University of Massachusetts at Boston

Graduate College of Education

Critical and Creative Thinking Program


Making Sense of Numbers

(seminar in critical thinking)

CCT 611

Fall 2001 Syllabus


Instructor: Peter Taylor, Critical & Creative Thinking Program
Email: peter.taylor@umb.edu
Phone: 617-287-7636
Office: Wheatley 2nd flr 143.09 (near Counseling & School Psychology)
Classtime: Wednesdays 4-6.30, Sept. 5- Dec. 12 (except Nov. 21)
Classroom: McCormack 2-628S
Office/phone call hours: M 2.30-3.30, W 6.40-7.20, Th 5.40-6.20, or by arrangement
Course Website: http://www.faculty.umb.edu/peter_taylor/611-01.html
Class email list: Emails sent to cct611@yahoogroups.com will go to everyone in the course
E-clippings: Send course-related items you find on the web to cct611CLIPS@yahoogroups.com

CATALOG DESCRIPTION

This course involves research on and discussion of important issues of current concern about critical thinking: Topics include critical thinking; logic and knowledge; critical thinking about facts and about values; knowledge in its social context; teaching to be critical; and evaluating critical thinking skills.

THEME for Fall 2001: Making Sense of Numbers
The course material, activities, and teaching/learning interactions provide students:
an opportunity to learn a variety of tools for quantitative reasoning and how to interpret their application to situations of social significance;
a set of models for their own teaching and educational work; and
a basis for discussions and reflection about practices and philosophies of education, construed broadly as a project of stimulating greater citizen involvement in debates about the meaning of numbers.

PREREQUISITES: CCT601 or permission of instructor. No advanced mathematical or computing skills are assumed, only a willingness to explore issues that involve quantitative reasoning.

TEXTS: Readings available on reserve.

SECTIONS TO FOLLOW IN SYLLABUS:

SUPPLEMENTS

Throughout this syllabus attributes of the Thoughtful and Responsive Educator are indicated in brackets:

ASSESSMENT & REQUIREMENTS:

More detail about the assignments and expectations is provided in the Teaching/Learning Tools section of the syllabus, and will be supplemented when needed by handouts and emails

Written assignments and presentations, 2/3 of grade
A. Project: A research paper or set of lesson plans concerning critical thinking about the use of numbers in society. A sequence of 5 assignments is required--initial description, notes on research and planning, work-in-progress presentation, complete draft, and final report (2000-3000 words). [uC, uP]
B. Four mini-essays or lesson plans that weave the course material--readings, activities, homework tasks--into your own thinking [uC, uP, pR]
Participation and contribution to the class process, 1/3 of grade.
C. Prepared participation and attendance at class meetings (=14 items) [pCo]
D. Personal/Professional Development (PD) Workbook submitted for perusal week 6 & week 14 (=2 items) = PD Worksheets and Homework tasks, including Notes and reflections on readings, class discussions, clippings (including copies of items posted on cct611Clips), progress in your individual project, etc. [cL, uC, uP, pR]
E. Minimum of two in-office or phone conferences on your assignments and project, before weeks 6 and 12 (=2 items) [cM]
F. Peer commentary on another student's draft report (with copy submitted to PT) [pCo]
G. Assignment Check-list maintained by student and submitted week 12 [uA]
H. Process Review on the development of your work, included with your PD Workbook at end-of-semester perusal [cL, pR]

Rubric
This rubric is simple, but unusual. Read the Rationale in the Key Teaching/Learning Tools amd ask questions to make sure you have it clear.

B+ is earned automatically for 80% of Written items (=7 of 9, incl. Final Report) marked OK/RNR (=OK/ Reflection-revision--resubmission Not Requested) and 80% of Participation items fulfilled (=16 of 21).
The qualities below will determine whether a higher grade is earned. If you show half of the qualities to follow, you earn an A-. If you show almost all of these, you earn an A:
A sequence of assignments paced more or less as in syllabus,
often revised thoroughly and with new thinking in response to comments. [pR]
Project innovative,
well planned and carried out with considerable initiative, and
indicates that you can guide others to think critically about the use of numbers in society. [cM, uC, uP]
Project report clear and well structured,
with supporting references and detail, and
professionally presented. [cM]
Active, prepared participation in all classes. [pCo]
Consistent work outside class on preparatory and follow-up homework tasks [cL,pR]
Process Review that shows deep reflection on your development through the semester and
maps out the future directions in which you plan to develop [cL,pR]

If you do not reach the B+ level, the grade for Written assignments & presentations will be pro-rated from B+ down to C for 50% of assignments OK/RNR. Similarly the Participation & process grade goes down to C for 50% of participation items.

