Parts of the course: Difference between revisions

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Sense and Sensibility and Science is composed of [[#Lectures|lectures]], [[#Discussion Sections|discussion sections]], [[#Projects|projects]], and [[#Quizzes|quizzes]]. The course has two main topics per week with a lecture and discussion section for each topic. For each topic, we have a [[Lesson plans|detailed lesson plan]] with a sample lecture video, in-depth instructions for each discussion section, pre-made slides, examples, readings, activities, common misconceptions, data science modules, and more.
{{BoxTip|There is an example syllabus containing the core information necessary for running the course at UC Berkeley. It refers to several university specific policies that may not apply at other colleges. It also doesn't have any due dates or other information that needs to be updated every term. The example syllabus with placeholders for all those details can be found [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X0m8Hq68UZD-unPux5A_NBswxalLPm0AMqU7iF5m2Qo/ here].}}
== Weekly Schedule ==


{{BoxCaution|The core of the class is the collective learning in the discussion sections. It's important that as many of the students as possible watch the lectures before section so that all the students can start on the same page and elevate each other in their discussions.}}
== Lectures ==
Each week covers two main topics. These are presented in a "flipped classroom" format where the students are first exposed to the content via [[Lecture videos|series of prerecorded lectures]]. The students then wrestle with the material more directly in [[Lesson plans|discussion sections]]. These force the students to engage in active learning through a series of planned discussions and other activities that reveal new sides to the material not covered in the lectures. Each week closes with a "plenary" session where professors from different fields engage with the each other and the students in a more freeform discussion. The plenaries act as the capstone of the week, resolving several of the activities and drawing connections between the course topics as well as other disciplines.


=== Berkeley Weekly Schedule ===
Lectures are primarily used to provide students with their first introduction to the content of any given topic and give them a handful of examples to chew on. Some topics have activities in discussion section that are designed to integrate directly with the lecture. And a couple lectures are built around guest speakers (either one researcher in the case of [[12.2 Grill the Guest]] or a panel of experts for [[13.2 Deliberative Polling]]).


The version of the course taught at UC Berkeley is the most "comprehensive." It presents the lectures with an online tool called [https://www.playpos.it/ PlayPosit]. It has two discussion sections referred to as "labscussion" sections. The labscussions are lead by graduate student instructors and the plenaries are run by three professors from philosophy, social science, and the natural sciences.
The course has been taught with anywhere from one to three professors giving pieces of each lecture. At UC Berkeley, there are typically three professors from physics, philosophy, and the social sciences that all engage with each other in a "plenary" session. In this format, parts of the lecture are reserved to have a freeform discussion where professors can use the expertise from their differing fields to build on each other and provide a richer view of each topic.
 
{{LinkCardInternal
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|url=Lecture videos
|+ Weekly Schedule for the Berkeley Course
|title=Lecture Videos
|-
|description=Example lectures for each lesson.}}
! Monday
== Discussion Sections ==
|
* PlayPosit for topic 1 due at 11:59 PM.
|-
! Tuesday
|
* Labscussion section on topic 1 for 1.5 hours.
|-
! Wednesday
|
* PlayPosit for topic 2 due at 11:59 PM.
* (optional) Faculty office hours.
|-
! Thursday
|
* Labscussion section on topic 2 for 1.5 hours.
|-
! Friday
|
* Plenary sessions on both topics for 1.5 hours.
* (occasionally) Quizzes for the first half hour of plenary.
|}
 
=== Other Weekly Schedule Variants ===
 
It may not always be possible to acquire the full course staff and number of instruction hours to needed to implement the [[#Berkeley Weekly Schedule|Berkeley version]] of the course. There are several relatively simple changes that can be made to the course structure to accommodate this.
 
==== Less Class Time ====
 
Lots of universities offer only a handful of class schedule formats that typically add up to roughly three hours of instruction time. Given the choice of three 1 hour classes, two 1.5 hour classes, or one 3 hour class, it's easiest to adjust the course content to the '''two 1.5 hour classes''' that are primarily discussion based and not having a separate plenary session. Many of the discussions of held during section can be easily adjusted to be run by groups of professors from different fields instead of graduate student instructors.
 
==== Fewer Professors ====
{{BoxCaution|The UC Irvine variant of the course has been run with only one professor. The Harvard version has been run with two.}}
Although the course benefits from the back-and-forth of a teaching staff from a diverse set of disciplines, it can be run by one professor as well. In these cases, it is okay to remove the separate plenary session and just have the professor run the discussion sections.
 
==== No Flipped Classroom ====
 
If you're unable to offer a flipped version of the course, you'll have to find some other way to introduce the content for the first time. This has most often been done with traditional lectures in place of the prerecorded ones. These can either be done as separate class periods from the discussion sections or by combining them. In the latter case, you'll have to pick and choose which activities from the discussion sections to keep to accommodate the reduced classroom instruction time.


The discussion sections are the core of the Sense & Sensibility & Science. Unlike most STEM classes where discussions provide a handful of practice problems that students can do on their own time, the discussions in SSS are a highly choreographed and critical component of the course. Each discussion section has a detailed lesson plan designed to actively engage the students in various activities, problems, and discussions that force them to wrestle with the topics in ways they couldn't on their own. These discussions emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of the course by taking advantage of the students' differing backgrounds and fields of study. They provide a framework to help students reach specific learning goals but are open-ended enough to give students the opportunity to teach each other.
{{LinkCardInternal
|url=Projects
|title=Projects
|description=Projects given to students for different iterations of the course.}}
== Projects ==
== Projects ==


At UC Berkeley, the course is run with two projects. The first is due just before spring break (between weeks 10 and 11). The second is due at the end of the term.
The course has two main projects that take place over several weeks and give students the chance to integrate multiple course topics and apply them to different types of problems in the real world.


