DAN ORZECHOWSKI
Special to The Leader
Taking the CCC-required science courses can appear to be a waste of time for many non-science majors. Why would a history major ever need to know the process of photosynthesis?
This year’s Brown Bag Lecture Series is titled “Detours on the Information Highway.” This month’s lecture, titled “Communication in the Sciences,” was held on Oct. 5, and featured physics professor Michael Dunham and biology professor Nick Quintyne trying to answer just that.
Biology professor Scott Medler said “there is a gap between the scientific community and the public” during the opening remarks he gave. He explained that science is often misconceived.
“Science is not just a collection of facts, but a process to get those facts; and that’s not always understood by the public,” said Medler.
As a professor of an introductory science class, Dunham has numerous students who are not science majors. While teaching his first semester in Fredonia, he has made an effort to offer skills that all of his students can benefit from in the future.
According to Dunham, there are many perks to taking science classes. A student will recognize the effects of science throughout their life. Science can also lead to conserving money and voting in elections while being more knowledgeable on political issues.
However, the most important advantage according to Dunham is educating yourself. “There is little reward for regurgitating facts, but more for critical thinking,” he said.
Critical thinking, according to Quintyne, allows the public to be skeptical. In his PowerPoint, titled “This Presentation May Cure Cancer,” he explained that the media and social media are often the outlets for scientific information, rather than scientific documents.
Quintyne said these media outlets will misuse scientific data to sensationalize articles. As an example, Quintyne pulled up an article from his own Facebook feed called “Your Professor might be worse than a Carcinogen.” According to Quintyne, the original study did not have a hypothesis.
The study surveyed 3,000 men. Of this 3,000, 11 of them had glioblastoma — a rare form of brain cancer — and out of these 11 men, six of them had received higher education and five had not. The title stretched the truth, and there was no proven correlation between higher education and cancer.
“This doesn’t mean you should not trust science,” Quintyne said. “You can’t have the big picture obscure the small picture.”
Dunham and Quintyne both believe that by taking science courses, students strengthen their ability to challenge ridiculous claims made by the media.
The next Brown Bag Lecture is called “The Impact of Technology on Teaching and Learning,” and it will be held on Nov. 2 in the Williams Center Room S204 from noon to 1 p.m.