COURSE OVERVIEW and OBJECTIVES


CCT aims to help students become reflective practitioners (or "practicing reflectors"). The most important goal of this course, therefore, is that you actively ask questions about quantitative tools in their social context--not just during class time, but all the time. In this spirit, you are expected to reflect on the class and integrate new perspectives into your notes, preparation for subsequent classes, and your developing projects. Various components of the course are intended to contribute to this reflection/critical thinking (see the Description of Key Teaching/Learning Tools after the Schedule of Classes) [pR]

The course material, activities, and teaching/learning interactions provide students:
an opportunity to learn a variety of tools for quantitative reasoning and how to interpret their application to situations of social significance;
a set of models for their own teaching and educational work; and
a basis for discussions and reflection about practices and philosophies of education, construed broadly as a project of stimulating greater citizen involvement in debates about the meaning of numbers.
[cM, uC, uP, uA, uT, pCo, pR, pJ]

The cases and activities planned for this course are intended to be accessible to non-specialists. Behind the course lie three ideas about teaching quantitative reasoning in its social context:
* Critical thinking in the following sense: Theories and practices that have been accepted or taken for granted can be better understood by placing them in tension with what else could be, or could have been, e.g., contrasting models of genetically determined IQ with models of multiple intelligences developed over time through a variety of social interactions. To promote this kind of critical thinking, I introduce a series of "critical heuristics" -- Heuristics are propositions that stimulate, orient, or guide our inquiries, yet break down when applied too widely, and critical heuristics are ones that place established facts, theories, and practices in tension with alternatives. [uC, uP]

* Reciprocal animation: Close examination of conceptual developments within mathematics and science can lead to questions about the social influences shaping scientists' work or its application, which, in turn, can lead to new questions and awareness of alternative approaches in those fields. In this vein, "understanding content" [uC] refers both to Quantitative Reasoning and to its social interpretation. This approach to critical thinking about the diverse influences shaping quantitative tools and reasoning illustrates and promotes dialog among the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. [uC]

* Ongoing pedagogical development: There are few models for teaching critical thinking about mathematics. In any case, teachers of critical thinking cannot learn by following instructions. Teachers, like their students, have to experiment, take risks, and through experience have built up a set of tools that work for them. (This is the spirit in which I offer this version of CCT611.) Moreover, teachers have to adapt these teaching tools to cope with the different ways that students in each class respond when invited to address alternatives, uncertainty, and taking more responsibility for learning. An emphasis on critical thinking tends to imply, even in large classes, an individualized model of teacher-student interaction. Students' corresponding raised expectations are difficult to fulfill, and their responses are sometimes emotionally intense, especially in the case of science students. This makes sense when we recall that their success in mathematics and science has depended on learning what others already have discovered and systematized. For all these reasons, pedagogical development must be ongoing. [cL, cM, uP, pC, pCo, pR]

Given that offering this course is an experiment in my ongoing pedagogical development, it should be approached as a work-in-progress. Students are encouraged to affirm during the semester what is working well and suggest directions for further development.

See also the goals in brackets throughout the following schedule of classes.
ACCOMMODATIONS: Sections 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 offer guidelines for curriculum modifications and adaptations for students with documented disabilities. If applicable, students may obtain adaptation recommendations from the Ross Center (287-7430). The student must present these recommendations to each professor within a reasonable period, preferably by the end of the Drop/Add period.

Students are advised to retain a copy of this syllabus in personal files for use when applying for certification, licensure, or transfer credit.

This syllabus is subject to change, but workload expectations will not be increased after the semester starts. (Version 3 September 01)

SCHEDULE OF CLASSES

Additional information about classes, assignments, and other tasks may be provided in handouts (which will also be posted on the course website) and emails (which are archived on http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/cct611).

