Universität Wien

233061 UE Science in Society Laboratories (2024S)

10.00 ECTS (3.00 SWS), SPL 23 - Soziologie
Continuous assessment of course work

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 15 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes

The "Science in Society Laboratories" lecture will take place between 15:00–18:15 in seminar room 17, Kolingasse 14-16 on the following dates:

07.03.2024 - Course overview
14.03.2024 - Introduction
21.03.2024 - Tutorial 1
11.04.2024
18.04.2024 - Tutorial 2
25.04.2024
02.05.2024 - Tutorial 3
16.05.2024
23.05.2024
06.06.2024 - Tutorial 4
13.06.2024
27.06.2024

The following sessions are tutorials:
Tutorial 1: Thursday, 21.03.2024, 15:00–18:15
Tutorial 2: Thursday, 18.04.2024, 15:00–18:15
Tutorial 3: Thursday, 02.05.2024, 15:00–18:00
Tutorial 4: Thursday, 06.06.2024, 15:00–18:00


Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Scientific knowledge and new technologies are changing our society. On the one hand, they open up new possibilities to solve societal problems. On the other hand they also raise questions that have to be discussed, decided and regulated on a societal level. Scientists from all disciplines should be able to participate competently in these discussions. In addition to that, there is hardly any societal debate or political decision-making process without the involvement of scientific expertise. Scientific knowledge is expected to provide orientation and to lead to better solutions. Particularly when it comes to controversial topics it is often contested what counts as relevant and reliable knowledge, which societal values should be taken into account and in what ways all of this should be included in political decisions.

The capability to identify positions in controversial societal debates, to systematically analyse their relationship to scientific expertise and to give recommendations on that basis is a highly valued qualification in many areas of work (e.g. political consulting, science communication, etc.). Students will learn to systematically map a current debate at the intersection of science, technology, and society in small interdisciplinary groups. The assumed goal is to make use of this analytical process to support policy makers in better understanding the relationship between value positions and scientific expertise in a debate. Step-by-step and in close interaction with the lecturer and tutor, the students will learn approaches and tools to analyse debates, apply them to a specific debate and receive feedback. They will search for documents, identify positions and conduct expert interviews. They will learn to prepare the results of their analyses in various formats, to present and discuss them. In this seminar we will work on the debates on CO2 compensation, artificial sweeteners, and electric vehicles.

What will students learn in this course?
- Concepts and tools to analyse the interplay of science, technology, and society.
- The application of the newly gained skills in working on specific debates at the intersection of science, technology, and society.
- The techniques of research as well as of assessment and preparation of information.
- Thinking and collaborating in interdisciplinary contexts.
- Developing the ability to reflect on one’s own disciplinary perspective.
- Developing the ability to understand and judge the entanglement of societal values and scientific expertise in the debates as well as the implications for questions of responsibility.

Assessment and permitted materials

To pass the seminar, students are expected to complete the following tasks:

- Preparation of the readings and active participation in class
- Mapping and documentation of a debate along specific work assignments (group work)
- Writing of a contribution for a larger public audience (individual work)
- Keeping a research diary (individual work)

This course uses the plagiarism-detection service Turnitin for larger assignments.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Grading Scheme
The grading of the course is based on the separate assessment of different tasks on a scale of 1-5.

- Preparation of the readings and active participation in class: 20 percent, assessed individually, feedback on request
- Mapping and documentation of a debate along specific work assignments (group work), regular presentation of work progress in class: 45 percent, assessed as group work, feedback by lecturer
- Writing of a contribution for a larger public audience: 20 percent, assessed individually, feedback on request
- keeping a research diary: 15 percent, assessed individually, feedback on request

To successfully complete the course, a weighted average of at least 4,5 is required. Failure to meet the attendance regulations, to deliver course assignments on time or to adhere to standards of academic work may also be considered in the course assessment.

Important Grading Information
If not explicitly noted otherwise, all requirements mentioned in the grading scheme and the attendance regulations must be met. If a required task is not fulfilled, e.g. a required assignment is not handed in or if the student does not meet the attendance requirements, this will be considered as a discontinuation of the course. In that case, the course will be graded as ‘fail’ (5), unless there is a major and unpredictable reason for not being able to fulfill the task on the student's side (e.g. a longer illness). In such a case, the student may be de-registered from the course without grading. It is the student’s responsibility to communicate this in a timely manner, and to provide relevant evidence to their claims if necessary. Whether this exception applies is decided by the lecturer.

If any requirement of the course has been fulfilled by fraudulent means, be it for example by cheating at an exam, plagiarising parts of a written assignment or by faking signatures on an attendance sheet, the student's participation in the course will be discontinued, the entire course will be graded as ‘not assessed’ and will be entered into the electronic exam record as ‘fraudulently obtained’. Self-plagiarism, particularly re-using own work handed in for other courses, will be treated likewise.

Attendance
Presence and participation is compulsory; this applies to the course sessions as well as to the tutorials given in the handout. Absences of 6 hours 30 mins (2 sessions) at maximum are tolerated, provided that the lecturer is informed about the absence. Absences of up to ten hours in total may be compensated by either a deduction of grading points or/and extra work agreed with the lecturer. Whether compensation is possible is decided by the lecturer.

Absences of more than ten hours in total cannot be compensated. In this case, or if the lecturer does not allow a student to compensate absences of more than six hours, the course cannot be completed and is graded as a ‘fail’ (5), unless there is a major and unpredictable reason for not being able to fulfil the attendance requirements on the student’s side (e.g. a longer illness). In such a case, the student may be de-registered from the course without grading. It is the student’s responsibility to communicate this in a timely manner, and to provide relevant evidence to their claims if necessary. Whether this exception applies is decided by the lecturer.

Examination topics

Reading list

The obligatory literature will be announced at the beginning of the course via Moodle and is listed in the handout.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Th 29.02.2024 14:06