•

Marshalling the Resources of a Large

State University For an Interdisciplinary "Science, Technology, and Society" Course

Penny J. Gilmer and Michael Rashotte

A t Florida State University, students and the outside com­munity have the unique op­

portunity to interact with experts and gain a multifaceted perspective of the relationship berween society, science, and technology. Taught by rwo active, experimental scientists, the one­semester interdisciplinaty course, "Sci­ence, Technology, and Society," has a format that gives students the chance to come face to face with science journalists from the New York Times, physicists from the Fermi Laboratoty, members of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Board, NASA astronauts, and univer­sity facuity from various departments such as philosophy, biology, and law.

The target audience is primarily upper-division undergraduates because the interdisciplinary approach re­quires enough in-depth knowledge from a variety of courses to be able to integrate knowledge and synthesize ideas. To date, approximarely half of

PIIfflY}. GiJ_ is an associau profe=r of chemistry aM MicbaeJ Rasbotte is a professor 'If psychology at Florida Stat. U";,,,mty, TaOaba,s«, Florida 32306.

enrolled students have been science or engineering students. The remain­der have included majors in Asian studies, business, communication, English, fashion design, finance, his­wty, home economics, peace studies, science education, and sociology. In addirion to rhe undergraduate Stu­dents, a few townspeople as well as university sraff take rhe course for credir. Auditors include faculty and graduare students in rhe sciences and science education.

The course considers the role rhat science and rechnology play in our society by examining

• rhe organizarion of rhe scientific enterprise,

• rhe realiries of scientific life versus portrayals of scientists in the media,

• how science is funded, • rhe economic and intellecrual

significance of science, • dilemmas posed by progress in

science and technology, • rhe development of science policy,

and • rhe societal condirions under

which science flourishes. We solicir rhe expenise of our

150 JCST December 1989/January 1990 -----------------------

diverse faculty to help develop spe­cific wpics and conceprs for the course. Once porential topics are identified for each offering, we approach facuity with allied interesrs to contribute by lecturing. Some administrators also panicipare .. In a typical semester, eleven faculty or adminisrrators give one lecrure and occasionally rwo. The cwo official course insrructors give rhe remaining lecrures.

To funher provide a mulridisciplin­aty perspecrive, rhe cwo insrcuctors are from different science depart­ments. The rwo insrcuctors atrend all lectures to ensure a cohesive course.

Keynote Speakers A distincrive feature of rhe course

are irs keynore speakers who address the rhemes developed 'in lectures and disGllssions. Using sizable funding from an intra·university grant, we invite speakers from outside rhe unj­versity. In planning each offering, we invire rhe keynote speakers first, ap­proximately six months in advance. Each speaker is offered an honorar­ium, travel, and per diem . Each key­note speaker gives one evening class lecture that is open to the public, and

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on the following day, leads an open discussion period during the usual class period. Some srudents take the speaker out for lunch as well.

For instance, we invited two science journalists from the New York Times. The first, science writer William Broad, shared his perspective on the scientists involved in Strategic Defense Initiative research after spending a week in 1984 at the Lawrence liver­more Laboratory. Broad writes exten­sively on space topics for the Times, and he has been awarded a Pulitzer prize for a series of articles on "Star Wars." The keynote speakers work most effectively when the lectures are focused on a particular topic. For instance, Broad spoke on Star Wars just after we completed a section on the Manhattan Project and JUSt before we discussed the technologies involved in Star Wars research. To make the lecture even more effective, we typically assign readings from the speaker's writings, in this case Broad's book [3].

Science editor Nicholas Wade was our second science-oriented journalist from the Times. In 1982, Broad and Wade published a book entitled Betrayers of the Truth: Fraud and Deceit in the Halls of Science [4]. In a rare oppOrtUnity for srudents to hear such an address in a classroom, Wade

spoke of their research findings on the extent of fraud in · science. We also chose the book, Honor in Science, as core reading [6].

