WOU: PHL 399H & BI 407H, Science & Religion Assignments

PHL 399H & BI 407H
Science & Religion

Assignments & Grading

Written exam on first four weeks' historical and philosophical overview. A thirty minute in-class component will monitor content mastery and a take-home component in which students select from two optional sets of questions will test integration of the material	(25%) - 250 pts
Short student paper 1. develops student's view of the relation between religion and science as student understands it 2. addresses one of the last three topics of the course 3. uses the addressed topic to explore Barbour's four models, and opts for one	(20 %) -200 pts
Comprehensive team project: 1. incorporates interviews with at least one "theologian" and one scientist 2. reflects an accurate understanding of the science of each of the three specific topics 3. presents the team's analysis and justification of how the religious tradition the team will have selected to explore might best come to terms with contemporary science's understanding of each of the three topics addressed in the last six weeks	(40%) - 400 pts
Reading outlines & journal of reflections and concept formation	(15%) - 150 pts
Total Points	(100%) - 1000 pts

The student evaluation devices are designed to record the individual student's exploration of relationships between science and religion and provide opportunities for the student to reflect upon, and record substantive changes in, the student's world view as the exploration proceeds. Our experience with student journals has taught us that they offer an effective, safe device in which students will reflect on their contact with the course content and freely communicate with the readers of the journals. The two team interviews will inform the students about the religion and science relationship constructed by experts not connected with this course, thus providing additional resources for the students to draw upon as they develop their own understanding of the relationship.

Two or three of the guest speakers indicated on the attached syllabus will be invited to Western specifically to interact with the students, perhaps by way of responding to questions written by the students and submitted to the speaker before they arrive on campus. In addition, each student team will interview a "theologian" (specifically, a respected and articulate spokesperson for the tradition their team will have chosen to explore) and a scientist (working in one of the three topic areas dealt with in the final weeks of the course) to determine how they construct their understanding of things and how they conceive the relationship of science and religion.

The comprehensive team project will culminate in a class presentation, a paper or part of a course website, relating to one of the three topics. We will develop a comprehensive course website to make the work of course participants known and accessible to the broader community. These projects will be considered for presentation in the Western Oregon's Philosophy Club Colloquia and/or Student Excellence Week.

In order to maximize discussion, student interaction, peer learning, exposure to diverse viewpoints, and empathetic presentation of viewpoints other than their own, students will be assembled into learning teams of four students each. For the first month of the course, when the emphasis is on presentation and mastery of common content, teams will be constructed of students with similar personality and learning styles, which is known to maximize efficiency in completing directed activities. For the last six weeks of the course, student teams will contain students of divergent personalities and learning styles, which will maximize presentation of diverse viewpoints, team creativity, and completion of open-ended activities.

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