Class 1. (9/5) Frame-setting: Critical thinking and Personal/professional development
Learning objectives:
Appreciate the metaphor of critical thinking as a journey, including Revision as central to personal/professional development (PD) [cl, pCo, pR]
Understand the structure of the syllabus with its various components, and begin to
understand their rationale [cM, uP, uA, pC]
Activities:
Gravity story, including digression to calculate orbital speeds
Brainstorming questions about the use of numbers in society
Initial personal/professional development (PD) planning
Review of syllabus and course website
After class reading: Taylor, "We know more," Best, "Telling the truth."

Class 2. (9/12) Spreadsheet as a tool that extends and constrains our thinking
Preparation: Homework tasks from class 1.
Learning objectves:
Learn or refresh basic spreadsheet commands [uT]
Understand the idea that quantitative tools can extend what we can think about/through [uC]
Learn or refresh exponential growth models [uC]
Understand the idea that tools (including computer models) build in rules that restrict the user's options. Understand and apply guideline that ways should be explored to expose this restrictiveness
[uP, uT, pR, pJ]
Activities:
Spreadsheet exercise to predict future populations
The two islands game on inequality
Identifying and interpreting language in texts about undifferentiated agents
After-class Reading: Taylor, "How do we know"
*A* Asmt due: Mini-essay 1.

Class 3. (9/19) Designing a critical thinking activity using spreadsheets
Reading: TBA
Learning objectives:
Learn and apply guidelines for lessons using spreadsheets [uC, uP, uA, uT]
Understand and apply the idea that quantitative tools can extend what we can think about/through [uC, uT]
Activities:
Lesson on alternative mortgage schemes
Lesson design around relevant issues

Class 4. (9/27, 6.45-9.15 -- Note changed date and time)
Inquiry-based learning and the 3Ps -- problem-posing, problem-solving, and persuasion
**meet in W-2-031 (first corridor on left off catwalk)**
Reading: Peterson and Jungck, "Problem-posing." Also review Mendelian genetics in any introductory biology book.
Learning objectives:
Understand and discuss guideline to use computers first and foremost to teach or learn things that are difficult to teach or learn with existing (not computer-based) pedagogical approaches [uP, uT]
Through working with the Genetic Construction Kit (GCK) software, experience and learn the 3Ps model of student learning, which has been implemented in GCK and other biology education software compiled by the BioQuest consortium (http://www.bioquest.org) [uC, uP, pCo]
Activities:
Virtual science -- fruit fly mating using Genetic Construction Kit software
Discussion reviewing the experience in light of the 3P's model.
Additional readings:
Cartier, "A modeling approach" (on reserve)
Eisenhart, "Learning science" (on reserve)
*A* Asmt due: Mini-essay 2

Class 5. (10/3) Correlation, causation, and consequences
Reading: Chase, "False Correlations = Real Deaths."
Learning objectives:
Learn or refresh descriptive statistics (mean, median, correlation) [uC]
Learn or refresh linear models (slope and intercept) [uC]
Understand need to scrutinize inferences from correlation to causation [uC]
Understand that quantitative reasoning is socially embedded [pJ]
Learn to distinguish styles of causal explanation and their relation to ideas about social action [uC, pJ]
Activities:
Interpreting parent-offspring height patterns
Case: What causes a disease?--the consequences of hereditarianism in the case of pellagra; discussion and analysis
Additional reading (after class; on reserve): Harkness, "Vivisectors and vivshooters."