We have co-sponsored some key­note speakers with the local chapter of the Sigma Xi Society, a scientific

Support and Recruitment It is important to have strong

administrative backing for a new interdisciplinary course of this type because it is a time-consuming com­mitment for the two course instruc­tors. The initial grant gave partial

Keynote speakers UJOJ:k most effectively when the lectures are focused on a particular topic. For instance, science writer William Broad spoke on Star Wat:)just after the class had completed a section on the Manhattan Project and just before discussing the technologies involved in Star Wat:) research.

research society. For instance, Profes­sor Franklin Long, organizer of the first STS program in the United States at Cornell University, was one of our Sigma Xi co-sponsored lecturers.

We videotape all of the lectures presented by keynote speakers and many by the FSU faculty and adminis­trators. Table 2 lists many of these videos, most of which are available at a minimal cost. Each lecrure is appro­ximately one hour.

salary support for the two instructors during the summer preceding the first course offering. The administration often grants support in terms of faculty release time from the usual teaching load during the semester the course is taught.

The FSU bulletin lists "Science, Technology, and Society" as an inter­disciplinary science course. However, the course does not count toward major or minor credit in the sciences,

December 1989/January 1990 JCST . 151

Table 1

STS Course Outline

U"itl. Fam & Fictions About Science and Scienti.ts D. Response to Technology Failure A. Representation in Pop Culture and Textbooks 1. Space shuttle: bureaucratic ethics B. Overview of Scientific Enterprise 2. Chernobyl: legal implications C. Conduct of Science

1. Normal science versus 'big" science E. Biotechnology & Prospects for Technological

Advances 2. Case history: deducing the structure of DNA 1. Genetic engineering and the human genome

D. Nature of Funding of Science 2. Ethics and gene therapy E. Communication in Science, Including Peer Review F. Societal Influences on Science

1. Societal controls Unit 2. Dilemmas for Modem Science and Tedm%gy* 2. Case history: evolution/ creationism

A. From the Atom Bomb to Strategic Defense Initiative

3. Scientific freedom and responsibiliry 4. Ethical issues

1. Manhattan Project . 2. "Star Warriors": strategic defense initiative Unit 3. Science Policy m the United States

B. Biology, Human Nature, and Public Policy A. Regulatory Environment for Science 1. Overviews of I.Q. testing and of eugenics B. Formulation of U.S. Science Policy 2. LQ. rests, eugenics, and public policy 3. Bioethics and the new reprnductive rechnologies Unit 4. Bri"gmg Science and T ecJm%gy to the Public

C. Science, Technology, and the Space Program A. Science and the Media 1. Overview of space science B. Look to the Future 2. Manned space flight: USA and USSR

-In anyone semester, only /0." of the six posNbk topics listed are uliiized.

3. Pioneering the space frontier

but it counts toward total credits toward graduation. One advantage of this is that students who choose the course really want to be there. They are enthusiastic and anxious for the opportuniry to integrate knowledge and learn new material.

Because the course is relatively new and no degree requires it each semes­ter, we advertise the course to stu· dents. We do this by a variery of methods:

• shortly before pre-registration, sending a copy of the syllabus to the undergraduate student advisors and other faculry,

• placing posters strategically on our campus,

• advertising in the student newspaper,

• soliciting the student and ciry newspapers for articles about the course, and

• discussing the course at various student and faculty meetings.

Course Content A course outline (see Table 1) has

. some similarities with others, but its overall thrust is quite different [1 ,2]. This outline is a composite of the course's first three offerings. In any one offering of the course only four of the six sections listed in the "Dilemmas for Modern Science" typically are covered.

Facts and Fictions About Science and Scientists

The purpose of the first section of tne wurse, "Facts and Fictions About Science and Scientists," is to consider the varied characteristics of science found in popular culture, school text­books, memoirs of scientists, and his­torical writings.

The story of deducing the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is an example how science, in this case unusual or revolutionary science, is actually done. We not only portray

152 JCST December 1989/January 1990

the intense competition among scien­tists involved in the scientific quest, but also the plight of a woman scien­tist, Rosalind Franklin, who unknow­ingly supplied the critical data that led to the structure of DNA [7,10].

An FSU physicist, John Albright, who has been an experimental high energy physicist at the Fermi Labora­tory, explained what it is like from a personal point of view to do "big science." He explained how. the change from doing big science to normal sci­ence affected his personal life. He compared his prior hectic lifestyle, when he commuted from FSU to the Fermi Laboratory in Illinois, with his present circumstances as a historian of science. Dr. Albright currently is researching and writing a biography of the life of the late Nobel laureate of physics, Paul Dirac, who worked at FSU for the last ten years of his life.

