Course Syllabus
Course: PHSC 1000
Division: Natural Science and MathDepartment: Physics
Title: Interdisciplinary Physical Science
Semester Approved: Fall 2021
Five-Year Review Semester: Summer 2026
End Semester: Summer 2027
Catalog Description: This course is designed to give non-majors a glimpse at how physics, chemistry, geology, meteorology, and astronomy relate to the world around them. It does this by using a conceptual approach to and demonstrations of the most significant and universal laws and models describing the physical world. The course also shows how the different disciplines in the physical sciences overlap and contribute to each other.
General Education Requirements: Physical Science (PS)
Semesters Offered: Fall, Spring
Credit/Time Requirement: Credit: 3; Lecture: 3; Lab: 0
Justification: This course is designed to provide an introduction to the physical sciences and the process by which scientists come to conclusions about the natural world. This course is comparable to courses taught at other state colleges. For the natural sciences, science is the systematic inquiry into natural phenomena organizing and condensing those observations into testable models and hypotheses, theories or laws.
General Education Outcomes:
1: A student who completes the GE curriculum has a fundamental knowledge of human cultures and the natural world. This course is designed to connect the principles of physical science with their manifestations in the natural world and everyday life. Lectures, reading materials, and other media presentations will be the primary path by which this is communicated to students. Students in turn will demonstrate making these connections by contributing to in class discussions and by answering pertinent questions on homework, writing assignments and exams.
2: A student who completes the GE curriculum can read and research effectively within disciplines. Physical science is an information driven science. By following the scientific method, one must retrieve, evaluate, interpret information and be willing to adjust current theory based on this process. One of the key components of the course is to help students understand the process by which scientists work. Students will be required to obtain information from the textbook and from other sources, as provided by the instructor, to evaluate and interpret that information, and to deliver it in new forms as they complete homework, writing assignments, quizzes, and exams.
3: A student who completes the GE curriculum can draw from multiple disciplines to address complex problems. As this course is inherently multidisciplinary in nature, students will be presented with several examples of how the disciplines surveyed in the course interact with and contribute to each others' progress. Homework and/or exam questions will give students opportunities to recall these examples and to apply concepts initially learned in one content area of the course to understanding newly introduced concepts in another content area of the course.
4: A student who completes the GE curriculum can reason analytically, critically, and creatively. The method that scientists use to come to conclusions about the natural world requires one to reason analytically and objectively about observations. By deductively examining the results of experiments, conclusions are determined. Instructors will demonstrate and/or describe the results from experiments in class lectures and in reading material and discuss the reasoning that led to the conclusions that scientists have come to using those results so that students are exposed to this process. Homework and exam questions and/or writing assignments will give students opportunities to practice reasoning skills.
General Education Knowledge Area Outcomes:
1: Students will be given opportunities in homework and exam questions, quizzes, and/or writing assignments to use their newfound understanding of science in general and the principles of the specific scientific disciplines surveyed in the course to explain phenomena that they observe in the physical world. Students will be given opportunities in homework and exam questions, quizzes, and/or writing assignments to use their newfound understanding of science in general and the principles of the specific scientific disciplines surveyed in the course to explain phenomena that they observe in the physical world.
2: Demonstrate understanding of forces in the physical world. Homework, quiz, and/or exam questions will assess student comprehension of forces and relationships between forces in the different types of physical systems studied in each of the four content areas of the course (physics, chemistry, earth science, and astronomy) and how forces that were initially learned in one content area (for example, physics) are applied in other content areas (for example, astronomy).
3: Discuss the flow of matter and energy through systems (in large and small scales). Homework, quiz, and/or exam questions will assess student ability to explain how matter and/or energy move or change in the different types of physical systems studied in each of the four content areas of the course (physics, chemistry, earth science, and astronomy).
4: Develop evidence-based arguments regarding the effect of human activity on the Earth. Using recent publications whenever possible, instructors will model this outcome by showing and explaining scientifically valid evidence of the consequences of human activities on the natural world. Students will be given opportunities to recall and restate these examples and to generate appropriate conclusions from evidence provided to them in homework or exam questions or writing assignments.
