Course Prerequisites: Students are required to have completed Natural Science 1A and 1B in the Blended Liberal Studies program, or equivalent courses in introductory Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Earth Science. This background is required, since students will be expected to describe the science behind the technologies they will be presenting in class. Basic calculation and graphing skills are also required. If you do not have these prerequisites, please DROP NOW and make room for others who are trying to get into this class.

Class objectives:
(1) To serve as a "How Things Work" course, to help you and your future students understand the technology all around us.
(2) To serve as a "Science, Technology, and Society" course, to understand how these three subjects interact.
(3) To serve as a course on energy, including its generation and use, and of their effects on the environment.
(4) To promote student understanding of scientific method, and to practice critical thinking and reasoning skills, useful both in and outside of science.
(5) To provide experience with quantitative reasoning and graphics, again useful both in and outside of science.

Mathematics: This course will require the use of some algebra and basic geometry, but mainly a lot of arithmetic. We will also use scientific notation, units conversions, percentages, and proportions.

Course meeting times and location: Schedule 75329 (section 05): MW 3-4:15 p.m., in McLane 161.

Holidays: September 1 (Labor Day), November 26 (Thanksgiving).

Required Course Texts:
(1) Energy and the Environment, by Robert A. Ristinen and Jack L. Kraushaar (1999).
(2) New Energy Sources, by Nigel Hawkes (2000).
(3) NSci 116 Class Notes, by F. A. Ringwald (2003).
(4) The Elements of Style, 4th ed., by W. Strunk Jr. and E. B. White (2000).

Recommended Course Texts:
(1R) How Stuff Works, by Marshall Brain (2001), although an online version is also available, at http://www.howstuffworks.com/.
(2R) The Way Science Works, by Robin Kerrod and Sharon Ann Holgate (2002).

All texts should be available at the campus Bookstore, in the University Student Union building.

Required Course Equipment:
(1) Clear plastic ruler; (2) Scientific calculator (that has scientific notation, and can calculate logarithmic and exponential functions); (3) A looseleaf notebook, in which to put your NSci 116 Class Notes (although the Copy Center may provide the Class Notes already in these looseleaf notebooks).

Course web page: http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~fringwal/nsci116.html

Course grades will be awarded for the following final percentages:
85.0-100% = A; 70.0-84.9% = B; 55.0-69.9% = C; 40.0-54.9% = D; 0-39.9% = F.
These percentages will be computed with the following weights:

15%		Two Midterm Exams, the lower of which will be dropped.
15%		Presentations (also called "Gadget talks"), including Topic Descriptions (150-250 words due September 10, worth 5% of the final grade) and Presentation Summaries (450-750 words due on the day of your presentation, worth 5% of the final grade).
10%		Presentation Evaluations (5 at 2% of the final grade each, 450-750 words each, due at the beginning of the class following the presentation being evaluated).
10%		Homework. (Please note: all homework is due in class, and no late assignments can be accepted.) (Please also note: Always show your work, to receive full credit.)
5%		Paper titles and 150-250-word summaries, due Monday, November 24.
20%		A paper, between 1750 and 2200 words long, due on the last day of instruction, on Wednesday, December 10. For detailed instructions, see the Writing Guide for Research Papers available online and in the NSci 116 Class Notes.
25%		Final Exam, which will be comprehensive (covering all material in the entire course), which will be Wednesday, December 15, 3:30-5:30 p.m. in the regular classroom.

Please note:

• Class Attendance: All students are expected to attend all class sessions. All students are also expected to arrive for class on time, and to attend to the end of all class sessions. Doing otherwise is disruptive, in large classes like this. If you must miss a class for a compelling reason (e.g. job interview or illness documented by a physician's note), it is your responsibility to get the notes from another student. It is also your responsibility to check on announcements made while you were absent. To do this, check the notes taken by another student: I may or may not remember everything offhand.

  Don't miss class. Listening to lectures and participating in discussions are much more effective than reading someone else's class notes. Active participation is even better: it will help you retain what you are learning.

• Always do the reading assignments before class. Class time is valuable: it is much better spent in informed, active discussion among all of us than in just me talking. It always amazes me: the students who get "A"s are almost always the ones who keep up with the reading. The ones who don't, almost always are the ones who don't.

• If a student wishes to withdraw from NSci 116, the Dean of the College of Science and Math may require written substantiation of the serious and compelling reasons for a withdrawal.

• If you want to do well in this course, it will require 2-3 hours of studying for every hour of class lectures. In the NSci 116 Class Notes is a page on "How to Succeed in Your College Science Course." Read it, it's definitely worthwhile.

• Don't be shy about asking questions in class, or during office hours. Remember that the only "dumb" question is the one you didn't ask, that fouled you up later because you didn't ask it.

• All students are required to turn off all beepers, pagers, portable phones, and other devices that make noise while classes are in session, because they are so disruptive.

• I often use e-mail to communicate with students, and please feel free to send e-mail to me. However, all assignments must be handed in as paper copies during class, including homework, projects, paper titles and summaries, and papers.

