Science Forward Fall 2018

At the start of the semester I was not feeling too excited about this class. Science is not my strongest area and I did not have as much interest in it as for other subjects. However, from the first day of class I knew this seminar would be different. I had learned the scientific method in school before, but to be able to explore each aspect of it in depth and participate in it in a hands on method made it more enjoyable. Dr. Greer walked us through how different scientific innovations came about and then we were able to perform these labs ourselves. This course helped me realize that science is all around us. It’s in the nature we observe in parks and it’s behind the soap we use to wash our hands. I was slightly out of tune with the sciences and unaware of the magnitude of the scientific method. It does not only come into play when working on projects, it is all around us. I learned best with the hands on portions of the class such as the labs and mini assignments in which we put into practice what we learned. That helped me to get a better understanding of everything. The amount of work seemed to be overwhelming at times but in the end it all came together really well. The class was enjoyable and now I am not as scared of science as I used to be.

Taking this class this semester was a very interesting and informative experience that made me look at science in a more detailed and specific way. I am a Biological Sciences major, so I have expose to the sciences every day in my other classes, but this class taught me more about the science of science, in a way. I think one of the most important part of science that this class taught me about was the scientific process, and all of its intricate details. In basic science classes, I had teachers and professors outline it in 5 basic steps, and that was the end of the discussion. What this class did was teach me about the different ways the scientific method could be applied and used.

For example, completing the 3D printed healthcare innovation was very helpful for me in learning more about the scientific process. I feel like in the past, I have always been taught that the scientific method is applied to experimental projects in the lab. The scientific method would always be used to strictly outline an experiment with a clear hypothesis, measurable data, procedure and results. However, the process in designing a healthcare innovation also has underlying aspects of the scientific method that aren’t as overt as they are in experiments. There is research in finding out and justifying the need for the healthcare innovation, and there is a procedure and plan, as well as a final product. Though there isn’t any measurable data, there is a final design, and you can hypothesize about the way the healthcare innovation can help the public. Going through the process of creating a healthcare innovation with my group members helped me see that the scientific method can be applied in other scientific processes, not just experiments exclusively.

I also learned that a huge part of the scientific method is revision and repetition, and I saw this through having to do many versions of the self-regulating pill bottle. In order to get it right, there were many rounds of revisions which ultimately led to the best possible version of our healthcare innovation. I think that having to redo and work on our posters multiple times after getting feedback was one of the most important processes we went through in this class, because it just emphasized the idea that science is based on revisions and building on previous work. Just as Dr. Greer explained, the processes of doing experiments and forming new theories rely heavily on reproducibility, as well as going back and revising old hypotheses and testing them in new experiences. It is in this way that we were able to get the best possible version of our posters, thanks to Jake and Dr. Greer’s feedback, as well as the comments from our peers. Having to do a poster was one of the most memorable experiences for me, because it was the first time I had exposure to research posters and presenting research. Since I am a Biological Sciences major and a Pre-Med student, I hope to do research in the future, and this was a nice way for me to get preliminary experience with poster making. Overall, this class was very enjoyable, as it was structured well and we had amazing instructors who cared deeply about our being able to learn about science. I am very grateful to have had these experiences.

During this semester, I learned many things. Among them, what sticks out most to me is the ethics lesson, the experiments, the science forward videos, the 3D printing lessons, and the poster revisions. I knew some basics of ethics before Jake taught the lesson, however, we got much more in depth. It was interesting to learn that such difficult ethical questions are faced by real people in real professions. Even our own everyday interactions and decisions are driven by personal moral and ethical ideals and perspectives that are studied philosophies. It actually made me reevaluate my opinion on the subject of philosophy, sparking a newfound interest.

As for the experiments, it was definitely a “culture” shock to my usual mundane days of business and English classes. I haven’t taken a science course since high school, and I found that I actually really missed it. I use to despise my science classes, but now I found that I actually miss it. It provides a different kind of creative and imaginative thinking that widens your perspective on whats possible. We created aspirin and soap through different chemicals, heating and cooling. It was amazing. At the same time, the science forward videos put the process of learning science into a new light by dividing it into categories, such as number sense and data sense. I never thought about it in that way. It made learning the experiments easier, understanding them as different aspects of science.

The 3D printing lessons were a refreshing learning time outside of the classroom. You forget that science is beyond being in the lab. It was invigorating to be given the chance to invent something new and innovative. Learning how to use Tinkercad was a new experience for me. It was honestly difficult at first, not something I was used to. It was also sometimes frustrating, because you had to be very patient when bringing your imagination into actual fruition. I had lots of ideas, but since I was only a beginner, it took time to use and learn how to manipulate all the shapes and functions. Despite being hard sometimes, it was still really fun to learn something new. Now, I feel confident in being able to learn a similar program, which could be very useful towards my major. Moreover, the science behind 3D printing was fascinating. The Makerhub was able to explain how the machine works and how the industry is accelerating.

