Philosophy of Science

Owner	Bachelor Future Planet Studies
Coordinator	dr. Coyan Tromp
Part of	Exchange Programme Faculty of Science, specialisation BSc Future Planet Studies / Sustainability, year 1Minor Sustainable Food System, year 1Bachelor Future Planet Studies, year 2

Course manual 2023/2024

Course content

In the third semester of Future Planet Studies, we focus on the complex issue of how to guarantee sufficient food for everyone while the world population increases up until an estimated 10 billion in 2050. The complexity of this global issue is such that it cannot be studied from a sole discipline. The same applies to the other ‘Grand Challenges’ that are the central focus of Future Planet Studies which – on a higher level – are all related to each other. They call for an interdisciplinary approach in which various perspectives are combined and integrated.

 

In the course Philosophy of Science, we look at differing perspectives from both the natural sciences as well as the social sciences and humanities, and investigate the potential contribution of these various approaches to finding explanations and solutions for our complex problems. Both conventional and newer approaches and models for grappling with challenges such as the world food issue are clarified, as well as their underlying assumptions. Their assets are highlighted, but we will also address the critique that has been brought forward against the various approaches.

 

Since no singular scientific method can fulfil all our needs, we explore the potential of complexity thinking for navigating alternative views on science. We examine whether it can perform the role of a meta-perspective in which the various models, perspectives and paradigms can be integrated into a more comprehensive approach to complex problems. This way, we aim to prepare students for multi-, inter- or transdisciplinary research on complex problems, not just with regard to the world food issue but to complex problems in general.

 

The overall aim of the course is to help students develop a nuanced view on what science and scientific knowledge acquisition entail and how it can contribute to finding solutions for our pressing complex issues. Besides gaining knowledge about prevailing traditional approaches and emerging new scientific approaches, the Philosophy of Science course also provides students with conceptual tools to enhance their critical and reflexive capacities. With these tools, students are enabled to critically analyse vital questions related to complex issues.

Study materials

Literature

• • Tromp, C. (2018) Wicked Philosophy - Philosophy of Science and Vision Development for Complex Problems, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. The book can be ordered via https://nl.aup.nl/books/9789462988774-wicked-philosophy.html or via bol.com

Syllabus

• • Additional original literature (see Programme on Canvas). All articles are made available on Canvas (see the folder with Workgroup Readings, per week).

Other

• • Knowledge clips that help explain key concepts of the book, and additional texts that you have to read to be able to make Preparatory Assignments or the Take Home Exam are .made available on Canvas.

Objectives

• Students are able to recognize the various models, perspectives and paradigms that are used within the broad range of science, i.e. the natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities.
• Students can describe (the differences in) the underlying assumptions of these models, perspectives and paradigms and their implications for the research practice.
• Students are able to integrate the various perspectives into a more comprehensive approach to complex problems, in particular the world food issue.
• Students learn how to use a range of conceptual tools, provided by philosophy of science, to make critical analyses and evaluations of the role of science in the context of inter- and transdisciplinary study of complex issues.
• Students expand their academic skills and 21st century skills by further development of their argumentative reasoning, particularly in writing, and by enhancement of their critical thinking skills and reflexive capacities.

Teaching methods

• Self-study
• Seminar
• Knowledge clips
• workgroups

 

The Philosophy of Science course offers a blend of online and offline work forms to create a stimulating learning environment. To start with, there are several explanatory knowledge clips available on Canvas that introduce you to:

• The aim and set-up of the course.
• The book that is used as central point of departure: Wicked Philosophy – Philosophy of science for the interdisciplinary study of complex problems.
• The assessment of the course: a Take Home Exam.

In the folder with Course Documents, you can also find the overall programme, with a week to week overview of the course activities. And in the folders for the 8 course weeks, you can find exactly that part of the programme that is covered during that particular week, including all necessary materials.

 

In weekly joint classes, you will be given an introduction to the central topics of that week.

Taking the overall programme as point of departure, it will be explained where we are in the course right now and what is on the menu this week. Jointly we will explore some core concepts from Wicked Philosophy, for some of which there are also explanatory knowledge clips or illustrative videos available on Canvas. And you will be given some indicative suggestions in how to go about reading the additional articles, consisting mostly of original literature by philosophers on whose ideas Wicked Philosophy builds. By reading this original work, you gain more background knowledge and in-depth insight in some of the core concepts of our interdisciplinary Philosophy of Science course. We will also start working on the Preparatory Assignment for the following workgroup – which are generally directly related to the core concepts that we talk about during the joint class.