5: Describe how the Physical Sciences have shaped and been shaped by historical, ethical, and social contexts. Homework questions or writing assignments will be used to prompt student exploration of and probe student understanding of the historical development of significant theories/models in the physical sciences and how ethical and social milieus affected those scientific advances.
By affording students opportunities to learn of and recognize the value in the scientific contributions of scientists from historically marginalized populations, they can understand that while scientists have not been immune to the discriminatory practices of society, scientific methods' innate characteristic of self-correction ensure that such important contributions are recognized and valued.
Student Learning Outcomes:
a
Content:
Physical Science 1000 is a General Education course that gives the student an overview and introduction to the disciplines of physics, chemistry, earth science, and astronomy. The course will include at least one unit in each of these four content areas. Within each content area, topics of study will be selected according to the individual instructor’s expertise and interests.
Efforts will be made to highlight significant, yet lesser-known, contributions by scientists of under-represented groups as well as those of more commonly known figures.
•Topics within the physics content area will be drawn from: motion and equilibrium, Newton’s Laws of Motion, momentum, energy, gravity, projectiles & satellites, behavior of liquids and gases, thermal energy and thermodynamics, heat transfer and change of phase, electricity, magnetism, waves, sound, and light.
•Topics within the chemistry content area will be drawn from: the composition of atoms, the development of the modern model of the atom, the organization of the Periodic Table, radioactivity, physical and chemical properties and changes of matter, simple chemical nomenclature, ionic and covalent bonding, intermolecular attractions, the mole concept, mixtures, solutions and solubility, chemical equations, rates and thermodynamics of chemical reactions, acid-base reactions, oxidation-reduction reactions, and classes of organic compounds.
•Topics within the earth science content area will be drawn from: rocks and minerals, earthquakes and seismic waves, the composition of Earth’s interior, plate tectonics, groundwater, lakes and rivers, glaciers, geologic dating, history of the Earth, Earth’s oceans, ocean waves and tides, Earth’s atmosphere, ocean and air currents, humidity, clouds, weather fronts, and violent weather.
•Topics within the astronomy content area will be drawn from: the Moon, the formation of the Solar System, the planets and their satellites, other objects in the Solar System, observing and classifying stars, the life cycles of stars, black holes, galaxies, the Big Bang, General Relativity, and dark matter and energy.
Key Performance Indicators:
Students will be assessed through with the following measures:
Unit Exams 35 to 50%
Final Exam 5 to 15%
Homework 25 to 50%
Quizzes/Participation 0 to 15%
Writing Assignments/Projects 0 to 20%
Representative Text and/or Supplies:
Current or penultimate edition of Hewitt, et.al., CONCEPTUAL PHYSICAL SCIENCE, Pearson, or equivalent
Pedagogy Statement:
The course will be taught primarily in a lecture setting, with active learning interludes for demonstrations and activities involving student participation whenever practical.
The interdisciplinary nature of this course requires students to make connections between a variety of fields and encourages them to see the intersection of the physical sciences with their own lived experiences. In addition, students participate in discussions wherein individuals of varying levels of experience with the sciences can contribute in meaningful ways. To promote such discussions, students will be encouraged to ask questions freely throughout each class session, and to help each other to answer questions posed by the instructor.
Student achievement is assessed in a number of ways ranging from standard homework and exams, to written assignments wherein students engage in metacognitive practices regarding their learning of the course content. Reflection assignments given at regular intervals throughout the semester (for example, at the end of each unit) will give students opportunities to evaluate their learning and to integrate the content of the course with their other life experiences.
As an interdisciplinary course and by reason of the pedagogical strategies outlined above, students of all backgrounds are afforded opportunities to make connections not just between scientific disciplines but to their own lived experiences. The use of reflection assignments, a demonstrated equitable teaching practice, ensures that students are given a number of explicit opportunities to engage in these metacognitive practices.
Instructional Mediums:
Lecture
IVC
Maximum Class Size: 48
Optimum Class Size: 24