Class 6. (10/10) Building wider webs of connection for personal and professional development
Readings: TBA (on information searching)
Learning objectives:
Learn or refresh search strategies for internet and on-line databases [cL, uT]
Appreciate the diversity of influences you can build into your own development [uP, pR]
Activities:
Web search for: Critical thinking lessons on quantitative topics; research on teaching critical thinking and quantitative reasoning, initial project ideas; open questions
Pair-share about discoveries and insights. Whole-class discussion.
Freewriting towards draft initial description of projects
*A* Asmt due: Mini-essay 3
*A* PD workbooks of students collected for first perusal (returned week 7)

Class 7. (10/17) "Helping teachers clarify the numbers on intelligence" -- a problem-based learning (PBL) unit, part 1
Reading: "The Mass. Union of Teachers needs briefings to help teachers confused about the arguments on inborn intelligence and the need for high stakes testing to motivate harder work among students" (xerox handout on the PBL scenario.
Greenwald, "Learning from Problems."
Learning objectives (for weeks 7-9):
Learn or refresh ideas about structuring small groupwork [pCo]
Apply search strategies for internet and library research [cL, uT]
Appreciate the differences between guided work on cases and PBL [uP]
Learn procedures for moving a group into and through a PBL unit [pCo]
Become able to explain ways that numbers are used to support conflciting positions about the changeability of intelligence [uC, pJ]
Recapitulate objectives for class 5 [uC, pJ]
Activities: PBL, focusing on definition of problems, formation of work groups around different problems, practice of small groupwork, formulation of initial learning objectives and task allocation, organization of between-class communication
Additional readings (= resources for different working groups): Horgan, Lewontin, Winn, Woodhead, plus others (see xerox handout)
*A* Before class 7: First in-office or phone conferences on your assignments and project

Class 8. (10/24) "Helping teachers clarify the numbers on intelligence" -- a problem-based learning unit, part 2
Learning objectives: see week 7
Activities: PBL, focusing on review of what has been learned, revision of problems, consultation with other work groups around overlaps, formulation of remaining learning objectives and task allocation, initial organization of presentations
*A* Asmt due: Revised initial description of your individual project (see Key Teaching/Learning Tools)

Class 9. (10/31) "Helping teachers clarify the numbers on intelligence" -- a problem-based learning unit, part 3
Learning objectives: see week 7
Activities: PBL, focusing on final preparation of presentations, and making those presentations (to be videotaped)
*A* Asmt due: Mini-essay 4 (which may be a reflection on the PBL activity)

Class 10. (11/7) Living with risk/Traps in thinking about probability (guest: Diane Paul)
Reading:
Gilovich et al., "The HotHand"
Matthews, "Base-rate Errors"
Learning objectives:
To understand how the use of common heuristics (mental rules of thumb) for judging probabilities may lead us astray. In particular, to understand why use of the "representativeness" heuristic often results in the misinterpretation of random data, misunderstanding of statistical regression, and the disregard of important base-rate information.
Activities:
Puzzles and discussion
*A* Asmt due: Notes on research and planning for your project (see Key Teaching/Learning Tools)

Class 11. (11/14) Work-in-progress presentations by students
Learning objectives:
Experience how preparing presentations, hearing yourself deliver them, and getting feedback leads to self-clarification of the overall direction of your project and of priorities for further work [uA, pCo]
Appreciate the range of concerns your peers have about the use of numbers in society [uP]
Activities:
Work-in-progress presentations (10 minutes) with questions and peer commentary (5 minutes)
*A* Asmt due: Presentation

No class 11/21

Class 12. (11/28) Tools to extend thinking by considering feedback loops
Reading: TBA
Learning objectives:
Review basic spreadsheet commands [uT]
Understand basic ideas about feedback [uC]
Understand and apply social interpretation as a means to expose the restrictiveness that comes with using any quantitative tools [uC]
Activities:
Overreacting thermostat
Economic management game
*A* Before class 12: Second in-office or phone conferences on your assignments and project
*A* Asmt due: Complete draft report plus electronic version by email or on disk
*A* Submit a copy of your assignment check-list so PT can alert you about discrepancies with his records.

