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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Science Literacy by University of Alberta

4.4
stars
237 ratings

About the Course

Fake news or good science? In a world where we have access to unlimited information, it is hard to sift through the echo chamber of opinions fueled by emotions and personal biases, rather than scientific evidence. Science Literacy will teach you about the process of science, how to think critically, how to differentiate science from pseudoscience, how indigenous wisdom can inform science, how to understand and design a scientific study, and how to critically evaluate scientific communication in the media. Every module will build your new skill-base with real life examples, and at the end of each module you will have to apply these skills to scientific questions, talking points and controversies in the world. Warning: this course requires an open mind and the ability to self-reflect. In Science Literacy, you’ll hear from special guests: Timothy Caulfield, Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy and star of Netflix’s “A User's Guide to Cheating Death” on pseudoscience Dr. Torah Kachur, Scientist and CBC journalist on science communication (and miscommunication!) Christian Nelson, Citizen Scientist and creator of Edmonton Weather Nerdery, on experimental design Metis Elder Elmer Ghostkeeper and Cree Elder Kokum Rose Wabasca, on the holistic nature of Indigenous wisdom and how it can work with the scientific process Associate Professor in Psychology, Dr. David Rast on uncertainty and decision making...

Top reviews

SL

Jan 1, 2021

This course was practical, informative and presented in an engaging manner. Anyone who wants to increase their science literacy or brush up their skills will find this course valuable.

AG

Aug 26, 2021

A course that is fit for the times. Excellent resource for teachers like myself to help develop ideas to help high school students develop scientific and critical literacy.

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76 - 84 of 84 Reviews for Science Literacy

By Chris T

May 1, 2023

While the material is vital, especially in this age of misinformation the way it's been packaged, the way it's not been updated or checked to see if links are working or if pdfs are readable makes this a hard-to-recommend course.

The video's from the University of Alberta are fantastic. Many of the other videos could be skipped. The quizzes require reworking to ensure the relevant information happens before the quiz (not the pre-reflection quizzes). The drag-and-drop activities while interesting are often too convoluted to be of any value.

By Santiago d l T

Mar 4, 2022

Es bastante tedioso. Me hubiera gustado que fuera más resumido, que no se repitiera tanto el contenido, que no fuera tan sesgado y que no hubiera tantas contradicciones. Pero es un punto de partida para complementar con otro curso.

By Bev W

Jan 29, 2021

There is so much wrong with this course. It needs to be thoroughly reviewed for spelling, grammar and coherence. The "drag and drop" learning exercises are especially useless--badly written and confusing. It's like they were developed by a drunken TA at 3 a.m. The videos were mostly just talking torsos (hide those bra straps please!) and waving arms. The inclusion of indigenous perspectives was perfunctory. The use of dumbed-down "kiddie" versions of scientific papers was just insulting. The lack of examples to illustrate concepts was a real shortcoming. The course designers need expertise in pedagogy and curriculum development. The whole experience was a head-shaking, eyeball-rolling, teeth-grinding ordeal. I persisted only because I'd paid for "certificate" option.

By Deleted A

Jan 11, 2021

If I could leave zero stars I would. I can imagine later in the course there is other interesting content that would help me increase my understanding of science. The course creators decided to include tons of content that is inaccessible to read aloud programs. I have a learning disability and rely on a mix of visual and auditory to understand what I am reading. A good chunk, once you reach week two is drag and drop that is incompatible and than what is noted to be an important reading isn't compatible either. I am a bit mad because this is a class supposedly for beginners and inclusive but not if you aren't neurotypical.

By Tomas N

Jun 21, 2022

This course has lots of good ingredients. The instructors are amazing. The interviews are great. However. The reading material is so confusing, and not really tailored to the course. The student activity modules are absolutely terrible - again the ideas are great, but the material cannot be saved, downloaded or even printed! I think that this course could benefit from a big redo: First, find new and better reading material. Second, leverage the technology so that the student activities can be actually viewed and saved.

By Leonardo M (

Feb 22, 2024

I really appreciated how the course included thoughts and perspectives and insights into how traditions and indigenous knowledge or wisdom can be helpful to science and how they can hold some scientific value and significance. On the other hand, quizzes and tests were in most cases poorly constructed, and the students would be presented with subjective questions that being subjective just simply can't be graded, and the "correct" answers were forced and arbitrary in some cases.

By Michelle H

Jan 16, 2021

Despite this being a course on science literacy - presumably for those not so literate, it is not user friendly. Some sorting activities are so unwieldy as to be of no practical use. Some quiz sentences/questions are so long and dense as to be virtually unintelligible. I attended a class once where a fellow student described the instructional process as "pedagogical abuse"; I was reminded of this comment when attempting this course.

By Ron S

Aug 16, 2022

Poorly designed and executed. A jumble of modules without the appropriate context. The effort to square "holistic" folk knowledge with science is weak and an excercise in political correctness. The topic is important, but this exposition is not worth your time.

By Patricia B

Dec 18, 2022

crashed two days in a row course seemed interesting