UCIL24151
Science, Technology and Democracy
20
Semester 1
Undergraduate
Level 2
Kieron Flanagan
Unit coordinator
Department of Physics & Astronomy
1
FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Middle part of Bachelors '
European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 10.0
<table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left"> <p><span style="font-size:12px;">This course unit will explore:</span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-left:18.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">1. The changing role of the State in science and technology in Western developed societies, taking the UK and the US as core examples, but considering the wider global context.</span></p><p style="margin-left:18.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">2. Key science and technology policy trends such as the pressure to <strong>focus resources</strong> on priority fields or leading groups/centres, to evaluate and assess the <strong>impacts of research</strong> and to seek greater <strong>commercial exploitation</strong> of research results.</span></p><p style="margin-left:18.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">3. The roles scientific expertise - and experts - play in public policy and regulation</span></p><p style="margin-left:18.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">4. Wider issues of ‘science-society’ relationships with implications for governance, such as efforts to improve <strong>public engagement with science and technology decision-making</strong>; efforts to encourage more <strong>responsible research and innovation</strong>; and current debates about whether science is ‘<strong>broken</strong>’: e.g. the replication crisis (are most published scientific findings false?), concerns about fraud and misconduct in science, and the ‘open science’ movement.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">The issues explored in this course unit are critical to citizenship in a modern science and technology based democracy, yet they rarely surface in any rigorous way in undergraduate science or engineering education.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">At the same time non-scientists or engineers studying social science or humanities subjects are seldom asked to apply insights from their disciplines to the place of science and technology in modern society.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">On successful completion of this course unit students, whether from a science or a non-science background, will have demonstrated a raised awareness of the crucial place of science and technology in modern society and of the democracy and governance challenges presented by the evolution of the science-society relationship.</span></p></td> </tr> </tbody></table><div style="clear:both;"> </div>
<table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left"> <p><span style="font-size:12px;">This course unit will explore:</span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-left:18.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">1. The changing role of the State in science and technology in Western developed societies, taking the UK and the US as core examples, but considering the wider global context.</span></p><p style="margin-left:18.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">2. Key science and technology policy trends such as the pressure to <strong>focus resources</strong> on priority fields or leading groups/centres, to evaluate and assess the <strong>impacts of research</strong> and to seek greater <strong>commercial exploitation</strong> of research results.</span></p><p style="margin-left:18.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">3. The roles scientific expertise - and experts - play in public policy and regulation</span></p><p style="margin-left:18.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">4. Wider issues of ‘science-society’ relationships with implications for governance, such as efforts to improve <strong>public engagement with science and technology decision-making</strong>; efforts to encourage more <strong>responsible research and innovation</strong>; and current debates about whether science is ‘<strong>broken</strong>’: e.g. the replication crisis (are most published scientific findings false?), concerns about fraud and misconduct in science, and the ‘open science’ movement.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">The issues explored in this course unit are critical to citizenship in a modern science and technology based democracy, yet they rarely surface in any rigorous way in undergraduate science or engineering education.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">At the same time non-scientists or engineers studying social science or humanities subjects are seldom asked to apply insights from their disciplines to the place of science and technology in modern society.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">On successful completion of this course unit students, whether from a science or a non-science background, will have demonstrated a raised awareness of the crucial place of science and technology in modern society and of the democracy and governance challenges presented by the evolution of the science-society relationship.</span></p></td> </tr> </tbody></table><div style="clear:both;"> </div>
<table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left"> <p><span style="font-size:12px;">Science and technology (S&T) are central to the policies - and the identities - of modern advanced nations such as the UK and USA. Less developed and rapidly developing countries also hope to use S&T to meet their own needs. This course explores how and why S&T have become so important to the State and what the implications are for our societies, our polities, our economies - and for the scientific enterprise itself.</span></p></td> </tr> </tbody></table><div style="clear:both;"> </div>
