科學英文

This course aims to enhance students’ English reading abilities by requiring them to read challenging texts each week; English speaking and listening abilities by requiring them to engage in class discussions; and English writing abilities by requiring them to complete weekly reading comprehension exercises, come up with one discussion question per week, and take the midterm and final exams. Moreover, this course aims to enhance these English abilities with respect to the use of English in science in particular and in academic settings more generally.

This course provides students with an opportunity to practice and improve their English language skills by learning about scientific theories and experiments. Each week, students will read about a particular theory or experiment, raise and answer questions about it, and discuss it with their classmates and the instructor. The course is divided into two parts. In the first part of the course, the instructor will choose the readings, ask and answer questions about the readings, and lead the class discussions. In the second part of the course, the students will do all of these things. More specifically, each week, one group of students will work closely with the instructor to choose a reading, prepare questions about the reading for the other students to answer, answer students’ questions, and lead the class discussion.

Weekly reading comprehension exercises: 10% Each week, students will work in groups to complete a short exercise based on that week’s readings. These exercises are graded pass-fail—students who complete the exercise in class will receive full credit; otherwise, no credit will be given. Weekly discussion questions: 10% Each week, students are responsible for coming up with one discussion question based on the reading, which they must submit on Google Classroom the day before that week’s meeting. These questions may concern an aspect of the reading that they found interesting, confusing, or problematic in some way. These questions are graded pass-fail—students who submit their discussion question before class will receive full credit; otherwise, no credit will be given. Lead one class meeting: 30% Students will work in small groups to lead the class for one meeting during the second part of the course. More specifically, each group will work closely with the instructor to choose a reading from Magie (1935), prepare the weekly reading comprehension exercise, answer the weekly discussion questions, and lead the class discussion. The instructor will be a member of each small group, and will work closely with the students so that they can achieve these goals. Midterm exam: 25% The midterm exam will cover all of the readings from the first part of the course. Questions will focus on information that we discussed in class. Final essay: 25% The final essay will cover all of the readings from the second part of the course. Students are required to write an essay that discusses material from three of those readings.

Magie, William Francis (ed.) (1935). A source book in physics. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.