• NO late assignments can be accepted, including homework, lab assignments, paper summaries, papers, or any other assignments. It's just not possible, in a class this size.

• Always show all work in all course assignments, especially in homework involving mathematical calculations, including the units. Not showing all work, and the correct units, will be cause for points to be taken off.

• All students are required to keep all class materials for the duration of the class. Hang onto all copies of all work you have done in all your classes, ever. Hang on to your textbooks, too: even the real stinkers can serve as bad examples.

• The Department of Physics cooperates with the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) to make reasonable accomodations for qualified students with physical, perceptual, or learning disabilities (cf. Americans with Disabilities Act and Section of 504, Rehabilitation Act). Present your written accomodation request to Dr. Ringwald within the first two weeks of class.

• Do not bring children under 16 to class (unless they are registered in the course), this is not the place for them. They are a distraction to whomever brings them in, other students, and especially to the instructor.

• I plan to use the World Wide Web in this course. I will require you to know how to use an Internet browser and how to use e-mail. Most students will already know this, but if you don't, don't be embarrassed. Please let me know: I'd be glad to give you private lessons during my office hours. Although it would be an advantage for your schoolwork, you need not own a computer. (Dr. Ringwald never did, when he was a student). You may use the computers in the library and elsewhere around campus. If Web access is still a problem for you, please come to office hours or make an appointment, and I'll let you use my computer. I won't therefore accept excuses such as "I couldn't use the Internet" or "My browser wasn't Java enabled."

• About the Liberal Studies Program and the usefulness of this course to K-6 instruction: Many students who are training for K-6 instruction have the mistaken idea that they will be teaching a small class of cute little 3rd graders how to read. Some of you may be doing this, after you have gained experience and earned your way into these assignments. It is more likely you will be teaching Math and Science when you first enter the K-6 classroom, since many instructors feel uncomfortable with these topics and hand them off to the new teachers. NSci 1A and 1B gave you the basics of physical, biological and Earth science. NSci 116 is designed to give you some knowledge about technology, useful for those future doctors, engineers, and scientists in your elementary classroom. This course will also show how energy and technology policy choices made today will affect your students' lives, since energy will be a hot topic in their time. After all, this course is about the future, where your students will spend nearly their whole lives!

• Presentations (also called "Gadget Talks"), Presentation Summaries, and Written Presentation Evaluations:

  Topic Descriptions: Each week (as scheduled) teams of students will make presentations to the class. The presentations will provide a technology counterpoint to the energy issues that form the backbone of the course. Don't pick an issue, pick a "gadget," or a K-6 science teaching kit instead! How does a cell phone work? What is an MP3 player? How does GPS work in the OnStar system? How does a "new technology" fluorescent light work? How do you use an electrical circuit hands-on teaching kit? A list of possible topics for the team presentation will be available on the course website and will be posted in class; topics will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Other topics may be chosen with approval of the instructor. You will post your topic in class; every team must have a different topic. Your team will need to submit a 150-to-250-word Topic Description describing what you plan to do, which is due on September 10.

  Presentation Summary: On the day your team makes the presentation, provide the instructor with a written summary of what you are presenting, including the sources used (web sites, books, etc.) in planning your presentation. You must have at least three sources for the presentation as a whole. This Presentation Summary should be 450-750 words long (150-250 words for each team member), describing what each team member did, plus a bibliography. If you use PowerPoint, print out a paper copy (also called a hardcopy) of the slides used and attach them to the summary. Any handouts you use must be attached as well, but they will not count toward your 450-750 summary words. Be sure the full names of the team members are on the pages they write. This Presentation Summary count as part of your Presentation grade.

  Presentation: Each team of three students will choose a different topic. There will be a signup sheet in the classroom. The students are to choose one "gadget," and then: (1) Describe how it works; (2) Cover the underlying science; and (3) Describe its impact on society. Presentations are 5 minutes for each student, totalling 15 minutes for all three students on the team. (If necessary, there can be teams of 2 students, but they will have to present for the full 15 minutes total, and their Topic Descriptions and Presentation Summaries have to be full length. Teams of 1 student are not allowed.) You are expected to use all of this time, with about 5 minutes afterwards for questions. "Quickie" presentations ("This is a battery. It has chemicals inside and makes electricity. Any questions?") will receive a very low grade. Although you may choose to use something like a brief video as part of your presentation, the bulk of what is presented must be your own work. Plan your time carefully. There are three of you, so each will typically do one of the three required elements. Props and hands-on materials are welcome and will be useful, for later use in explaining things in a K-6 classroom. Put your presentation together early enough to meet with your instructor for help filling any holes you find in your basic science background. I expect you to come to me for help in understanding the basic science; once I teach you, then you can go on to teach the rest of the class.