We consider science funding in the United States by reviewing the roles

of selected federal government agen­cies, appointed scientific advisors, uni­versities, industry, national laborato­ries, and defense in providing facilities and funds for research. An FSu micro­biologist, Dr. Karen Berkeley, ex­plained to our class the process by which a grant proposal to a federal agency is written, subjected to peer review, and managed by the principal investigator during the term of a grant award .•

Next, we examine the nature of scientific thinking and the manner in which progress is made in science. Views considered include those of Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, and Paul Feyerabend. We delineate how scien­tists communicate with one other, by examining the actual correspondence one of the instructors had sent and received in the process of submitting a manuscript for publication.

DUemmas of Modem Science _ The 'Dilemmas of Modem Science"

section constitutes the central core of the course. We review selected prob­lems faced by contemporary science in lectures and elaborate upon them in discussions. Not only do advances in science and technology affect our sociery, but also our sociery itself strongly influences science.

We examine the contemporary problem of how the U.S. government currently deals with the free exchange of scientific knowledge, especially in cases where it is considered as a threat to our national security. Another key­note speaker, Dr. Harold Hanson, a senior staff person on the U.S. House of Representatives Task Force on Sci­ence Policy, provided insights into the budget process and an account of the progress made on the federal government's plan to reorganize the U.S. scientific establishment.

We find it effective to weave toge­ther various lecture topics into "con­cept units." For example, after intro­ducing the science of biotechnology and genetic engineering, an FSu philosopher, Dr. Alan Mabe, gave a lecture on bioethics, laying the foun-

dation for a critical examination of the new area of biotechnology called gene therapy in which genes may eventually be introduced into somatic cells to correct genetic diseases. Key­note speaker Dr. Philip Knatoff, who spoke on the scientific progress being made in the area of gene therapy using animals, said that students asked him delving questions regarding ethics. We attribute this, at least in part, to the preceding lecture on bioethics.

Abele researched these areas in a local public-education bartle. These lecturers illustrate to students some of the dif­ferences between scientific and non­scientific approaches to a problem.

We illustrate other aspects of U.S. science by lectures on the role of sci­ence in 1) the Manhattan Project, driven by World War II, in the con­struction of the atomic bomb, 2) the effect that participating on the Man­hattan Project had on physicists, 3) the postwar era when many indus-

We examine the nature oj scientific thinking and the manner in which prOgres5 is made in science, Actual correspondence between one of the instructors and the publisher to which a manUScript was being submitted delineated the proCes5 by which scientists communicate with one another.

Another keynote speaker, Dr. John Witte, medical program administra­tor for Preventive Health Services for the state of Florida, first discussed the medical and societal implications of AIDS. In particular, Dr. Witte addressed many of the public policy issues raised by AIDS in the work place, in the school systems, and in society in general. An FSu biologist, Dr. Paul Elliott, who has a strong interest in public policy issues, then addressed the rights and the respon­sibilities of institutions (such as uni­versities) to individuals with regard to AIDS. Since his initial lecture, Dr, Elliott has become one of the course's two co-instructors.

We address the conflict between the schools of creationism and evolu­tion. Dr. Larry Abele, who chairs the Biological Science Department, gave two lectures, "The History of Crea­tionism" and "Scientific Methodology, Creationism, and Evolution." Dr.

triall military I scientific projects emerged as state policy, and 4) the current context of the Strategic Defense Initiative.

Science Policy in the United States We added a new major section

called "Science Policy in the United States" in the second offering. Two lectures in this section include one on the regulatory environment for re­search and one on the workings of the National Science Board. In one lecture Dr. Marcel laFollette, editor of the journal Science, Technology, and Human Values, spoke on a recent report that she directed for the U.S. House of Representatives Task Force on Science Policy in a lecture called "The Regulatory Environment of Sci­ence: Legal Regulations and Societal Constraints for Research" [9]. Michael Kasha, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and of the FSu facuity, spoke to 'the class on his per-

December 1989!January 1990 JCST 153

sonal experience as a member of the National Science Board. It is a rare opportunity for anyone, let alone undergraduate students, to hear these kinds of lectures.

