Course Info for SCI110 - Foundation Skills in Science
This is a foundation course designed for science students to prepare them for course work in science classes. Students will be introduced to scientific writing, writing effective lab reports, how to perform literature searches, how to evaluate sources, use of spreadsheets, constructing and evaluating graphs and tables, scientific measurement, handling data and use of statistics for data analysis. 1 contact hour/week for 15 weeks or 2 contact hours/week for 7 weeks.
PREREQUISITE:
Placement into ENG101, college level reading or completion of ENG101S and RDG095 and placement into MAT100.
Open educational resources (OER) will be used in this course. All reading materials will be supplied by the instructor.
REQUIRED MATERIALS:
A scientific or graphing calculator, a bound composition notebook with graph paper pages for lab, and a straight edge are all required for this course.
As the result of instructional activities, students will be able to:
- Use proper lab documentation to record all data and scientific information in a bound notebook.
- Apply concepts of scientific notation, significant figures, and unit conversions to data reporting and organization.
- Use a scientific or graphing calculator properly for calculations.
- Construct appropriate graphs and tables using relevant data.
- Generate tables and graphs using Microsoft Excel and Word.
- Apply the use of statistics for data analysis using Excel or scientific calculator.
- Draw conclusions based on evidence presented by data.
- Use the concepts of extrapolation, interpolation, correlation, t-tests, standard deviation, mean, mode, and range to evaluate data.
- Use data base searches to find relevant scientific information related to a scientific study.
- Cite document sources using APA format, ACS, or other discipline specific citation formats.
- Determine reliability and validity of scientific information used in communication of scientific information.
- Evaluate scientific articles for general formatting guidelines and information when writing lab reports.
- Evaluate scientific articles for standard writing practices used in the various sciences.
- Analyze scientific report writing and information required for sections in a lab report.
GENERAL TOPICS OUTLINE:
- Proper lab documentation for recoding of all scientific data in a notebook format
- Measurements and calculations including using a scientific or graphing calculator
- Table and graph construction which includes using Excel
- Use of statistics for data analysis which includes the use of graphing calculators and Excel
- Search and analyze scientific information for reliability and validity
- Writing scientifically for the purpose of lab report and term papers