  Science Teaching Kit Presentation: Instead of the technology presentation described above, your team can elect to present the use of a K-6 science teaching kit that is technology-related. For example, FOSS kits (see http://www.lhs.berkeley.edu/FOSS/) which explain magnets, electric circuits, electric motors, solar energy, etc. should be available from the School of Education, as are science kits from other vendors. Explain the science behind the Kit, and demonstrate how it would be used. Split the tasks up in your team as you see fit, but everyone must stand up and talk for five minutes at some point! Your written summary still requires at least three sources as outlined above, since you will need to augment your science knowledge beyond the materials provided in the kit.

  Presentation Evaluations: Those not making a presentation should take good notes on the science and technology presented, as this material will show up on the mid-term and final exams. From your notes you are required to turn in evaluations of any five of the presentations. The evaluations must be word-processed (or typed) and in the style of the Writing Guide for Research Papers for NSci 116. Each evaluation must be 450-750 words in length, for a total of 5 x 450 = 2250 words, about half the length of an upper-division term paper. Give the name of the topic and the names of the presenters, and then summarize what each presenter did and critique how well they did it. "They did a good (or poor) job" will not be adequate. Tell where they were unclear or made errors, and make suggestions for improvement. The Presentation Evaluation is due at the beginning of the next class. Late evaluations will not be accepted. (The one exception to this is: evaluations for presentations given in the class before either of the mid-term exams will not be due until the class that follows the mid-term exam.) This means you may not turn in an evaluation of an "old" presentation later on in the semester. It is strongly advised that you do your five evaluations early in the semester, as teams have been known to vanish as students drop and teams are reshuffled. If you find yourself short at the end, you will lose the points for the missed evaluations.

• Exams: There will be two midterm exams and a comprehensive final exam. The lower mid-term grade will be dropped. The material for these exams will come from the lectures and assigned reading. All exams will be closed book and as such you may not use any notes or books during the exam. Calculators may be used for the exams.

  Sorry, but I cannot give make-ups for mid-term exams, nor can I give mid-term or final exams in advance. These classes are far too large for it to be possible, because I cannot be in two places at once. Even with smaller classes, I can never be sure that a makeup or advance exam was really fair, since it must be different from the regular exam. If you must miss a mid-term exam for a compelling reason (e.g., job interview or illness documented by a physician's note), the part of the course grade that mid-term exam would have counted will be voided, and the rest of the grade will be counted as 100%. If you must miss the final exam for a very compelling reason (e.g., illness documented by a physician's note), you will receive a grade of I (incomplete) for NSci 116 for the semester. It will then be your responsibility to contact the university administration in a timely fashion, and make the necessary arrangements to remove the I grade. See the California State University, Fresno General Catalog for regulations concerning the I grade.

  If for any reason a student leaves the classroom while an exam is being given, the student may not re-enter the classroom as long as that exam is still taking place. The student's leaving the exam will be taken to signify that the student has finished that exam. This includes trips to the bathroom, so plan ahead. All students are required to remove hats and sunglasses during all exams, because they have in the past been used to aid cheating. Students may not use calculators, pagers, cell phones, or any other devices that can communicate outside the classroom during exams. This constitutes cheating, and any students caught cheating, in this or any other way, will receive an F in the entire course.

• I will allow students to collaborate with each other on homework and projects, provided everyone lists their "co-investigators" on their papers. Scientists often do this, and the ability to collaborate well and work as part of a team is a good skill to have, in science and in other professions.

  However, if you do collaborate, it must be genuine collaboration: not one person doing all the work, and the others blindly copying, which constitutes cheating. Therefore, while you may work together, write up the results separately, in your own words. A dead giveaway is when I get two papers that are exactly the same. Do people think I don't notice it?

• Plagiarism: I like even less when students take papers from the Internet, and turn them in as their own work. This is now easy for professors to detect, with www.plagiarism.org. If I find a paper or web page anywhere that closely resembles yours, that web page had better have your name on it. If it doesn't, your turning it in with your name on it will be interpreted as an attempt to misrepresent someone else's work as your own, which constitutes plagiarism. Remember, always: you are responsible for anything with your name on it.

  Modifying someone else's paper slightly, or changing the words around, or stringing someone else's paragraphs together, even if they're cited, is no better: none of these dubious practices make it your paper. For information on the University's policy regarding cheating and plagiarism, refer to the Schedule of Courses (Legal Notices on Cheating and Plagiarism) or the University Catalog (Policies and Regulations).

  To prevent plagiarism, I will copy both the paper titles and summaries and the papers themselves, and I will keep these copies on file, for life. If I find a plagiarized paper, the student will receive an F for the entire course. I may also send the plagiarized paper to the Dean and other university authorities (e.g. coaches) and recommend the student be expelled from the University—or the degree be revoked, if I don't find it until 25 years from now. Do NOT plagiarize!

• Dr. Ringwald will be photographing this class several times, to get to know the class, and during exams, to prevent various forms of cheating.

• This syllabus is tentative and may be revised as needed during the course. Changes will be announced during class. If you are absent from class it is your responsibility to check on announcements made while you were absent, from other students. Your being registered in, and not dropping, this NSci 116 lecture section for which Dr. Ringwald is the instructor means that you accept all the above terms on this syllabus, and on the Writing Guide for Research Papers.