Science Seminars SISTER M. IGNATIA, I.H.M. Marygrove College, Detroit, Michigan
NE of the major complaints of those who hire gether and a logical sequence worked out by the faculty young college graduates who have majored in the directors as the semester's program of approximately physical sciences is that they are not able to express thirteen weekly seminars. their ideas with clarity!' They are well trained in PREPARATION OF THE PAPERS laboratory techniques, but they are not able to write a research paper or to contribute to the company seminar. At the beginning of the semester this sequence of Their interests are not sufficiently broad. They know problems is presented to the students. Each student little of the philosophy of science, of the fundamental chooses the problem she prefers and in due time locates social problems related to their field, or of the relation- and reads as much material on i t as possible. She ships that tie the physical to the social sciences. gives i t careful consideration, talks i t over with her seminar director, reaches a decision, and formulates a , OBJECTIVES proposition. She then writes a logical outline in proof The "Seminar in Fundamental Relations" required of her proposition. At least two weeks before her of all juniors and seniors a t Marygrove College for the paper is to be given, she presents this outline together past nine years is a device, not sufficiently well known, with her bibliography and notes to the seminar director which a t least partially eliminates these complaints. for approval. When the outline is approved (possibly According to the college bulletin for 1945-46, the semi- only after revision) the student writes a paper of apnar is "a four-semester cycle of courses in which each proximately eight hundred words, submits i t a t least a department combines successively with one or more week before the paper is to be given to the seminar dideoartments for the investization and discussion of rector, and rewrites it, if necessary, in accordance with common problems. Objectives: experience in research; the suggestions of the latter. Then she prepares t o development of power of formal and informal discussion. give the paper and to answer anticipated questions The subject for each semester is determined in the de- and objections. partments that are working together. One hour a BACKGROUND READING week is devoted to a departmental meeting; one hour, to an interdepartmental meeting." A former edition To acquire the knowledge necessary for compre(1942) of the same college bulletin states that in this hension of the problems under discussion, and as the course the stndent "applies herself specifically to a basis for their own contribution, the students spend study of relationships. She sees her own field as an four hours each week reading and taking notes on integrated part of the bigger thing that is human background material. Bibliographical references to . She finds out for herself the practical some of this material are posted by the seminar direclife. . philosophic, moral, and religions implications of ap- tors; the remainder is found by the students themselves parently compartmented arts and sciences." through the use of the library card cataloa, ~eriodical lists of research books, etc. A course in "ExPLANNING BY DIRECTORS position and Persuasion" required of all sophomores a t To secure this integration, training in research, and Marygrove has grounded the stndents in the techniques development of power in discnssion, the seminar is of library research as well as the organization of mabuilt on the "problem" idea. A general problem is terial, the elements of clear, forceful style, and the selected before the beginning of a new semester by the techniques of public discussion-all of which are put faculty directors, a group composed of one member into practice in the seminar. At the beginning of each from each of the departments working together that scholastic year the juniors are taken in small groups particular semester. The general problem is then through the college library and have the tools most broken down into a series of more specific ones, which useful for their particular seminar pointed out and exin turn are subdivided into smaller problems, one for plained to them. each student involved in the course. The problem DEPARTMENTAL MEETINGS must allow for the formation of an opinion as the basis of discussion and must be real in the sense that the I n preparation for the departmental meeting each stndents do not know the answers before they start week the seminar directors draw up and post on the their research. Related problems are grouped - to- bulletin board a topical outline which includes the im1ST~ELE-LD, F. M., "Education of chemists,- chm. portant principles, facts, and preliminary ~roblemsto Eng. N m s , 23, 1951 (1945). be considered hy the group as a foundation for the 149
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seminar itself. During departmental meetings a student presides and the discussion is informal. While the emphasis here is on facts and principles rather than on problems, the students strive to make their contributions interesting and forceful. There is no mere reading of notes, although notes may be used. Authorities are evaluated as well as quoted. The seminar director listens carefully during these departmental meetings, frequently joins in the discussion, and offers suggestions as to improvement of both content and expression of student contributions. SEMINARS
During the weekly interdepartmental meeting the chairman and the students presenting papers sit a t the front of the room facing the rest of the group. The seminar opens with a brief introduction by the student chairman summarizing the preceding seminar and correlating both it and the program for the day with the general problem for the semester. The chairmen then formally introduces in turn the students (usually three) who present the papers for the day. These students speak directly to the audience and are not allowed to use notes except in the case of a long quotation. The student listeners take notes. The introductions and papers usually take about 25 minutes, and when they are finished, the remainder of the hour is devoted to a discussion of the papers. This discussion may include the expression and support of an opinion a t variance with that upheld by one of the speakers, the questioning of the speakers, the addition of relevant information, citation of examples to prove or disprove the propositions upheld by the speakers, or comment. The chairman guides the discussion without entering into it and attempts to bring as many of thc listenersinto the discussion as oossible. The facultv members made the papers presented, correct any vital error made during the discussion, and keep a record of student contributions. Within a week each student speaker submits to her seminar director the final copy of her paper typed according to manuscript regulations, properly footnoted, and complete with outline and bibliography. Thus careful training in research and discussion is given the students enabling them to express their ideas with clarity. But what of the subject matter of the course? How does i t develop the students? u