 

In the workgroups we subsequently address relevant questions about the compulsory literature. To be able to make that work, we follow the principle of the flipped classroom. This means that you prepare before coming to the workgroup by studying the compulsory literature from Wicked Philosophy plus additional articles, by watching the accompanying knowledge clips (if needed), and by making the Preparatory Assignment. The Preparatory Assignment not only ensures that you are able to actively participate in the workgroup and thus gain the most benefit from it, but it also offers you support in successfully completing the assessment for this course (see below for a further explanation of the assessment). 

 

For the work groups there is a strict attendance rule: if you’ve missed two workgroups, your attendance at workgroups will be graded with NAP (Not Attended or Present). This results in exclusion from the course. If for any reason you are going to miss a workgroup, you must inform your workgroup teacher in advance by sending an e-mail to announce your anticipated absence.

 

Note: Not preparing for the workgroups and missing deadlines to send in Preparatory Assignments will lead to exclusion from the workgroups. If this happens more than twice you will be excluded from the course.

 

The course schedule will be published and kept updated at www.datanose.nl.

Learning activities

Attendance

Programme's requirements concerning attendance (OER-B):

• Participation in fieldwork is compulsory and cannot be replaced by assignments or other courses.
• In case of practical sessions, the student is obliged to attend at least of 90% of the sessions and to prepare himself adequately, unless indicated otherwise in the course manual. In case the student attends less than 90%, the practical sessions should be redone entirely.
• In case of tutorials/seminars with assignments, the student is obliged to attend at least 7 out of 8 seminars and to prepare thoroughly for these meetings, unless indicated otherwise in the course manual. If the course has more than 8 seminars, the student can miss up to 1 extra meeting for every (part of) 8 tutorials/seminars. If the students attends less than the mandatory tutorials/seminars, the course cannot be completed.

Additional requirements for this course:

Not preparing for the workgroups and missing deadlines to send in Preparatory Assignments will lead to exclusion from the work groups. If this happens more than twice you will be excluded from the course.

Assessment

Item and weight	Details
Final grade

The assessment will take place in two ways.

The first part of the assessment consists of a selection, by the teachers, of two out of the five Preparatory Assignments that you have to make (by yourself, independently) and submit before participating in the workgroups. When a (Preparatory) Assignment is selected, you will be notified right after the last workgroups of that week have ended. Once the announcement is made that that weeks' Preparatory Assignment has been selected to form part of the graded assessment, you have 2 hours to implement what you learned during the workgroup in your answers before you need to submit your Definitive Assignment. Hence, you see in your Philosophy of Science schedule after each last workgroup of that week 2 hours labeled as ‘Self-study’ (Zelfstudie), so you can reserve this time frame to finalize your assignment.

 

The second part of the assessment entails a Take Home Exam on Philosophy of Science, i.e. an exam with some questions you need to answer (by yourself, independently). You have a week to make the Take Home Exam. Further details can be found in an explanatory clip which is available on Canvas.

 

The Preparatory Assignments will count for about 42,5% of the grade, and the Take Home Exam for about 47,5%. The content of the assessment will make up 90% of your grade, the remaining 10% is reserved for the level of argumentative writing that you show in your answers.

 

In case of a final grade of < 5.5, you need to make use of the second chance in January. Depending on your grade, you can choose whether you want to hold on to your partial grade for the selected Assignments and will only resit the Take Home Exam, or whether you want to hold on to your partial grade for the Take Home Exam and will only make new selected Assignments, or do both.