The poster revision process was tedious, but by the end, extremely rewarding. At times, I felt discouraged that no matter how much we fixed the poster, there were still changes to be made. It felt like a never ending process with no end. Sometimes, the “mistakes” didn’t even seem so significant, but after printing the final poster, I was able to see all the little changes come together and really make a big difference. I learned that small details go a long way, and it’s important to be detail-oriented. However, it was also important to see the whole picture. Everything needed to be uniform, and there had to be a clear theme. The experience was so rewarding, being able to talk about our work which we worked so hard on, at the STEAM festival.

I started this semester thinking that I would be taking three very intense and concrete science classes. Biology, Chemistry and IDC: Science and Technology of New York City. I was correct about the first two, but IDC was definitely surprising. The concrete data, formulas and steps were still involved, yet this seminar was not the average “science class”. We started learning about the scientific method and how important following certain steps and creating results that can be reproduced are. We then utilized that information and went on to gather data at BioBlitz to form research questions and a hypothesis of our own. After a lot of hard work, extensive research and presenting, we created a final paper and poster. Instead of simply learning information in a classroom setting and then being tested on it, we used the tools we acquired and made something to call our own. I enjoyed this aspect of the class the most as after the time and effort dedicated to these projects this semester, we created an actual physical object that we could admire and take pride in. Simultaneously, we worked on our own innovative healthcare ideas based off our imagination or past experiences. This project also stemmed from what we learned in class. Combining the technology of 3D design and printing was a perfect way to modernize our work. Science requires discussion, debate and other peoples’ opinions, so working on these projects in groups was highly beneficial. Three sets of hands working on the same ultimate goal was systematic and practical in both cases. While I did not hear any previous comments about this IDC, I did assume we would be going on more field trips. Understandably, the class length is not that long, but even sitting outside of Baruch in the courtyard with pleasant weather would have been nice.

The scientific field is expanding at great speed and the ethics lecture was perfectly placed to conclude our semester. It is always important to abide by a moral compass and to make sure that the ultimate results of an experiment or potential healthcare innovation are to serve the greater good or enhance already proven scientific fact. Lastly, the in-class science experiments were highly appreciated. They added that extra spontaneity that is often desired in a science class. I hope to take what I have learned from IDC: Science and Technology of New York City and apply it to my future science classes, while taking the mundane and making the scientific method a bit more spontaneous and applicable.

This IDC class was different than my previous ones. This class focused more on a scientific aspect in terms of healthcare innovations. The main innovations we discussed were aspirin and soap. I enjoyed having actual lab times to make these innovations because they are household objects that we can make from household materials. The lab instructions were easy to follow and the reports were not complicated to complete.

The projects and assignments taught me the significance of hard work and teamwork. My group drafted our final poster for STEAM about four times, so I felt  happy and content to see our hard work on the BioBlitz project on a physical poster. Our class presentations also helped prepare us for the actual STEAM festival. However, I think these projects and other assignments could have gone in a slightly better direction. In my opinion, having each report due after a week of the first report was a bit stressful to get done at the best of our ability. I feel like more time between each report could have been beneficial since we would have had more time to make our reports as amazing as possible. Nonetheless, I did enjoy this IDC class. Dr Greer and Jake made this class as enjoyable as possible.

When I think about this class, I find it ironic because it is supposed to be about the Sciences of the New York, but the projects we did only applied to New York in that it was data that was collected in New York. I feel that there are aspects to science unique to New York that can be explored to make the class more New York centric.

I enjoyed the labs. It wasn’t the first time I was in a lab. I had to do labs in high school as well, but something made it different. Also, the lab reports were made easy to do by the instructions given to us and that made the workload bearable in comparison to other classes.

An issue I had with the class was doing two projects at the same time. I understand that the class was structured that way so that we have options, but when we chose which one we wanted to do, we should’ve worked 100% on that project instead of splitting the work between two projects. One thing about the way the main project of the class was structured was that there were several things we had to submit before the final project was due. Having those small things due in between the day the project was assigned and the day the project was due helped out my time management skills.

This class was an interesting experience for me. It originally felt like an obligation and it still feels that way, but that doesn’t mean that there were things I was able to take advantage of while I was in the class. This class was less “traditional science” than normal and more “data science” than normal. That made it a better experience than if it was a traditional science class and scientific jargon was used the whole semester. The class allowed me to work muscles that I haven’t worked in a very long time. It also showed me how data science and data analytics can be widely used for basically most things in life.

          Walking into the course I was extremely scared for this class since prior to this class I have not had the best experiences in my science classes. However, I was pleasantly surprised because the course was not science intensive. Considering many of us are not in a science or science-related field this was extremely helpful. Learning the basics such as doing scientific research and the scientific process helped for the course but is also going to be something that I can carry on in my future endeavors. Research is imperative for numerous fields and so is understanding how to ask and what makes a good question.

          A minor issue I had with the class was during any of the classes that required laptop use. The class where we created atoms on our laptops was confusing and I did not learn much from it. Had there had been a class beforehand that explained what we were doing it would have been more useful. While there was an explanation during the class I was so confused trying to figure out how to use the application during the lesson I wasn’t paying much attention to what was being said. As for the excel chart making class, it made it so that only the person who had prior excel knowledge worked on it only. I do believe had this had been an individual it would have been more useful.