<ul> <li> <table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left"> <p><span style="font-size:12px;">On successful completion students should be able to:</span></p><p style="margin-left:36.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">Show an understanding of how the State became involved in funding science, the changing rationales used to justify that funding, and associated debates</span></p><p style="margin-left:36.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">Show an awareness of the scale and complexity of the 21<sup>st</sup> Century scientific enterprise and its globally distributed nature</span></p><p style="margin-left:36.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">Show an appreciation of the specificities of science policy and the key challenges that stem from these features</span></p><p style="margin-left:36.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">Show an understanding of the wider role played by science in public policy and regulation, and associated political, economic and ethical debates</span></p><p style="margin-left:36.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">Show an appreciation of key contemporary issues in science/technology–society relations</span></p><p style="margin-left:36.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">Understand the role of interests and ideologies in shaping the positions taken by actors in relation to public policy debates about S&T</span></p><p style="margin-left:36.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">See the ‘bigger’ picture of contemporary S&T and understand how we have come to this position</span></p></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div style="clear:both;"> </div> </li></ul>
<table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left"> <p><span style="font-size:12px;">Professional, Analytical and Communication Skills:</span></p> <ul> <li> <table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left"> <ul> <li style="margin-left: 36pt;"> <span style="font-size:12px;">Undertake research reflexively and responsibly </span></li> <li style="margin-left: 36pt;"> <span style="font-size:12px;">The ability to analyse and synthesise theoretical and practical information</span></li> <li style="margin-left: 36pt;"> <span style="font-size:12px;">The ability to identify and interrogate the positions taken by actors in debates and discourses around science policy, understanding the interests and motivations that come to play</span></li> <li style="margin-left: 36pt;"> <span style="font-size:12px;">A practical appreciation of how to engage with policy processes</span></li> <li style="margin-left: 36pt;"> <span style="font-size:12px;">The ability to communicate clearly about science and society issues with both specialist (policy makers, scientists, academics) and non-specialist members of the wider public) audiences</span></li> </ul> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div style="clear:both;"> </div> </li> </ul> </td> </tr> </tbody></table><div style="clear:both;"> </div>
<ul>
<li>
Recognise, critically evaluate and deploy as appropriate relevant theories and concepts;</li>
<li>
Understand the role of interests and ideologies in shaping the positions taken by actors in relation to public policy debates about S&T;</li>
<li>
Undertake research reflexively and responsibly;</li>
<li>
Engage critically with the research of others, as well as respectfully and constructively;</li>
<li>
See the 'bigger' picture of contemporary S&T and understand how we have come to this position.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>
Identify and interrogate the positions taken by actors in debates and discourses around science policy, understanding the interests and motivations that come to play;</li>
<li>
Show some practical appreciation of how to engage with policy processes;</li>
<li>
Communicate clearly about science and society issues with both a scholarly and a policy/public audience;</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>
Oral and written communication skills for specialist and generalist audiences;</li>
<li>
Ability to analyse and synthesise theoretical and practical information.</li>
</ul>
Analytical skills
The ability to analyse and synthesise theoretical and practical information
Innovation/creativity
A practical appreciation of how to engage with policy processes
Oral communication
The ability to communicate clearly about science and society issues with both specialist (policy makers, scientists, academics) and non-specialist members of the wider public) audiences
Research
Undertake research reflexively and responsibly
Other
The ability to identify and interrogate the positions taken by actors in debates and discourses around science policy, understanding the interests and motivations that come to play
<table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left"> <p><span style="font-size:12px;">Indicative list of topics:</span></p><p style="margin-left:54.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">- Why do/should taxpayers fund science?</span></p><p style="margin-left:54.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">- Growth of ‘Big science’</span></p><p style="margin-left:54.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">- The global dimensions of science and ‘science diplomacy’</span></p><p style="margin-left:54.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">- Is science too commercialized?</span></p><p style="margin-left:54.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">- The politics of science funding</span></p><p style="margin-left:54.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">- Science and democracy</span></p><p style="margin-left:54.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">- Science and expertise in public policy and regulation</span></p><p style="margin-left:54.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">- Science, technology and the public</span></p><p style="margin-left:54.0pt;"><span style="font-size:12px;">- Is science broken?</span></p></td> </tr> </tbody></table><div style="clear:both;"> </div>
