GG410 Undergraduate Seminar Fall 2018

Lecture: M 1:30 – 3:30 PM POST 723

Instructor: Greg Ravizza, POST 712, ravizza@hawaii.edu

Tentative Office hours: Monday 3:30 - 4:30 PM, Wednesday 11:30 -12:30 AM, and by
appointment.

Objectives. In the fall 2017 term GG410 will be designated as both an “E” and an “O”
focus course. As an “E” focus course the essential objective is to contribute to the
development of informed and responsible citizens able to think critically and to analyze
the ethical implications of geoscience research. By learning to apply ethical principles
within a cohesive framework, students will become more adept at dealing with moral
dilemmas that ask why, should, must, and ought of current controversies involving
geoscience. Embedded within this frame work emphasizing ethics, GG410 will also meet
the hallmarks required of an “O” focus course. See below for additional detail on how “E”
and “O” focus requirements will be satisfied.

During this course, the student will:

1. improve oral communication skills, primarily as an individual but also as a member of

working groups.

2. define ethics, both as a variety of theoretical frameworks and as a personal framework

for making decisions about science-related issues

3. explore a variety of controversial issues at the intersections(s) of societal needs/threats

and geoscience.

4. develop and practice using ethically- and scientifically-valid frameworks for reaching
decisions about controversial science-based issues.

Text: Course reading and resources will be posted on the Laulima site, for example the
professional association’s policy manual: American Geophysical Union Scientific
Integrity and Professional Ethics; the National Science Foundation’s Responsible
Conduct of Research. There is no required textbook.

Prerequisites: An introductory geology course (GG101 or comparable) and an

introductory geology lab (GG101L or comparable) are required. Experience has shown
that this course is best suited to more senior students because they have the opportunity to
draw upon prior course knowledge in their oral presentations.

Overview of how focus designations will be addressed:

This course has a Contemporary Ethical Issues (E) Focus designation. Contemporary
ethical issues are fully integrated into the main course material and will constitute at least

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30% of the content. At least 8 hours of class time will be spent discussing ethical issues.
Through the use of lectures, discussions and assignments, students will develop basic
competency in recognizing and analyzing ethical issues; responsibly deliberating on
ethical issues; and making ethically determined judgments.

This course also has an Oral Communication (O) Focus designation. Each student will
participate in three oral communications assignments (or a comparable amount of oral
communication activity). Students will receive explicit training in oral communication to
develop skills and proficiencies. Students will receive specific feedback, critiquing, and
grading of oral communication assignments from the instructor. Approximately 60% of
the final grade will be a function of the student’s oral communication activities.

Course content & relationship to programmatic student learning objectives (SLOs):

The purpose of this course is to give GG undergraduate majors experience in giving oral
presentations on topics concerning contemporary ethical issues in geoscience. In the
beginning of the semester, the course covers the basic aspects of preparing and presenting
a talk (good speaking style, good slide layout, how to introduce a speaker, how to write
an abstract for your talk, etc.) Student effort and class time is directed toward presenting
talks they have prepared themselves on topics concerning contemporary ethics issues.

The first major ethics theme of the course is scientific ethics, including best practices,
scientific fraud, plagiarism, conflicts of interests, abuse of power, intellectual property,
role of institutional policy, and interpersonal conflicts. The second major theme will be
the intersection of society and geoscience, including conveying degrees of confidence
and uncertainty about natural phenomena, limits to available resources, etc. Students
choose a topic or case study and develop ethical arguments in their presentations. These
themes will be fully integrated into the course content; students will discuss and develop
topics from these themes into their oral presentations. Students are given the opportunity
to identify topics they will speak about contingent upon instructor approval. Presenters
will receive both verbal and written feedback from the instructor and their peers.

The primary programmatic student learning objective (SLO) this course satisfies is SLO
#4 (Students can reconstruct, clearly and ethically, geological knowledge in both oral
presentations and written reports), particularly SLO #4c pertaining to scientific ethics.
Other SLOs are addressed as students prepare their talks. Almost without exception each
student prepares and presents presentations that are related to SLO #1 (Students can
explain the relevance of geology and geophysics to human needs, including those
appropriate to Hawaii, and be able to discuss issues related to geology and its impact on
society and planet Earth.) and SLO #5 (Students can evaluate, interpret, and summarize
the basic principles of geology and geophysics, including the fundamental tenets of the
sub-disciplines, and their context in relationship to other core sciences, to explain
complex phenomena in geology and geophysics.)

Schedule: A detailed course schedule will be finalized when the number of enrolled
students is known. A tentative schedule of topics concludes this syllabus.

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Assessment Instruments

Presentation 1: Students present content drawn from an introductory geoscience course

in a style suitable for a non-expert audience. The presentation time is 10 minutes and the
format/style is a lecture type venue. The unique emphasis of this assignment is on clear
and effective presentation of content that is largely objective (part of a body of accepted
understanding). (10% of course grade, of which 100% counts toward the O-focus)

Preparative work in advance of presentation: For this assignment there are three
elements of prior preparation: (1) instructor lecture on public speaking; (2) video clips of
science oriented presentations (unrelated to GG410) available on the internet; (3) in class
discussion of presentation content with an emphasis aim on developing effective visual
aids to convey conceptual content.

Presentation dates: TBA.

Student Feedback: For this assignment feedback on content and organization will be
given to the group as a whole. Feedback on individual presentations will concentrate on
individual delivery style. These comments will be given to each student via Laulima
posting. They will take the form of a tally of strengths and weaknesses of each student’s
presentation style, identifying areas where the students should work to improve. The
expectation for this assignment is that if students participate and demonstrate effort they
will receive full credit.