POUR-SEMESTER CYCLE
The four-semester cycle of courses for the chemistry and biology departments consists of a study of public health, the effect of science on the progress of civilization, the impact of modern science on our social institutions, and, finally, the relationships existing between science, philosophy, apd religion. For the study of public health, the chemistry department works with half of the sociology department, the other half pairing off with the department of biology. The two groups are independent, and while their plans
for the semester differ in many respects, they both begin with a study of federal, state, and local agencies working in the field of public health and with the work of the great foundations like the Red Cross operating on a national and even on an international scale. Whiie the problems considered differ not only among the two department groups according to their special interests, but also from year to year depending upon world conditions and the timeliness of particular aspects of public health, special consideration is always given to the duties and rights of the state and the individual. Problems arising from the interplay of these rights and duties are the subject matter of student papers and are settled on a broad unselfish basis that carries over into ordinary living. Once the right of the state to quarantine and to require premarital examinations is recognized, the rational basis for future cooperation between these young citizens and the government is established. The priority of the rights of the individual in such problems as euthanasia and sterilization is proved. Water purification and sewage disposal which iuvolve so much simple chemistry and bacteriology are given special consideration because of the present threat to America caused by her dying rivers and polluted streams. The need for regional planning and cooperation is stressed. Mental health, drug addiction, rehabilitation of the disabled veterans, and other timely topics are given their share of attention. The effect upon the chemistry and biology students is a broadening one, causing a respect for their own chosen fields (Who dreamed that chemicals could affect mental health?) and a deeper appreciation of the interplay of the sciences with other fields of human knowledge. The effect of science on the progress of civilization is studied by the departments of biology, chemistry, history, and mathematics working together as a single large unit. The beginnings of science in Babylon, Egypt, and Greece; the union of science and philosophy in the Middle Ages and their divorce a t the time of Galileo and Kepler; the great industrial revolutionthese are but a few of the high lights of scientific development seen against the background of world history. The repercussions of each major discovery, the students find, had a profound effect, either for good or evil, upon the progress of civilization. Thence arises the problem: under what conditions is a scientist responsible for the good or evil effects of his discovery? Here again, can the effects of such study on a science student be anything but broadening and unifying? Against a background of such depth even the most amazing developments of modern science are seen in the proper perspective. For the study of the impact of modern science on social institutions (the work of the present semester) the biology and chemistry departments each pair off with half of the department of economics, again forming two independent groups. Such major questions as the following are being considered :
1. Has the advance of science tended to strengthen or weaken aemocracy? 2. Has the influence of science been a factor for good or evil in education? 3. Has science made the home a better place in which to live? specific problems, subjects of individual papers, include the following: 1. Has the radio strengthened democracy in this country by arousing, public interest in government? 2. Is the secrecy in which many recent scientific discoveriesare shrouded a desirable thing? 3. Is the government direction, coordination, and support of scientificresearch tending to weaken freedom of inqniry? 4. Is the discovery of the atomic bomb (a product of cooperative research under federal control) a contribution to the true progress of mankind? 5. Does the rapid advance of science tend to make monopolies inevitable? 6. Have the effects of science on community life necessitated a shift from the study of the classics to the physical sciences? 7. Can a woman successfully combine a scientific career with marriage? 8. May the "movie" be considered a major factor in the weakening of parental influence in the home? 9. Has science any responsibility in stemming the steady decline of the population in our conntry?
Because of the general interest in the problems under discussion, the students find this seminar the most fascinating and integrating one in which they have as yet participated. This particular gronp of students, however, has had no experience with the last course of the c y c l e t h e relationships existing between science, philosophy, and religion. For this last course of the two-year cycle, the biology, chemistry, and mathematics departments comb'me again in one large gronp. Since all Marygrove students are required to take 16 hours of philosophy in their junior and senior years, and since all Catholic students take one hour of religion each semester during the whole four years, the science and mathematics majors involved in this seminar have at least the basic knowledge of the big three abont which they talk. Part of the course is devoted to what is called the philosophy of science and another major section to establishing the truth of the statement that there is no conflict between religion and science. Many of the myths that have grown up about the supposed antagonism between the Catholic Church and science are investigated and exploded. And finally the seminar considers science and the supernatural abont which so much erroneous material has of late been written. This seminar strengthens young science majors in their faith in religion and in science, and gives them true important ideas to expyess with clarity. Thus we can conclude.that this four-semester, eightcredit-hour cycle of courses makes a valuable contribution to our science majors, not only by training them in research and discussion, but also by being an integratingfactor in their total education.