Class 13. (12/5) Complexity theory and its social interpretation
Reading: Waldrop, Complexity. Lewin, Complexity
Learning objectves:
Understand differences between linear and non-linear dynamic models, in particular how simple rules can generate complex behaviors and small differences in initial conditions can yield large differences in outcomes [uC]
Apply social interpretation as a means to expose the restrictiveness that comes with using any quantitative tools [uC]
Activities:
Game of Life
View and discuss video from Santa Fe Institute for Complexity Studies
*A* Before class 13. Comment on at least two of the draft reports (linked to the course website) emailed to the student (include copies with PD workbook)

Class 14. (12/12) Taking Stock of Course: Where have we come and where do we go from here?
Learning Objectives:
For course participants: To feed into your future learning (and other work), take stock of your process(es) over the semester [uA, pR]
For instructor: To feed into his future teaching (and future learning about how students learn), PT takes stock of how you have learned [cL, cM, pR]
Activities:
Historical scan
Written evaluations
Updated PD plans

*A* Project final reports
*A* PD workbooks collected for end-of-semester perusal. (Arrange to collect this after one week or supply a self-addressed stamped box to post it back to you.)
*A* Process review

KEY TEACHING/LEARNING TOOLS

including expectations for assignments
Note: If you get behind, ask for an extension or skip the assignment/item--it defeats the learning goals to submit a stack of late work.

Rubric for each written assignment. It will be marked OK/RNR (= Revision-reflection-resubmission Not Requested) if you have met almost all of the guidelines described below, but Revision and Resubmission will be requested if you have not. Comments made as part of Dialogue around written work (see below) provide guidance tailored to each student's specific interests and needs.

A. Stages of development for course project [cM, uA, uT]
The course project should not be seen as a "term paper," but as a process of development that involves dialogue with the instructor and other students and revision (re-seeing) in light of that dialogue (see examples of previous students' assignments from previous courses and my comments, on reserve). To facilitate that process, a sequence of five assignments and peer commentary is required. The goal of each stage is described below.
Initial description
Building on your in-class draft and comments back from me, compose an initial one or two paragraph overview of your project. This may, several revisions later, end up setting the scene in the introduction of your project. An overview should convey subject, audience, and your reason for working on this project.
Notes on research and planning [uT]
Pull together notes on your reading and your thinking and present it in a form that will elicit useful comments from me. You might include an updated overview, an outline and/or annotated bibliography of readings done or planned--it is important that you know what others have been doing in your area of interest. Record the full citations (not just the URLs) for your sources. I recommend starting to use a bibliographic database. Endnote can be downloaded for a 30 day trial from http://www.endnote.com
Work-in-progress presentation [pCo]
Preparing presentations, hearing yourself deliver them, and getting feedback usually leads to self-clarification of the overall direction of your project and of your priorities for further work. In this spirit, presentations are scheduled early in your projects and are necessarily on work-in-progress. I encourage you to indicate where additional investigation is needed and where you think it might lead you.
Complete draft report
Whatever form your report takes, it should Grab readers' attention, Orient them, and move through Steps so that they appreciate what you have accomplished. You should also include material that conveys your process of development during the semester and in the future. The report should not be directed to the instructor, but conceived as a "briefing" helpful to your colleagues. The draft must get to the end to count, even if some sections along the way are only sketches.
Final report (2000-3000 words, plus bibliography of references cited)
For the report to be counted as final, you must have revised in response to comments from instructor and peers on complete draft. Allow time for the additional investigation and thinking that may be entailed.

B. Mini-essays [pR]
The goal of a mini-essay (200-400 words) is for you to weave the course material--readings, activities, homework tasks--into your own thinking, and for this to help you bring your own thinking back into class activities. Although I will suggest some possible topics for the mini-essays, the choice of topic is open as long as it meets this goal. Write as if the audience were other teachers as well as me.

Dialogue around written work (A & B) [cM, uA, pR]
I try to create a dialogue with each student around written work, that is, around your writing, my responses, and your responses in turn. Central to this teaching/learning interaction are requests to "Revise and Resubmit." The idea is not that you make changes to please me the teacher or to meet some unstated standard, but that as a writer you use the eye of others to develop your own thinking and make it work better on readers. I may continue to request revision when I judge that the interaction can still yield significant learning--such a request does not mean your (re)submission was "bad." Even when the first submissions of written assignments are excellent, angles for learning through dialogue are always opened up. I am still learning how to engage students in this, given your various backgrounds and dispositions, and my own.

