IHMJ1001 Theory of Science Online Course (3–5 cr)

Study level:
Postgraduate studies
Grading scale:
Pass - fail
Language:
English
Responsible organisation:
Faculty of Education and Psychology
Curriculum periods:
2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020

Description

Content

1. Science vs. Pseudoscience
2. Knowledge, Truth and Perception
3. Underdetermination and Power
4. Concepts and Definitions
5. Causality and Laws
6. Theories and Models
7. Scientific Inference and Explaining
8. Measurement and Experiments
9. Meaning and Understanding
10. Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Methods
11. Validity and Reliability
12. The Scientific Worldview

Completion methods

There is a workshop is for those of you who want to get 5 ECTS and/or personal feedback. Presentations should be about half an hour long. 5-10 minutes should be left for discussion. Typically, presenters talk about theory of sciences questions related to their own research. You can choose another kind of topic too, provided that it somehow relates to theory of science. You can reflect background assumptions of your methods or theories, you can analyze important concepts or you can discuss rivaling philosophies or schools of your own branch. If you have just started as a researcher, you can seek help from others on how to recognize (theory of science) challenges and how to answer them. Or perhaps you can give good advice to others and present some good solutions that you have found.
Sign in by sending a message to petteri.i.niemi@jyu.fi. In the message, please tell your title.
If you want to share your PP-slides, please send also them to petteri.i.niemi@jyu.fi
Even if you don't have a presentation of your own, you can come and watch the presentations!

Learning outcomes

PhD student:
- masters the key concepts of theory of science
- conceives the main features of central approaches to philosophy of science
- understands profoundly the specific features of scientific conduct and is able to apply them in her/his own work
- recognizes the special theory of science questions of her/his own field and is able to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of typical answers given to them
- understands the differences between various branches of science and respects them

Completion methods

Method 1

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Parts of the completion methods
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Unpublished assessment item