Presentation 2: Students are required to make a persuasive presentation related to an

issue in science ethics. Here students are expected to draw from lecture content and their
own interests to develop a presentation that outlines possible approaches to addressing an
ethical issue, such as scientific fraud, resource utilization, conflicts of interests, abuse of
power, intellectual property, role of institutional policy, or interpersonal conflicts.
Although, topics related to current events at the intersection of science and society this is
not an explicit requirement of this assignment. As in presentation 1, the length of each
presentation will be 10 minutes. Students will work with the instructor to modify the
details of the assignment. (30% of course grade, of which 60% counts toward the O-
focus and 40% counts toward the E-focus)

Preparative work in advance of presentation: For this assignment, student topics must be
approved by the instructor and student presentations will be evaluated by the instructor
prior to their presentations in individual meetings or via Laulima. The purpose of this
preparatory feedback is to help the students refine their arguments and organization prior
to the in class presentation. In addition there will be lecture content and discussion on
ethical decision-making frameworks.

Presentation dates: TBA

Student Feedback: For this assignment feedback after the oral presentation will come in
two forms. First, students will receive written evaluation from the instructor with
individual sub-scores for: (1) Delivery of presentation (30% of assignment). (2) Quality

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and accuracy of content (30% of assignment). (3) Organization and quality of visual aids
(30% of assignment). (4) Response to questions and depth of knowledge (10% of
assignment). Second, students will receive a written summary evaluation of their
presentation from their peers, which will include content (ethics) and presentation (oral)
critiques.

Presentation 3: Students are required to prepare a 10-12 minute presentation on a topic

at the intersection of society and geoscience, which could include conveying degrees of
confidence and uncertainty to the public, policy makers, and resource managers about the
frequency, magnitude, duration, recurrence interval of natural phenomena; limits
toavailable resources, or other ways in which data collected by geoscientists is used to
shape public policy. Students will choose a specific topic or case study (e.g., man-made
earthquakes associated with hydraulic fracturing (fracking), water resources and
the Dakota access pipeline, the Fukushima crisis that developed following an earthquake
and tsunami) and develop their presentation within an ethics framework. The class will be
split into small (3-4 person) groups in which the students will listen to one another’s
practice talks in a meeting outside of the class period. The final presentations will be
given to the entire class. Students will provide oral and written feedback to the presenters
in the small group meetings, and also submit the written feedback to the instructor. (40%
of course grade, of which 60% counts toward the O-focus and 40% counts toward the E-
focus).

Preparative work in advance of presentation: Students will learn about ethics

frameworks, including the Utilitarian approach, the Rights approach, the Fairness
Approach, the Common Good Approach, and the Virtue approach, through lecture,
assigned readings and class discussion. As noted above, for the final presentation students
present practice talks to a sub-set of the class in advance of the final presentation.
Students will receive comments on presentation files (likely powerpoint) from the
instructor in advance of the final presentation.

Presentation dates: TBA

Student Feedback: Students will get verbal and written feedback from their peers and a
written list of suggestions from the instructor for improving their presentation materials.
After the final presentation, students will receive written evaluation from the instructor
with individual sub-scores for: (1) Delivery of presentation (30% of assignment). (2)
Quality and accuracy of content (30% of assignment). (3) Organization and quality of
visual aids (30% of assignment). (4) Response to questions and depth of knowledge (10%
of assignment).

Participation: Active participation in small group discussions counts 5% of the course

grade. If you need to miss class you need a reason that is acceptable to the instructor to be
given in advance. Medical emergencies are always an acceptable reason to miss class
when documented by health care provider. See attendance section below.

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Reviews of peers presentations: Written evaluations of presentations made by fellow
students in the GG410 course will be submitted for evaluation by the instructor after each
of the three main presentations, as well as after the practice session for the 3rd
presentation. (15% of course grade, of which 60% counts toward the O-focus and 40%
counts toward the E-focus)

Title IX: The University of Hawai‘i is committed to providing a learning, working and
living environment that promotes personal integrity, civility, and mutual respect and is
free of all forms of sex discrimination and gender-based violence, including sexual
assault, sexual harassment, gender-based harassment, domestic violence, dating violence,
and stalking. If you or someone you know is experiencing any of these, the University
has staff and resources on your campus to support and assist you. Staff can also direct
you to resources that are in the community. For more information, including where to
seek assistance, please see: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/titleix/pdf/Sample-Title-IX-
Syllabus-UHM.pdf

KOKUA: Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact
of a disability is invited to contact me privately. I would be happy to work with you, and
the KOKUA Program (Office for Students with Disabilities) to ensure reasonable
accommodations in my course. KOKUA can be reached at (808) 956-7511 or (808) 956-
7612 (voice/text) in room 013 of the Queen Lili'uokalani Center for Student Services.

Attendance:
• It matters & is required.
• Nominally, participation is 5% of course grade.
• In addition, I will deduct –Σi2ni% of course grade for each unexcused absence,
where n is the number of unexcused absences & “i” ranges from 1 to total number
of unexcused absences.
• An excused absence requires a note from a Dr. or similar.
• For example, if you miss 6 classes, then 30% of your course grade is set to zero.
• I use this policy b/c it is unfair to your peers to skip out on their talks b/c you are
busy with other things. Also if you miss ethics discussions in class you are not
meeting the E hallmark requirement.

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