Science Ethics and Society – “What is Science For?” (BIOL22021)
These activities follow on from the “Science Ethics and Society” strand in first year and are aimed at increasing your understanding of the broader social and ethical context of science and developing your abilities to recognise, analyse and respond to ethical issues in science. Activities will take place during welcome week and as part of your weekly tutorial sessions, with group and individual study to prepare work out of class as required.
As in first year, there is a separate Blackboard area for this unit where additional information will be posted. If you cannot see this on Blackboard or are having problems using the system, please seek assistance from eLearning support. The Blackboard site also contains eLearning materials on related topics, including eLectures, additional reading materials and discussion questions to prompt further reflection, which may be useful as resources for essay writing.
The activities to be completed during the year include:
- Attending an interactive ethics play during welcome week to highlight specific ethical challenges surrounding science.
- Case study discussion and debate: you will read through and discuss a case study on ethical issues in science with your tutorial group, then divide into two groups to prepare debate presentations on a given topic, ‘for’ or ‘against’. The debate session will take place during a tutorial session, moderated by your Advisor.
- Essay: you must prepare an essay on an ethics topic and submit it via Blackboard. Your Advisor will specify the topic and deadline for submission. Your essay should be a maximum of 3 pages (not including references) 10pt Arial font, 2.5cm margins, 1.5 line spacing.
- Peer-marking: the essay will be assessed by peer-marking with moderation from your Advisor. Each student will mark one or two essays (as instructed by your Advisor); this will be done using the Blackboard interface. Deadlines for the peer-marking will be specified by your Advisor / Programme Director.
Further detailed information on these activities will be provided via Blackboard BIOL22021.