         I preferred having 2 less science intensive labs rather than having one more thorough science packed lab just because I do not have a science background and doing so would have made me extremely confused in class. Learning what would be considered to be more simple and less in depth was a good introduction to science. I enjoyed that the labs were related common things that are in our everyday lives because it made a connection which made the labs much more enjoyable. I also loved the quick class experiments such as the fire lighting of hands and the snowmaking because it was a quick and memorable way of learning about chemical reactions. 

This class helped me manage my time management skills when having numerous assignments all due within a short amount of time. This is something I have constantly struggled with so I appreciate this class helping me figure out how to prioritize. I had a great time in this class and will miss it for sure happy holidays to everyone!

Being a student in the IDC 3002H course was a really interesting learning experience for me, as someone who is not used to working so collaboratively on science projects. In previous instruction I’ve received, all science-related work was done individually, with the exception of lab projects, which allowed me to hone in on subjects I was really interested in. IDC 3002H was very different. This course, and the specific section I was in, required me to go out of my comfort zone by studying topics that I was very unfamiliar with, in ways that I was unaccustomed to. I think one of the most challenging parts of this teaching mode was the prolonged teamwork. My teammates and I produced great work, but it wouldn’t be accurate to say that it was a breeze the entire semester. Having to collaborate for a whole semester on various tasks and projects was challenging, especially when we had to do other smaller things on the side (e.g. aspirin lab, and the soap lab). I’m very used to working in a team for maybe 2-3 weeks, but this collaborative effort lasted for a much longer time. I think this extended group work helped me realize my strengths and weaknesses as a group member more so than a short project would have.

I think the other smaller projects, like making graphs using the HIV/AIDS statistics, would have been a lot more beneficial to me if they were taught differently. For that project, we were told to break off into groups to make graphs, but I think that if that work was done individually that it would’ve been more fruitful. This is because it’s very hard to share information just using our laptops, while one person made the excel graphs. I think that, in this way, the learning style was not very beneficial for me.

Aside from the modes of instruction, I wish that we could have just done one of the smaller lab reports (aspirin/soap labs). This is because for each lab we had to write a 2 page lab report, and 2 pages is not very descriptive. I took a science research course in high school where I had to write 8-10 page reports, which were much more up-to-par with actual research that’s out there. I think if we focused on just one lab, and not both, that one lab report could’ve been much more descriptive and thorough.

Personally, I enjoyed taking this course, and I like that it was STEM-focused. Additionally, I thought the in-class science demonstrations were very enriching (my Instagram Story really spiced up this semester, thanks to those). I hope that as I continue my career in finance I never lose sight of the importance of scientific advancement, not just in NYC, but starting in the classroom.

This course had a meaningful impact on my understanding of science and the process involved in evaluating and analyzing scientific data and observations.  I learned how to use the science senses of number sense, data sense and knowledge sense while conducting scientific experimentation and research during the soap and aspirin labs, the healthcare innovation project and BioBlitz.  These skills enhanced my ability to think critically while I developed a broader knowledge of various scientific topics.  The course was a worthwhile experience that taught me to look at science from a different perspectives.  Rather than looking at each project and assignment individually, I learned how to apply the findings and lessons of these assignments to the broader view of how important and revolutionary scientific discoveries are made.

What made this course most worthwhile and interesting was the challenge of developing our own scientific ideas and innovations.  Developing our own Bioblitz project hypothesis was one such challenge.  This project was a great way of incorporating our research skills with with Bioblitz observations and data.  By finding, interpreting and analyzing data collected by students at previous Bioblitz events along with other data sets collected by scientists across New York City, we were able to test our hypothesis and look for correlations in data that could support our ideas.  Another such challenge was developing our own healthcare innovation.  This project involved analyzing scientific sources from popular news articles and peer-reviewed journals to find a need for a specific healthcare innovation and evaluate how our proposed innovation could address the problem.  This project tested our research ability and our ingenuity, both of which are vital for scientific discovery.  These two projects taught me how to think and approach science like a scientist by evaluating and building off of the ideas of others while developing original and innovative ideas of my own.

However, the most noteworthy learning experience of the course was having the opportunity to work in a group.  Working collaboratively with other group members on our various projects and assignments was a great way to produce the best ideas.  Everyone made important contributions to the group that made the projects better.  We were able to divide responsibility so that everyone could be involved, but we were also able to effectively merge our ideas together into a cohesive project.  This collaborative work gave us a better understanding of how scientists must work together and build off of one another to make important advancements and discoveries.  Just as our projects would not have been as successful had we not worked together, many scientific discoveries and developments would not be possible without the collaboration of scientists who work together to conduct experiments, collective data and analyze their findings.  Aside from its relevance to science, the collaborative group work that we gained experience in will be vital to all of us regardless of what career path we choose, as we must always be able to work together with others to develop ideas and solve problems.