In my comments I try to capture where the writer was taking me and make suggestions for how to clarify and extend the impact on readers of what was written. After letting my comments sink in, you may conclude that I have missed the point. In this case, my misreading should stimulate you to revise so as to help readers avoid mistaking the intended point. If you do not understand the directions I saw in your work or those I suggest for the revision, a face-to-face or phone conversation is the obvious next step--written comments have definite limitations when writers and readers want to appreciate and learn from what each other is saying and thinking. Please talk to me immediately if you do not see how you are benefitting from the "Revise and resubmit" process.

Students should keep a copy of all typed assignments because I usually supply comments on a separate sheet and keep your original.

D. Professional Development Workbook & Homework Tasks [cL, cD, pCo, pR]
Specific instructions for the tasks are provided in handouts. I do not expect all tasks to be completed, but you will learn as much in this course as you put into the class activities and homework. If you are using the workbook effectively and undertaking the homework tasks, the workbook should convey your developing process of practicing tools and critical thinking about course readings, activities, and discussions.

Some of the tasks amount to journalling, which should include, but is not limited to notes and reflections on homework tasks, readings, class activities and discussions, clippings, websites, progress in your briefing project, etc. Through this writing you will be better able to weave the course material into your own thinking, and to bring your own thinking into class activities. Workbooks will be collected for perusal twice during the semester. Bind together pages with post-its or otherwise indicate any bits you do not want me to look at.

Clippings and E-clippings [cL]
Include with your workbook clippings or copies of articles from newspapers, magazines, journals, and websites (at least one every two weeks). The goal is that you get in the habit of keeping up with current developments concerning the use of numbers in society. Make sure the full citation is included on each article. In your workbooks and/or on post-its attached to the articles, include your own reflections on specific points in the articles you choose. Submit the URL and brief annotation for clippings you find on the web to cct611clips@yahoogroups.com. These can be viewed at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/cct611Clips. Use the search box to find clippings on specific topics.

E. Conferences
for discussion of comments on assignments (see Dialogue around written work, below), ideas for course projects, and the course as a whole. They are important to ensure timely resolution of misunderstandings.

F. Peer commentary [pCo]
After the draft report is completed I require you to comment on another student's draft. Keep Elbow, Writing with Power, chapters 3 & 13 in mind when you decide what approaches to commenting you ask for as a writer and use as a commentator. In the past I made lots of specific suggestions for clarification and change in the margins, but in my experience, such suggestions led only a minority of students beyond touching up into re-thinking and revising their ideas and writing. On the other hand, I believe that all writers value comments that reassure them that they have been listened to and their voice, however uncertain, has been heard.

G Assignment check-list [uA]
Please keep track of your assignments and revisions and when they are marked OK/RNR. To see if you are on track for at least a B+ simply note whether you have submitted 80% of the assignments by the dates marked and attended 80% of classes. Near the end of the semester, you can count each writing OK/RNR as 11.5 points up to a maximum of 80 and each participation item as 5 points up to a maximum of 80. Giving 2/3 weighting to writing and 1/3 to participation, combvine these points into a % grade. Above a combined total of 80% or B+ the rubric is used to assign grades.

H. Process review [cL, pR]
Identify 4-6 examples that capture the process of development of your work and thinking about promoting critical thinking about the use of numbers in society. Journaling, freewriting, drafts, etc. may be included, that is, not simply your best products. Explain your choices in a 1-2 page cover note and through annotations (large post-its are a good way to do this). Submit with your PD workbook, or extract into a portfolio.

Other Teaching/Learning Tools
Rationale for the Assessment Rubric [uA]
The rationale for not grading the different assignments and granting an automatic B+ for 80% satisfactory completion is to keep the focus of our teaching/learning interactions on your developing through the semester. It allows more space for students and instructor to appreciate and learn from what each other is saying and thinking. My goal is to work with everyone to achieve the 80% satisfactory completion level. Students who progress steadily towards that goal during the semester usually end up producing work that meets the criteria for a higher grade than a B+ (see rubric). Ask for clarification if needed to get clear and comfortable with the assessment system. Use the Assignment Check-list to keep track of your own progress.
At any date to see if you are on track for at least a B+ simply note whether you have submitted 80% of the assignments by the dates marked *A* and attended 80% of classes. Near the end of the semester, you can count each writing OK/RNR as 11.5 points up to a maximum of 80 and each participation item as 5 points up to a maximum of 80. Giving 2/3 weighting to writing and 1/3 to participation, combvine these points into a % grade. Above a combined total of 80% or B+ the rubric is used to assign grades.

