquiry.
- Explain the interaction between the content of their SI-Elective course and other scientific disciplines or the broader society.