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Re: [Phys-l] Misuse/abuse of science assignment...



Well, I did something along these lines in my Energy course (general education students--College level), but the exercise was somewhat more intensive. We watched 3 films on Global Warming--the NOVA/FRONTLINE "What's Up with the Weather?", Gore's "Inconvenient Truth", and the British "The Great Global Warming Swindle". I also gave out Ian Murphy's "The Gorey Truths" article (25 problems with the Gore film) and in preparation for writing a short paper ( 'Where do you now stand on the issues and why?") had students search for online criticism of the 'Swindle' film. In the end, after reading their papers, about a third of the class are firmly in the Gore camp, forgiving him for totally misrepresenting the data he presents (the historical record DOES NOT show that CO-2 produces temperature changes, if there is any cause/effect in the correlation it is the other way around). Another third went with the 'Swindle' film and have now absolved humans from any responsibility (these didn't read the criticisms of the film), with the last third being totally confused at this point.

I'm not sure that I would do this again--the exercise perhaps sends the wrong message. It might be good to show that despite the media frenzy on Global Warming, there are still skeptics, some of whom are actually scientists--even atmospheric scientists, but with the actual science beyond the true grasp of this class, the confusion might not be the best thing to convey.

That being said, let me offer a plea for information on any 'GOOD' video material on Global Warming. The NOVA film is pretty good--giving some voice to each side, but is now getting out of date. 'Preachy' films like Gore's really offers little or no science, while 'attack' films like 'Swindle' can cause more confusion than the modest science warrants. What I am really looking for now is something that might deal with the real heart of the human-induced warming arguments--the computer models. My suspicion is that Gore figures the public to be too 'stupid' to follow or accept the concepts and predications of such methods so he resorts to overly emotional (many of my students hated that) and sometimes downright fraudulent arguments to sway the audience (this clearly works on many). I'd like something recent that is not overly certain (not religiously committed to human-induced warming) and deals more with the ideas of modeling. Again the NOVA film does some of this (wish they would update and re-release this one!)

Rick


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Richard W. Tarara
Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN
rtarara@saintmarys.edu
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----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeff Loats" <loats_j@fortlewis.edu>
To: <Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 1:45 AM
Subject: [Phys-l] Misuse/abuse of science assignment...


I am considering a short essay/research paper like assignment in which
students track down an abuse or misuse of science (most likely in the media,
but not necessarily). This would be for a general education, freshman-level
course.

In the interest of not reinventing the wheel I wanted to ask the member of
this list if they have done anything like this before. Is anyone willing to
share their assignment and experiences with it?

Thanks!

Jeff

--
Jeff Loats, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Physics
Fort Lewis College
650 Berndt Hall
970.247.7553
loats_j@fortlewis.edu
http://faculty.fortlewis.edu/loats_j/

"We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only
in that way can we find progress."
— Richard Feynman
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