=== Project 1 ===
=== Project 1 ===
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[[Decision Poster Project|The second project]] involves applying the topics of the course to solve some problem. Each student creates a poster on a chosen topic with the aim of making a decision on some practical question. The question may be big or small, personal or societal, etc. At the end of the course, there is an optional poster presentation session held for extra credit.
[[Decision Poster Project|The second project]] involves applying the topics of the course to solve some problem. Each student creates a poster on a chosen topic with the aim of making a decision on some practical question. The question may be big or small, personal or societal, etc. At the end of the course, there is an optional poster presentation session held for extra credit.


== Quizzes and Exams ==
== Quizzes ==
 
The UC Berkeley version of the course has 6 in-person quizzes spread throughout the semester as well as a final exam at end of the term. Practice quiz questions are released ahead of time so that the students know what sort of misconception the questions are aiming to get at. A bank of previously used quiz and exam questions is available [[Quiz questions|here]].
 
== Grading ==
 
At UC Berkeley, the different components of the course are weighted as per the following table in determining students' grades.


{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
The final piece of the course are the quizzes. These can take various forms depending on your needs. SSS has been taught with anywhere from just a midterm and a final to six quizzes spread out over the term. Practice quiz questions are released ahead of time so that students know what sort of misconceptions the questions are aiming to address. We have a bank of previously used quiz and exam questions available for different colleges and universities to build on.
! Type of Assessment
{{LinkCardInternal
! Percent of Final Grade
|url=Quiz questions
|-
|title=Quiz Questions
| [[#Project 1|Project 1]]
|description=A bank of previously used quiz and exam questions from across multiple iterations of SSS.}}{{NavCard|prev=Course topics|next=Designing your schedule}}
| 12%
|-
| [[#Project 2|Project 2]]
| 15%
|-
| [[#Quizzes and Exams|Final Exam]]
| 19%
|-
| [[#Quizzes and Exams|Quizzes]]
| 20%
|-
| [[#Weekly Schedule|Discussion section participation]]
| 18%
|-
| [[#Weekly Schedule|Watching online lectures prior to class]]
| 16%
|}{{NavCard|prev=Course topics|next=Designing your schedule}}
[[Category:Reference]]
[[Category:Reference]]
[[Category:Introduction]]
[[Category:Introduction]]

Revision as of 09:00, 16 August 2023

Sense and Sensibility and Science is composed of lectures, discussion sections, projects, and quizzes. The course has two main topics per week with a lecture and discussion section for each topic. For each topic, we have a detailed lesson plan with a sample lecture video, in-depth instructions for each discussion section, pre-made slides, examples, readings, activities, common misconceptions, data science modules, and more.

Lectures

Lectures are primarily used to provide students with their first introduction to the content of any given topic and give them a handful of examples to chew on. Some topics have activities in discussion section that are designed to integrate directly with the lecture. And a couple lectures are built around guest speakers (either one researcher in the case of 12.2 Grill the Guest or a panel of experts for 13.2 Deliberative Polling).

The course has been taught with anywhere from one to three professors giving pieces of each lecture. At UC Berkeley, there are typically three professors from physics, philosophy, and the social sciences that all engage with each other in a "plenary" session. In this format, parts of the lecture are reserved to have a freeform discussion where professors can use the expertise from their differing fields to build on each other and provide a richer view of each topic.

Lecture Videos

Example lectures for each lesson.

Discussion Sections

The discussion sections are the core of the Sense & Sensibility & Science. Unlike most STEM classes where discussions provide a handful of practice problems that students can do on their own time, the discussions in SSS are a highly choreographed and critical component of the course. Each discussion section has a detailed lesson plan designed to actively engage the students in various activities, problems, and discussions that force them to wrestle with the topics in ways they couldn't on their own. These discussions emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of the course by taking advantage of the students' differing backgrounds and fields of study. They provide a framework to help students reach specific learning goals but are open-ended enough to give students the opportunity to teach each other.

Projects

Projects given to students for different iterations of the course.

Projects

The course has two main projects that take place over several weeks and give students the chance to integrate multiple course topics and apply them to different types of problems in the real world.

Project 1

The first project is a short report of 2000 words or less analyzing and contrasting three news/academic articles on the same topic. It is not an essay. Instead, it's more of a report/case study about how the ideas of this course disseminate in media.

Project 2

The second project involves applying the topics of the course to solve some problem. Each student creates a poster on a chosen topic with the aim of making a decision on some practical question. The question may be big or small, personal or societal, etc. At the end of the course, there is an optional poster presentation session held for extra credit.

Quizzes

The final piece of the course are the quizzes. These can take various forms depending on your needs. SSS has been taught with anywhere from just a midterm and a final to six quizzes spread out over the term. Practice quiz questions are released ahead of time so that students know what sort of misconceptions the questions are aiming to address. We have a bank of previously used quiz and exam questions available for different colleges and universities to build on.

Quiz Questions

A bank of previously used quiz and exam questions from across multiple iterations of SSS.

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