Bringing Science and Technology to the Public

We consider some strategies for. informing people about science and technology in contemporary society in the last rna jar section d the course outline. These lectures deal with what · the nonscientist needs to know about science, the design of public science exhibits, and how exposing individ­uals to science on television, in the movies, at the work place, and in journalism affects our society. In this section, FSU faculry member, Dr. Uoyd Beidler, member of the National Academy of Sciences, spoke of his taking a year's leave to organize all the science exhibits for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair.

COU1'Se Modifications

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We maintain the first and last sec­tions of the course' relatively constant from one offering to another with some of our own lecrures and a few of our visiting faculties' lectures re­maining approximately the same. In this way, we present certain core material each year. The "Dilemmas for Modern Science" section is the section we modify the most from one course offering to the next so the course has something new for the instructors each year, but it does not require the effort of teaching a totally new course each time. For instance, in the second offering we had four subsections:

~ 5 C :1 i c i 5cience, TechnoIOl;H! & 50ciety.

• "Biology, Human Nature, and Public Policy" with keynote speaker, Raymond Fancher author of the book, The Intelligent Men: Makers 0/ the I.Q. Controversy [5)

• "Science, Technology, and the Space Program" with keynote speaker, NASA astronaut, Norman Thagard;

• "Response to Technology Failure" with the Dean of our Law School,

Talbot D'Alemberte, speaking on the legal implications of this topic;

• "Social Influences on Science" with the dean of our College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Werner Baum, speak­ing on a stand that he took on a diffi­cult issue that resulted in his being awarded a medal in Scientific Free­dom of Responsibility from the American Association for the Ad­vancement of Science.

154 ICST December 1989/January 1990

Discussion Periods An important component of the

course is the time set aside for discus­sion periods. We schedule these every third or fourth class period through­out the semester. Each keynote speak­er leads a full class discussion period with the srudents, focusing on the lecture given on the previous even­ing. Most of the remaining discussion periods are formatted in small groups

Table 2

Some of the Videos Utilized in Florida State University's STS Course Abel, Larry

1986 "A History of Creationism in North America" 1986 "Scientific Methodology, Creationism, and

Evolution Baurn, Werner

1986 "Scientific Freedom and Responsibility" Beidler, Uoyd

1986 "Science Exhibits" Broad, William

1986 "Star Warriors" Calvin, Melvin

1985 "Plant Science and its Consequences for Energy and Modern Society"

Choppin, Gregoty 1985 "The Promise and Problems of Nuclear

Energy" D' Alemberte, Talbot

1986 "Legal Implications of Technology Failure" Fancher, Raymond

1986 "LQ" Eugenics, and Public Policy" Fuqua, Don

1985 "Influence of the Committee on Science and Technology on America's Science and Technology"

Giaever, Ivar 1985 "Honesty in Science"

Hanson, Harold 1986 "Rethinking Science Policy in the U.s.: 1986"

Hintikka, Merrill 1985 "Science and Human Values"

James, Frances 1985 "Application of Ecological Theory to Environ­

mental Problems, or Destruction of the Amazon"

Kantoff, Philip 1986 "Gene Therapy"

Kasha, Michael 1986 "National Science Board"

La Follette, Marcel 1986 "Regulatory Environment of Science: Legal

Regulations and Social Constraints for Research" Livingston, Robert

1985 "Application of Science to Industrial Activity, or Preservation of the Apalachiola Bay for Harvesting OySters"

Long, Franklin 1986 "The Role of Universities 10 Formulating

U.s. Science Policy" Nelkin, Dorothy . 1989 "Selling Science: How the Press Covers Science

and Tethnology" Scharren, Gerald

1985 "Fertilization ;n vitro, Embryo Transfer and Other Ethical Problems Raised by Modern Cell and Reproductive Biology"

Taylor, John 1985 "Medical Issues in Society"

Wade, Nicholas . 1986 "Fraud in Science"

Whitney, Eleanor N . 1985 "How Much Do We Need to Know Before

We Make Dietary Recommendations to the Public?"

