Examples of Laws in Biology and Psychology

Examples of Laws in Biology and Psychology

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(1) Video Library > 5. Critical Thinking About Science

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Introduction

  • How This Course Came to Be

Why is Science Literacy Important, and How Should We Teach It?

  • Introduction to the Videos in This Section
  • Should We Expect Our Politicians To Be Science Literate?
  • Why Most People (Even People with PhDs in Science) are Scientifically Illiterate
  • A Curriculum For Teaching Genuine Science Literacy: Overview
  • The Vocabulary of Science
  • The Logic of Science
  • The Methods of Science
  • The Landscape of Science
  • The Ethics of Science

Part 1: The Vocabulary of Science: First Steps to Science Literacy

  • Question: Is Evolution a Theory, a Fact, or Both?
  • Overview of the Course

1. An Important Distinction For the Whole Course

  • Epistemically Loaded versus Epistemically Neutral Language

2. What is a Theory?

  • "It's Just a Theory": "Theory" as Down-Player
  • "Theories are the Pinnacles of Science": "Theory" as Up-Player
  • Why We Need a Neutral Definition of "Theory"
  • A Neutral Definition of "Theory": A Classical (but incomplete) Story
  • A Neutral Definition of "Theory": A More Sophisticated Story

3. What is a Fact?

  • "You Can't Deny the Facts": A Loaded Definition of "Fact"
  • "I Had the Facts Wrong": A Neutral Definition of "Fact"
  • Can There Be Theoretical Facts?

4. What is a Law?

  • Loaded Definitions of "Law"
  • Examples of Laws in Biology and Psychology
  • Examples of Laws in Astronomy and Physics
  • Unpacking the Neutral Concept of "Law"
  • But Are There Any Laws?
  • A Quick Word: Are Laws Explanatory?

5. What is a Hypothesis?

  • "That's Just a Hypothesis": A Loaded Definition of "Hypothesis"
  • A Neutral Definition of "Hypothesis"

6. What is a Model?

  • Introduction: What is a Model?
  • Maps and Models
  • Models as Tools For Reasoning About the World
  • How Equations Can Be Models
  • Is There a Difference Between a Model and a Theory?

7. Theories, Models, Truth and Reality

  • Introduction: Theories, Models, Truth and Reality
  • The Challenge of Interpreting Scientific Theories
  • Prediction and Truth: Lessons From Ptolemy
  • Prediction and Truth: Lessons From the Kinetic Theory of Gases

8. Test Yourself: Fact vs Theory vs Hypothesis vs Law ... Explained!

  • Assignment: Critique a 7 Minute Video on the Vocabulary of Science
  • Here's the Video: "Fact vs. Theory vs. Hypothesis vs. Law… EXPLAINED!"
  • Part 1: The Motivation For the Video
  • Part 2: "Scales of Truthiness"
  • Part 3: The Fundamental Error
  • Part 4: The Problem With Defining Facts in Terms of Observations
  • Part 5: Problems With Defining Hypotheses as Starting Points For Inquiry
  • Part 6: Problems With Defining Theories as Well-Supported
  • Part 7: Problems With Defining Evolution as an Observable Fact
  • Part 8: Problems With Defining Laws in Terms of Observations
  • Part 9: Can Laws Explain, or Do They Just Describe? Kepler, Newton and Einstein
  • Part 10: Analyzing the Last Slide
  • Part 11: Who is to Blame?

9. Wrapping Up

  • What's Next?