<table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left"> <table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left"> <p><span style="font-size:12px;">Two hours timetabled teaching time per week, as a single 2 hour block (11 weeks).</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">The use of the two hours per week will be flexible depending on the material to be covered. Teaching is interactive and questions and discussion are encouraged at any time. The Blackboard Virtual Learning Environment is used to supplement face-to-face teaching: a rich array of materials is posted on Blackboard along with links to a variety of further resources.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">Science-society debates increasingly happen through social media, and the use of social media (blogs and Twitter) will be encouraged in the course, both as a means of gathering information about current issues/debates and in the sense of encouraging reflection about what the rise of such media may mean for science-society relationships.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><strong>In addition to this two hour timetabled activity - </strong>this 20 credit course unit version involves a research-based extended essay which will involve at least an additional <strong>two</strong> one-hour one-to-one or small group supervision meetings during the semester.</span></p><p> </p></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div style="clear:both;"> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody></table><div style="clear:both;"> </div>
0
Other
10%
2
Written assignment (inc essay)
15%
3
Report
25%
6
Project output (not diss/n)
45%
9
Set exercise
5%
<figure class="table" style="float:left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"><tbody><tr><td align="left"><ul><li class="pf0"><span class="cf0">Weekly end of module assessments (10%)</span></li><li class="pf0"><span class="cf0">1,500 word report (25%)</span></li><li class="pf0"><span class="cf0">600-800 word policy brief or blog post on a current science policy issue (15%)</span></li><li class="pf0"><span class="cf0">1-2 page project proposal (5%)</span></li><li class="pf0"><span class="cf0">3000 word supervised extended essay project on a science-democracy issue (45%)</span></li></ul></td></tr><tr><td align="left"> </td></tr></tbody></table></figure><div style="clear:both;"> </div>
<table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left"> <p><span style="font-size:12px;">Formative feedback: in class and via Blackboard on demand (requires participation); on a one-page outline essay plan (on request); on a one-page blogpost/policy-brief plan (on request); and, for UCIL 24151, through at least two face-to-face supervisory meetings with the course leader.</span></p><p><br /> <span style="font-size:12px;">Summative feedback: on all pieces of individual coursework via Blackboard. Additional face-to-face feedback will be available on request.</span></p></td> </tr> </tbody></table><div style="clear:both;"> </div>
<p>This course is not available to students in Year 1</p>
Y
Practical classes & workshops
22
Project supervision
2
0
176
<p><span style="font-size:12px;">This course is not available to students in Year 1.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">The course is only open to undergraduate students and is suitable for students from any disciplinary background, whether in science and engineering or management, social sciences and humanities.</span></p><table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left"><p><span style="font-size:12px;">These accessible news/comment articles give a good sense of some of the issues discussed in the course:</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">Colin Macilwain, 2010, ‘What science is really worth’, <em>Nature</em>: <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/2010/100609/full/465682a.html">https://www.nature.com/news/2010/100609/full/465682a.html</a></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">Adam Huttner-Koros, 2015, ‘The hidden bias of science’s universal language’, <em>The Atlantic</em>, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/08/english-universal-language-science-research/400919/">https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/08/english-universal-language-science-research/400919/</a></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">Michael Schulson, 2018, ‘Turning scientists into politicians’, <em>UnDark</em>: <a href="https://undark.org/article/314-action-scientists-politicians/">https://undark.org/article/314-action-scientists-politicians/</a></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">Paul Nightingale and Alex Coad, 2014, ‘The Myth of the Science Park Economy’, <em>Demos Quarterly</em>: <a href="https://quarterly.demos.co.uk/article/issue-2/innovation-and-growth/">https://quarterly.demos.co.uk/article/issue-2/innovation-and-growth/</a></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">‘Trouble at the lab’, <em>The Economist</em>, 19 October 2013: <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21588057-scientists-think-science-self-correcting-alarming-degree-it-not-trouble">http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21588057-scientists-think-science-self-correcting-alarming-degree-it-not-trouble</a></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">Michael Nielsen, 2009, ‘Three myths about scientific peer review’: <a href="http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/three-myths-about-scientific-peer-review/">http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/three-myths-about-scientific-peer-review/</a></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">Freddie deBoer, 2013, ‘STEM: Still No Shortage: on a myth that just won’t die’, <em>Medium</em>. <a href="https://medium.com/i-m-h-o/c6f6eed505c1">https://medium.com/i-m-h-o/c6f6eed505c1</a></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">John Ross, 2018, ‘Gender parity in science ‘generations away’’, <em>Times Higher Education</em>: <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/gender-parity-science-generations-away">https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/gender-parity-science-generations-away</a></span></p></td> </tr> </tbody></table><div style="clear:both;"> </div>