Physics 410 / Chemistry 410
Senior Seminar

Syllabus, Spring semester 2024-2025

We meet Monday evenings 7:00-9:30 pm, in SC 120.

Catalog description:

Senior Seminar

PHYS / CHEM 410, 3 credit hours

An exploration of the relations between the natural sciences and other broad areas with special emphasis on ethical and theological concerns. Discussion, lectures, preparation and presentation of papers. Prerequisite: Senior standing.

Course outline and structure

This class proceeds along the lines of a proseminar, or the internal discussions of a research group. The director of the research groups sets the overall direction. Each member has his/her own project within that general direction. The group meets periodically for updates from each group member and there is vigourous debate and discussion about the meaning and believability of what they have uncovered so far, and what direction to follow up next.

And that overall direction for our class is...

Principal topic: The Self

Here is a long, and meandering essay on the principle topic: The Self.

• You will present, at the end of the course, your research as a paper.
• The final paper guidelines are below. No length is specified, but if the paper exceeds 15 pages you will need to justify the length.
• You will be primarily responsible for one class period at which time you will present your findings (In no more than twenty minutes) for discussion. And you will lead the discussion.
  
  

First: topic proposals

For the second Class Period you will prepare a topic proposal for consideration by the class. This is what you are proposing as your personal research topic for the semester. Post your topic proposal in the "Topic proposals" forum on our Moodle class site.

On Monday (second class period) you will come prepared to defend your topic and seek initial approval by the class, and the director(s).

At the second reading, on the next Monday, we shall approve or fail to approve proposals.

Bound sets of the papers from past seminars are available in the Good Library, and may have useful bibliographic starting points. Your final paper will also be published. The catalog entry for the "Natural Science Senior Seminar" (available in the library stacks at Q111.N37x) claims it has papers only through 1998, but they're actually current to at least 2007.

Weekly structure

Each Monday will, in general, be a discussion led by a student--the presenter.

The class must be prepared to engage in the discussion. So the presenter will begin by providing background as follows:

Friday midnight The presenter will write a five page paper describing the research topic to be discussed Monday. This will be posted on a Moodle forum so that all students and professors will have access.

The five pages should serve to introduce the topic in straightforward language, describe the questions and difficulties that seem to face people about the topic, and suggest some areas for consideration in the discussion. Include references as appropriate.

Saturday (before midnight) all students will post their analysis of the topic as a response in the presenter's forum.

In your analysis speak to the topic. Be blunt. If you disagree with things, say so. The presenter will read all of these and plan their Monday presentation in part based on the responses.

Paul will attempt to grade your analyses based on how well you think. He will not care if you agree with what the presenter thinks, or what he thinks. The important thing is what you think. Explore your own thoughts. Write about the topic based on your thoughts.

You should foreground your own thoughts. But still it may be useful to look up unfamiliar words or concepts or do some web searching to find out a bit more about the context of the issues raised.

Particularly valuable are reflecting on ways in which the topics raised in the 5-page paper intersect with your own experience, or readings you've done on your own or for other classes.

If what you write leaves me suspicious that you have not read what the presenter has written and thought carefully about it, I shall respond accordingly!

Monday (Please be on time) The presenter begins at  7 pm and has up to 20 minutes to outline the evening's topic. (You may take far less than 20 minutes.) Do not repeat what you wrote in the five page paper. The presentation should reflect what the class has written and any new thoughts the presenter may have. Then the discussion begins.

We must be Quaker about some of this. Silence only means we are gathering thoughts. We need sometimes to sit in silence.

After the discussion: Discussion ends, director leave the room, and the class writes on the evening. This is a time to explore your thoughts post discussion. Typically you'll write this up on a computer and turn it in on Moodle within an hour.

Paul will read and comment to you as individuals. I'll grade on the depth of your reaction (more than the breadth) and on your digestion and engagement with the material presented. All feedback comments are to the individual students. These are not public.

Allow yourself to think about some small part of the discussion. Ask yourself what you think. Explore your thoughts and write about them. No flowery writing! Don't try to cover all bases: Deep thoughts are more valuable than many thoughts.

The conference

We will take part in the Goshen Conference on Religion & Science which takes place from Friday evening to Sunday morning, March 7-9. The conference will be our main required 'textbook'. The finance office will bill your GC account $50 for your full conference registration.

Academic symposium

You'll make a short oral presentation of your research at the annual GC Academic Symposium, Wednesday, April 9.

The final paper

Writing style and organization

In your Monday night response writing, you do not have references available, and so we value your subjective responses, and responses reflecting your personal "digestion" of the material, and philosophical musings about the implications of some of the position put forth.

But in the final paper you will be using references. You will of course be using your own subjectivity to select, organize, and weigh information from a variety of sources. But you will be researching what has already been written about your topic, as a means of immersing yourself further in something that interests you greatly.

You may choose any familiar-to-you formatting convention for your references. E.g. MLA or APA. But make sure to use just one convention throughout your final paper.

