Replied: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 15:18:24 -0500 Replied: Schiff@suhep.phy.syr.edu Received: from suhep.phy.syr.edu (suhep.phy.syr.edu [128.230.27.1]) by postoffice.npac.syr.edu (8.7.5/8.7.1) with SMTP id MAA18142 for ; Thu, 14 Jan 1999 12:54:09 -0500 (EST) Received: from syru72-229.syr.edu by suhep.phy.syr.edu (5.65v4.0/1.1.8.2/13Nov95-0748PM) id AA14595; Thu, 14 Jan 1999 12:54:09 -0500 Reply-To: From: "Eric A. Schiff" To: Subject: RE: Meeting Room 3-216 CST 1pm Friday Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 12:54:15 -0500 Message-Id: <000d01be3fe6$e694ec20$e548e680@easchiff.syr.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-Msmail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook 8.5, Build 4.71.2173.0 In-Reply-To: <199901131716.MAA19212@boss.npac.syr.edu> X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.2106.4 Importance: Normal Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_000E_01BE3FBC.FDBEE420" Content-Length: 6338 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_000E_01BE3FBC.FDBEE420 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Geoffrey -- It appears that you should have a large group tomorrow, and probably don't need me to come. Although K-12 outreach is the primary driver for NSF's interest, I hope that whatever emerges as an activity will be "dual use" with regard to undergraduate students at Syracuse. The internetics minor seems promising in this direction. More generally, I see an opportunity for the physics dept. to participate in educating students in "communicating quantitative information." This takes advantage of the rather good students who enroll at Syracuse because of the Newhouse School; I would like to see some double-majoring in physics and journalism occurring, which is encouraged by Newhouse. I also believe that students who study science should be working to learn to communicate with non-scientists, and I consider the web to be an excellent medium for this communication. I have attached an .htm file containing a pretty drafty prospectus for a single course which I developed last summer; I haven't yet proposed this to the faculty because I don't think we have the resources to teach it at present. Best regards, Eric ------=_NextPart_000_000E_01BE3FBC.FDBEE420 Content-Type: text/html; name="Communicating Quantitative Science - Prospectus.htm" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Communicating Quantitative Science - Prospectus.htm" Course Prospectus: =93Communicating Quantitative = Science=94

Course Prospectus: = "Communicating Quantitative Science"

General conception:

An upper-division physics course which = discusses the general importance of communicating quantitative science = more broadly, which delves into a small number of important scientific = subjects, and which develops skill in communicating quantitative ideas = using both graphical and textual methods.

Target students

  • Newhouse students interested in = "quantitative science journalism."
  • Science majors interested in better communicating their = results.

Students enrolled are expected to be co-enrolled in a calculus course = as a minimum.

Motivation

The course will explicitly address the = notorious difficulty scientists and journalists have when attempting to = communicate quantitative and scientific ideas. It will serve all = science students, and an important subset of journalism students, very = well; I hope that it will also be attractive to a wider range of = mathematically able, liberal arts students.

In addition, I hope that this course will act as a "hook" = course for liberal arts students. By engaging such students in selected = science topics, and in the difficulty of communicating this science = well, I hope to encourage them to study physics further, and in = particular to consider declaring minors and majors in physics, usually = in conjunction with a primary major in another field.

Topics

  • Importance of communicating science = successfully to a general audience (cf. Hartz & Chappell book).
  • Psychological barriers to successfully communicating quantitative = ideas (cf. Gilovich book).
  • Case studies in science journalism: review papers from = Science, articles from The New York Times, Scientific = American, Discover, chapters from popular science books.
  • Criteria of successful graphical communication (Tufte book)
  • Computer tools for producing scientific graphics (and animations?): = EXCEL, VRML, COREL DRAW?

Possible Scientific Examples:

  • Physical limits of computers
    • Nanoscale phenomena
    • Quantum computing?
    • Molecular computing (Birge as guest lecturer?)
  • Astrophysics & Cosmology
    • Is there a black hole at the center of the galaxy?
    • Is the universe closed or open?
  • Risk assessment
    • Electromagnetic fields & cancer
    • Nuclear power & environmental risk
  • Energy
    • Cold & hot fusion (cf. Gary Taubes, Bad Science:=85.)
    • Is solar power realistic?

Resources & Texts

  1. Anton, Ted & McCourt, Rick, = The New Science Journalists (Ballantine, 1995). Anthology of = science journalism with extended introduction.
  2. Gilovich, Thomas, How We Know What Isn=92t So: The Fallibility = of Human Reason in Everyday Life (Free Press).
  3. Hartz, Jim & Chappel, Rick, Worlds Apart: How the Distance = Between Science and Journalism Threatens America=92s Future (First = Amendment Center, 1997).
  4. Tufte, Edward R, Visual Display of Quantitative Information = (Graphics Press).
  5. Articles from Science, The New York Times, Scientific = American, Discover, etc.. These articles should, in general, be = graphics rich, and be intended for a very wide range of audiences.
  6. Web-sites devoted to science outreach, science journalism, = etc..
  7. Introductory guides to programs such as EXCEL, COREL Draw, = etc..

Unresolved Issues

Tools for communicating: EXCEL for = graphs (?). SigmaPlot?

"Widgets" for constructing 3D, web-accessible objects? = VRML? What?

Eric A. Schiff, June 26, 1998.

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