 

Table 2: Assessment, deadlines and exam dates

Type of Assessment	Date / Deadline	Weight	Min. score	Com-pen-sable?	Deadline re-sit
Assignments (Preparatory Assignments made Definitive)	Each Week (except the first week and the week following the field work of the Future Earth track) there are Preparatory Assignments. The deadline for your Definitive submittals of the two selected Assignments is on Wednesday 17.00	42,5%	-	Yes	New Assignments will be made available on Canvas on Monday 15 Jan 2024 15.00 You have 2 hours to make these assignments. The deadline for submitting them is that same day at 17.00
Take Home Exam	Week 8	47,5%	-	Yes	The 2nd chance of the Take Home Exam will be made available on Canvas on Monday 15 Jan 2024 11.00 The deadline for submitting this second Take Home Exam is Friday 19 Jan 2024 23.59
Argumentative writing	(forms integral part of the  answers to the Preparatory Assignments & Take Home Exam)	10%	-		Included in re-sit

 

As said, there is an explanatory clip in which it is explained what the Take Home Exam entails. The underlying rationale of this type of assessment also applies to the other type of assessment: working out the Preparatory Assignments. In the same designated folder, you can find further instructions for the Take Home Exam, including a clear explanation what is exactly expected of you as regards working out the answers to the questions or assignments. Read the instructions carefully, as deviation of the requirements can cost you valuable points. There is also a document with Assessment Criteria for Academic Writing, giving an indication of how we will review your level of writing reflected in your answers. 

 

Beware that the Take Home Exam of Philosophy of Science is an INDIVIDUAL exam that you have to WRITE YOURSELF.

Exams have to be submitted via Canvas. Fraud or plagiarism (including using ChatGPT to formulate your answers or working together on the formulation of answers or ‘gaining inspiration’ from other students’ answers is not permitted and will lead to exclusion. In the latter case both you and the other student(s) will have to face consequences.

 

When personal circumstances cause you problems, you can approach your work group teacher and ask for delay of a deadline. In view of the deadline for the grading, postponement can not be more than one or maximally two weeks.

 

Mind you: We reserve 30 hours of your study space for Philosophy of Science for working on the (Preparatory) Assignments for the workgroups and making the Take Home Exam. In case your final grade is lower than 5.5, you'll have to make use of the second chance in January. The Preparatory Assignments will then be replaced by new assignments. In case your scores on the Preparatory Assignments were satisfactory, you can skip the new assignments and only answer the questions of the Take Home Exam. Or the other way around: if your scores on the Take Home Exam were satisfactory, you can skip the questions of  the Take Home Exam and only make the new assignments. But if you need to re-sit the whole assessment of the Philosophy of Science course, it will mean that you will be working on the new assignments and Take Home Exam for almost a whole week while you are probably participating in other courses as well at that time. 

Assessment diagram

 

 

Leerdoela	Onderwijsb	Toetsc	Bloomniveaud						Totaal gewichte
			Kennis	Inzicht	Toepassing	Analyse	Synthese	Evaluatie
Acquire the skill to recognize the various models, perspectives and paradigms that are used within the broad range of science, i.e. the natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities.	Ch1- Ch3 behandeld in WG1 – WG6 en in knowledge clips, opdrachten en oefeningen in WG1 – WG6	Take Home Exam (THT)	In principe niet, want open book  examen en kernbegrip-pen zijn opgenomen in glossary	a-vragen	b- en c-vragen	b- en c-vragen	c- en d- vragen	e- vragen (zelden)	Niet aan te geven want verschillende leerdoelen komen aan bod in 1 en dezelfde vraag
Gain insight in (the differences in) the underlying assumptions of these models, perspectives and paradigms and their implications for the research practice.	Ch1- Ch3 behandeld in WG1 – WG6 en in knowledge clips, opdrachten en oefeningen in WG1 – WG6	Take Home Exam (THT)	In principe niet, want open book  examen en kernbegrip-pen zijn opgenomen in glossary	a-vragen	b- en c-vragen	b- en c-vragen	c- en d- vragen	e- vragen (zelden)	Niet aan te geven want verschillende leerdoelen komen aan bod in 1 en dezelfde vraag
Students are able to integrate the various perspectives into a more comprehensive approach to complex problems, in particular the world food issue.	Ch1- Ch3 behandeld in WG1 – WG6 en in knowledge clips, opdrachten en oefeningen in WG1 – WG6	Take Home Exam (THT)	In principe niet, want open book  examen en kernbegrip-pen zijn opgenomen in glossary	a-vragen	b- en c-vragen	b- en c-vragen	c- en d- vragen	e- vragen (zelden)	Niet aan te geven want verschillende leerdoelen komen aan bod in 1 en dezelfde vraag
Learn how to use a range of conceptual tools, provided by philosophy of science, to make critical analyses and evaluations in the context of inter- and transdisciplinary study of complex issues.	Ch1- Ch3 behandeld in WG1 – WG6 en in knowledge clips, opdrachten en oefeningen in WG1 – WG6	Take Home Exam	In principe niet, want open book  examen en kernbegrip-pen zijn opgenomen in glossary	a-vragen	b- en c-vragen	b- en c-vragen	c- en d- vragen	e- vragen (zelden)	Niet aan te geven want verschillende leerdoelen komen aan bod in 1 en dezelfde vraag
Expand their academic skills and 21st century skills by further development of their argumentative reasoning in debate and dialogue as well as in writing, and by enhancement of their critical thinking skills and reflexive capacities.	Opdrachten en oefeningen in WG1 – WG6,   oefenvragen, en maken van het take home tentamen zelf	Take Home Exam	NVT het gaat niet om kennis hier maar om het leren gebruiken van  tools	NVT	Bij alle vragen	NVT	NVT	c- en d- vragen (soms e-vragen)	Niet aan te geven want verschillende leerdoelen komen aan bod in 1 en dezelfde vraag
TOTAAL e									100 %