1986 "The AIDS Epidemic: A Challenge to Scientific Research, Medical Practice, and Public Policy"

each with approximately 10 to 15 students. Typically two small discus­sion groups meet simultaneously, and each of the twO instructors moderates a separate group. However, the dis­cussions work most effectively when two or three students organize a presentation to give to the remainder of the small group.

express their differing views on the new reproductive technologies was to pretend they were members of the U.S. ' Supreme Court, giving their interpretations of the laws related to this topic.

for their lectures, and we add these materials to our base. A work-study student or teaching assistant organ­izes and updates all the books and journal articles before each offering, and maintains a topic-oriented com­puter list. (These reading lists are also available to interested JCST readers.)

The discussion periods organized by the students are particularly inter­esting, with a blending and interac­tion of students' different backgrounds that encourages critical thinking and communication. For example, in one particularly striking student discussion, the students decided that the most effective way for each of them to

Reading Materials for the Course The nature of this course does not

lend itself to one single textbook. We have developed an extensive library of relevant books and journal articles for our instructors' use, and we make these materials available to students as suggested reading and as sources for their written and oral assignments. Guest lecturers and keynote speakers are asked to contribute reading lists

Evaluation of Students Each student receives three writ­

ten assignments as well as the responsibility of organizing one small-group discussion. The first two written assignments are to pen one letter to a newspaper and another to a member of Congress (or other

December 1989/January 1990 JCST 155

We ask students to consider how their lives will be changed by probable advances in science and technology.

elected official) on an issue dealing with the interaction of science or tech­nology with sociery. We view these assignments as practical training in the ways of expressing one's views of science and technology in socially meaningful settings. The third writ­ten assignment is an eight- to ten­page term paper on a well-focused topic related to the course content. We evaluate the written assignments by five criteria: readabiliry, creativiry, clariry of the central idea and conclu­sion, logic of the argument, and qual­iry of supporting evidence.

We evaluate the srudents also on their abiliry to integrate the material and approach a problem from more than one point of view. We encour­age participation in class discussions and are careful to allow students to

express all opinions in an open atmo­sphere. We grade srudents pardy on their commencs in general discussion periods and strength in presenting material 10 their small group dis­CUSSlOns.

Closure "Look to the Future" is the final

lecture of the semester. Each instruc­tor discusses projections about how science and technology may affect the furure. Each semester we choose exam­ples from a Science 85 article, "The Next Step: 25 Discoveries That Could Change Our Lives' [8]. We ask stu­dents to consider how their lives will be changed by probable advances in science and technology.

We hope that our srudents will begin to grasp the complexiry of sci-

ence as a result of participating 10

this course. We encourage them to develop and express their individual views by wtiting letters to editors or to elected officials on issues dealing with science, technology, and sociery. We hope that students will be able to address issues from several points of view. Srudent responses to the course give us hope that we are achieving ili~. 0

Rejerences I. Adams, David Land Roben E. Baker,

"Science, Technology. and Human Values: An Interdisciplinary Ap­proach to Science Educ;lcion," Jour­nal 0/ College SCie1JCe Teucbjug 15:254-58; February 1986.

2. Bernstein, Stanley, "Science and Society; Social Content of Science," Joumal of College Science Teaching 14: 164-67; December 1984/January 1985.

3. Broad, William J. Stur Warriors: A Penetra&i1Jg Look into the uveJ of the Young Scientists Behind Our Space Age Weaponry. New York: Simon & Schusrer, 1985.

4. Broad, William and Nicholas Wade, Betrayers of the Truth. Fraud and Deceit in the Hulls of Science. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1982.

5. Fancher, Raymond E. The Intelligence Men: Makers of the IQ Co1ltroversy, New York: W.W. Nonon & Co. Inc., 1985.

6. Jackson, c. Ian, Honor in Scie1JCe. New Haven, Conn., Sigma Xi, The Scien­tific Research Society, 1986.

7. Sayre, Anne. Rosulind Franklin and DNA, New York: W.W. Norron &

Co. Inc., 1975. 8. "The Nexr Srep: 25 Discoveries Thar

Could Change Our Lives." Sciellce 85 November, 1985.

9. The Reguiutory Ellviro1Jment lor Sc.;;­ence: A Tech1licai Melll,OraIJdu"m, Washington, D.C: Office of Tech­nology Assessment, 1986.

10. Warson,James D. The Double Helix. New York: New American Library, 1986.

,