Simulations and other class activities [uP]
Class activities are designed so that students participate in "constructing" or "discovering" for themselves the heuristics and other guidelines I introduce. Specific descriptions of the activities are provided in handouts or during the class in question.

Learning Community and email group/list [cM, pC, pCo]
Individually and as a group, you already know a lot about quantitative tools and can help each other learn what you don't know. Moreover, you can learn a lot from each other and from teaching others what you know. The email group or list (emails sent to cct611@yahoogroups.com) can be used to help the community develop.

Taking stock at end of semester involves multiple angles on course evaluation (including written evaluations during class, Process reviews--see babove, and PD planning in your PD workbook): [uA]
a) to feed into your future learning (and other work), you take stock of your process(es) over the semester;
b) to feed into my future teaching (and future learning about how students learn), I take stock of how you, the students, have learned.

BIBLIOGRAPHY (all readings on reserve)

Best, J. (2001). "Telling the Truth about Damned Lies and Statistics." The Chronicle of Higher Education(May 4): B7-B9.

Cartier, J. L. and J. Stewart (2000). "A modeling approach to teaching high school genetics." BioQuest Notes 10(2): 1-4, 10-12.

Chase, A. (1977). "False Correlations = Real Deaths," in The Legacy of Malthus. NY: Knopf, 201-225.

Eisenhart, M. A. and E. Finkel (1998). "Learning science in an innovative genetics course," in Women's Science: Learning and Succeeding from the Margins. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 61-90.

Elbow, P. (1981). Writing with Power. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

Gilovich, T., R. Vallone and A. Tversky (1985). "The Hot Hand in Basketball: On the Misperception on Random Sequences." Cognitive Psychology 17: 295-314.

Glantz, M. H. (1989). "Societal Responses to Regional Climatic Change," in M. H. Glantz (Ed.), Societal Responses to Regional Climatic Change: Forecasting by analogy. Boulder and London: Westview Press, Inc., 1-7, 407-428.

Greenwald, N. (2000). "Learning from Problems." The Science Teacher 67(April): 28-32.

Harkness, J. M. (1994). "Vivisectors and vivshooters: Experimentation on American prisoners in the early decades of the twentieth century," ms.

High Performance Systems, Inc. (1997). "Five learning processes: The role of systems thinking and the STELLA software in building world citizens for tomorrow," in STELLA: Introduction to System Thinking Guide. Hanover, NH: High Performance Systems.

Horgan, J. (1993). "Eugenics revisited," Scientific American (June): 122-128, 130-131.

Lewin, R. (1992). Complexity: Life at the Edge of Chaos. New York: Macmillan, 13-28.

Lewontin, R. (1976). "Race and Intelligence (and Jensen's reply, and Lewontin's reply to that)." In The IQ Controversy: Critical Readings, ed. N. J. Block and A. Dworkin. NY: Pantheon, 78-112.

Lewontin, R. (1982)."Mental Traits." In Human Diversity. New York: Freeman Press, 88-103.

Matthews, R. A. J. (1996). "Base-rate Errors and Rain Forecasts." Nature 382(Aug. 29): 776.

Meadows, D., D. L. Meadows, J. Randers and W. W. Behrens (1972). "The State of Global Equilibrium," in The Limits to Growth. New York, NY: Universe Books, 157-197.

Peterson, N. S. and J. R. Jungck (1988). "Problem-posing, problem-solving, and persuasion in biology." http://www.bioquest.org/note21.html

Richmond, B. (1993). "Systems thinking: Critical thinking skills for the 1990s and beyond." System Dynamics Review 9(2): 1-21.

Taylor, P. J. (1997). "How do we know we have global environmental problems? Undifferentiated science-politics and its potential reconstruction," in P. J. Taylor, S. E. Halfon and P. E. Edwards (Eds.), Changing Life: Genomes-Ecologies-Bodies-Commodities. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 149-162 only.

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Student reports

(yet to be attached)