 

Fraud and plagiarism

The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl

Course structure

Timetable

The schedule for this course is published on DataNose.

Additional information

Scheduled at the beginning of year 2 of Future Planet Studies, Philosophy of Science is a course which is supposed to be completely in English. We know from experience that some students worry whether they are able to master the material if they are to read, speak, and write everything in English. Therefore, we offer you the opportunity to indicate your preference for the language that will be spoken in the Workgroup, by filling in this mini-survey. 

 

If you feel the language might be a barrier in this phase of your studies, you can also choose to write the Preparatory Assignments and your Take Home Exam in English. But mind you: this is the last course where you will be given this opportunity. You must also realise that the form of the exam for this course, i.e. a Take Home Exam for which you get plenty of time to work out your answers, offers you the chance to practice your English academic writing skills. If you let forego of this opportunity, it will be your own responsibly to make sure that you will have the required English writing capacities in the courses that will follow (including writing a thesis).

 

We vinden het belangrijk dat je je op de UvA en bij Future Planet Studies veilig voelt. Krijg je onverhoopt te maken met ongewenst gedrag of voel je je onveilig, dan kun je terecht bij verschillende personen. Je melding wordt altijd vertrouwelijk behandeld. Kijk op onze website voor meer informatie over waar en bij wie je terecht kunt.

It is important that everyone feels safe at the UvA and Future Planet Studies. We are committed to provide social safety and we offer various forms of support for people experiencing inappropriate or unsafe situations. Consult the UvA website or Future Planet Studies Canvas page for more information and contact info.

Last year's student feedback

In order to provide students some insight how we use the feedback of student evaluations to enhance the quality of education, we decided to include the table below in all course guides.

 

Course Name (#EC)	N = 44 from a total of 139 participants
Strengths Workgroups Blended set-up	Notes for improvement A number of students indicate not to prefer (inter)activating meetings such as the joint class and want us to revert to lectures
Response lecturer: Longitudinal research has shown that the current blended set-up with its combination of online knowledge clips and on campus joint classes and workgroups is most optimal for this course. So we stick to the introductory joint classes that offer students support in their self-study and help them prepare for the workgroups. Research (not just our own, but all over the world) also shows that students themselves are not the best judges of their learning process. It is a well-known fact that activating education is the best form of education, even though students themselves do not experience it as such and sometimes prefer to have lessons were they can passively sit back and listen. It is a form of education in which they attain the highest learning outcomes. The general finding that students who actively participate attain substantially higher grades than those who do not has been repeatedly confirmed in our course on Philosophy of Science.

Contact information

Coordinator

• dr. Coyan Tromp

The workgroup teachers are:

Merel Talbi. Email address: m.m.talbi@uva.nl

Njal van Woerden. Email address: a.n.vanwoerden@uva.nl

Herbert Ploegman. Email address: h.b.ploegman2@uva.nl

 

Staff

• H.B. Ploegman MSc
• Merel Talbi
• Njal van Woerden