You may or may not already have have an opinion about your topic. But you will spend a period of time finding resources on your topic, and reading different authors who have something to say about it. Gradually, you should find yourself coming to hold a particular point of view on your topic, and you should be able to point to some concrete reasons (evidence plus interpretation) for your point of view. You should distill from this point of view a few concrete conclusions and a thesis which you can use to organize your paper.

It may be helpful to think of writing up the results of your research in terms of a lawyer building a case: It is clear at the start of the case which *side* the lawyer is on. But he/she starts the case by presenting relevant evidence and showing how it bears on the case. At the end of the case--the summing up--a clear picture (or narrative) of what the evidence *means* is offered, and the lawyer argues why this is the *best* way to interpret the evidence that has been shown:

• You will start by stating your thesis.
  
  
• Then you will provide a bit of context for the topic you are researching.
  
  
• You will present various kinds of evidence that bears on the topic that you are researching. It is usually more efficient to paraphrase and summarize evidence rather than depending on quotations. (The author who you are tempted to quote was probably not thinking about exactly the topic that interests you.)
  
  
• Avoid the temptation to offer your own interpretation of the evidence too soon. At the *end* of the paper you will offer your own evaluations and interpretations of the evidence, and show how these lead *inevitably* to your conclusions.

Formatting and organization

See the bogus "Final-Paper-Outline.doc" file for an example.

Resources

See the "Bibliography and Resources" topic.

Grades

Your course grade will depend, to the greatest extent, on the quality of your final paper.  

You will receive bountiful feedback on your weekly preparation writing, weekly reflections, and first draft.  In order to receive a course grade of B or better, you should be routinely writing "good" (not necessarily excellent) reflections and preparation pieces towards the end of the course, should be an active participant in class discussions, take part in the conference, and your draft should be handed in on time and show a good faith effort.

Boilerplate syllabus content!

Professor Paul Meyer Reimer
Sci 011   ·   +1.574.535.7318 (ofc)
paulmr@goshen.edu   ·   +1.574.533.3995 (cell)

I don't have fixed office hours. You are welcome to stop by my office (SC 011) any time!

Here's my teaching schedule this term,

If you are off campus and want to make sure I'm available before coming to campus You may e-mail or text me to make a time to get together.

Do not worry that you're "bothering me" when you stop by! Every time a student stops by it makes a good impression on me, and I think "Oh, they are taking charge of their own learning, and are taking the class seriously!".

Textbook / course materials

Aside from the conference-as-a-textbook, you should have a style manual. Any one you have from a previous writing course at Goshen College will be fine. This is typically a recent edition of Diana Hacker's "A Pocket Style Manual". E-mail -- Read your ___@goshen.edu e-mail daily as I will use this as a means of class announcements outside of class time.

Participation

Come to class prepared and ready to ask questions about readings, homework and other assignments..

The participation portion of your grade will reflect unwarranted absences (more than 2), as well as your engagement with class activities.

Attendance

Go to class! Seriously, unless you are half dead, go!

- Megan Taylor, Salem College, ’15

• Class attendance is important. Don't miss out!
• But things will come up in the rest of your full lives. You do not need to give me an excuse if you miss class once or twice.
• If you know ahead of time that you will miss a class, let me know ahead of time.
• If you find yourself struggling in class, 2 absences will be too many.
• It is always your responsibility to find out what you missed. Class notes are usually available for you to review. But you should also also ask another student who was present or ask me what you missed that may have not made it into the notes.
• For classes I teach with a lab component: Don't lightly miss any labs! Absence from labs impacts not only you, but also your lab partner who might be waiting to start / finish an activity if you don't show. If you must miss any lab time, you must communicate with both your lab instructor and your lab partner(s) ahead of class.

Beyond 2 absences I'll expect a note explaining your unavoidable absence and/or a conversation--It's best if you've intiated the conversation!--about the barriers that you're facing to attendance, so that we can brainstorm some solutions or connect with outside resources to reduce/eliminate those barriers.

Community Activities (CA)

2% of your grade in all the classes taught through the physics department is credit for your engagement in community activities. You may earn up to an additional 2% extra credit. See the Community Activities website.

Collaboration and Academic Integrity

You are encouraged to use all available resources in order to learn the concepts, skills, and content of this course.

• Talk with other students and the instructor!
• Form study and homework groups!
• Discuss with others promising approaches to problems!
• Go to the library and find books!
• Ask a librarian for help in finding resources!
• Find useful web pages!

Collaboration, and building on the works of others are how almost all academic work by professors, researchers, students, writers gets done.

However, simply copying someone else's work sabotages your own learning and hides the truth about what is your work and what is the work of others. So, it must be clear in everything you write and turn in what is your work and what is someone elses.

Academic Integrity

In this, as in any college class, you can protect yourself from charges of plagiarism by acknowledging your sources. This can take the form of the URL of a site you found useful, or a shout out to a classmate who helped you on a particular problem.

Academic Success Center

The Academic Success Center offers tutoring and writing assistance for all students. For further information please see www.goshen.edu/studentlife/asc.

Accessibility Accommodations

Schedule & Topics

Image credits

Miniatura Tribunal de les Aigües de Valencia, Bernardo Ferrándiz Bádenes (1865)