SLE209 - Science and Society
Unit details
| Year | 2025 unit information |
|---|---|
| Enrolment modes: | Trimester 2: Online |
| Credit point(s): | 1 |
| EFTSL value: | 0.125 |
| Unit Chair: | Trimester 2: Adam Cardilini |
| Prerequisite: | Must have passed 4 credit points |
| Corequisite: | Nil |
| Incompatible with: | Nil |
| Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - online unit enrolment: | Online independent and collaborative learning including 1 x 2 hour online seminar per week (weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9), 1 x 1 hour online seminar per week (weeks 2, 4, 6, 8), 1 x 3 hour campus practical experience (workshop) (week 10 or 11). |
| Typical study commitment: | Students will on average spend 150 hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit. This will include educator guided online learning activities within the unit site. |
Content
Students often see science as a set of facts and not as a process for making sense of the natural and physical world. Today's science is built on ways of thinking that were developed centuries ago and continue to be shaped by changing value systems within society. The purpose of this unit is for students to develop knowledge of the history and philosophy of science and the entangled relationship between science and society. Particularly, how legal, cultural, social, political, species and/or disciplinary knowledges contend and mix to shape science and our understanding of contemporary socio-scientific issues. Students will review socio-scientific controversies, examine science as a human endeavour, explore different values and attitudes to science and explain how science influences our world and how society influences science. Students will engage in critical perspective taking through the Council of All Beings. Learning assessment activities in this unit will allow students to recognise the evolution of science and its role in our changing society. Students will research, collect and analyse information around how people enact science from the values that informs it, through discovery, practice, application, and understanding. They will learn the importance of the scientific process and methods in the development of ideas and theories.
Learning Outcomes
| ULO | These are the Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOs) for this unit. At the completion of this unit, successful students can: | Alignment to Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes (GLOs) |
|---|---|---|
| ULO1 | Use historical and contemporary examples to explain the nature and processes of how we construct scientific knowledge. | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities |
| ULO2 | Explain how society values scientific and non-scientific knowledge and show how scientific knowledge relates to other forms of knowledge. | GLO2: Communication |
| ULO3 | Articulate the entangled relationship between science and society and show how science and society can positively and negatively impact one another. | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities |
| ULO4 | Share a critical evidence-based opinion on a current socio-scientific issue. | GLO2: Communication |
Assessment
| Assessment Description | Student output | Grading and weighting (% total mark for unit) | Indicative due week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment 1 Weekly quizzes | Learning resource quizzes | 20% | Weeks 2-9 |
| Assessment 2 Individual report to a media group | Audio report, 5-minute presentation | 30% | Week 8 |
| Assessment 3 Learning portfolio | A Critical Autoethnography | 50% | Weeks 10 and 11 |
The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.
Learning resource
The texts and reading list for SLE209 can be found via the University Library.
Note: Select the relevant trimester reading list. Please note that a future teaching period's reading list may not be available until a month prior to the start of that teaching period so you may wish to use the relevant trimester's prior year reading list as a guide only.
Unit Fee Information
Fees and charges vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study and their study discipline, and your study load.
Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.
For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current Students website.