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Alyssa Taylor's Three Semester Review


My experience in the Science and Global Change program has helped me in my understanding of how to use the foundations
of scientific practice to explore global change and use that to make decisions about the future. Since I’ve started I’ve noticed
that I’ve even been using a majority of these practices without even realizing. For example, since I’ve started in the SGC program,
I’ve been using the hypothetico-deductive method in my classes for the past three semesters. Especially when determining the best
way to study for a class which includes note taking. Not all methods will give you the overall best method and might need to use
a different one if needed depending on the circumstances. Since each class is different in its own way, you have to develop a way
of studying that works best for you. Like for this semester in some of my classes, I prefer to write my notes by hand like for my
math and science classes, while others I type out my notes.

SGC has also taught me how to identify the difference between scientific fact and pseudoscience. Using pseudoscience
as a method to obtain factual information about something is a major example of a misunderstanding of the scientific method. While in
reality, it’s a collection of beliefs that’s inaccurately seen as information obtained by using the scientific method. Psychics are a
perfect example of misapplication of scientific information and my SGC experience did enable me to identify this example. Most studies
about them aren’t able to prove that they’re actually able to see things. In the first book we read for SGC, psychics were mentioned
as an example of pseudoscience because it’s difficult to say whether they're actually able to foresee the future, or if they’re lying
to potentially make a profit and some have been exposed for how their “abilities” actually work. Supposedly they’re able to predict
things by either asking them subtle questions before starting to know what to make up to please their customer or it’s so broad of a
description that it would fit a large group of people like understanding our zodiac signs. It might not be 100% accurate, but it’s close
enough that we believe what’s being said about people who fall under a specific sign. Among the material we’ve learned about in the SGC
colloquium, talking about the hypothetico-deductive method has helped me be more connected with my major. Since my major is Materials
Science and Engineering, I have to be ready to try other possibilities if my first idea ends up not being successful. Learning about these
practices in SGC allowed me to understand what I will need to do to better approach decisions once I’m working in the field and reminds
me that sometimes, finding the successful answer requires a bit of patience.

These practices have very clearly shown up in some of the other classes that I’ve taken over the past three
semesters at College Park and it’s reenforced that you need to be able to replicate your answers to confirm that the conclusions you
found are true and make sure that what you’re stating is actually the truth and not just what you want it to be. This was shown in my
chemistry and English classes. When going to do chemistry calculations last semester, I’ve noticed that sometimes my answers don’t come
out correctly, even though I had the correct formula which was because I would have a sign problem somewhere or my units didn’t match
with what was asked of me to find. It just proved that I needed to make sure I had all the right variables to be successful. Also, the
lab part of my chemistry class, I had to literally be able to repeat my experiments over and over again with each lab to confirm that
my answers were correct and confirm with another person to make sure they were accurate. In ENGL 101 last fall, I had to make sure to
check that there aren’t any logical fallacies when reading or writing about topics. Fallacies could lead to not presenting information
that’s completely accurate like potentially only stating the wins and forgetting the losses. It would be easier to just display the facts
and not have to worry about how credible the other sources really are.

My learning was definitely improved by interacting with fellow SGC scholars. If I was slightly confused about
something, I could ask one of them and they could maybe explain it to me. We also got to sign up for excursions together which made us
better friends for it. They also helped me outside of the classroom, a couple of the people I met through the scholars program are
actually some of my closest friends on campus now. Being in this living learning community created an environment where it was easy
to make friends while also learning about topics with people who have some similar interests to my own, which already gave us something
in common and made the transition from high school to college a lot smoother.

Out of my three semesters in the College Park Scholars Science and Global Change program, I wouldn’t say that I’ve
contributed above and beyond to the program, but I think I’ve contributed to a couple things in particular that were beneficial. One of
them being Service day. Although every person in the scholars programs participated in this event, it still was a way for us to give back
to the community and help out with cleaning the environment. Another was the Envisions of the Future project. Since it was a new thing added
to the curriculum, I helped with showing that we can put what we’re learning in SGC and be able to apply it to real world problems. We
talked about what Venice would be like in 50 years versus what it could look like in 50 years once newer technologies are implemented which
will help with reducing the seasonal flooding they experience and implementing alternative green energies. Being in the program in general
allows for the greater spread of accurate information in relation to the changing climate and better yet solutions to reduce the growing
issues that our environments are facing and being able to implement them more once again in the real world as opposed to just talking about them.

Being a part of this scholars program has also taught me that reflecting on challenged opinions could improve our knowledge
of the world. A good example with this is with zodiac signs. Although I don’t necessarily believe that what your zodiac sign fully defines you
as a person individually, I never stopped to think that it actually was based more on statistics from people born in that time frame. Take me
for instance, since I was born in early May, my zodiac sign is a Taurus. As a Taurus, I’m described as being very lazy [yet still managing
to get everything done], LOVES food like it’s my whole world, I’m independent, that I can read people like a book, that I can speak with sarcasm
like it’s my second language and I’m a very loyal person. Now some of these things are very much true about me like how I’m for the most part
independent and I am a very loyal person, but only to those I trust. As for the other things, I wouldn’t ever say I’m lazy just because of
my work ethic and how I’m almost always doing school work during the week and I could say I’m for the most part a good judge of character but
I can’t see right through them. When I first looked at zodiac signs, I noticed that most of the things said about someone with a sign like mine
were similar, if not what seemed completely true. Now that I’ve learned more about how they’re based on statistics, I suppose I found such an
interest in them because not everyone is fully confident in who they are and having something that flat out tells you more about yourself, is
relieving because it allows you to feel more confident in your own skin and know what you’re bringing to the world rather than having to spend
potentially most of your life trying to figure it out. I know I’ll definitely be using my experiences from SGC in my future. Once again, due
to my major and what I’d like to do after I graduate, I would like to use my knowledge of materials science and incorporate it into making
the engineering world more environmentally friendly. What I’ll be using will be keeping in mind what’s needed to properly do research on
various topics so that I may be able to accurately display information for future use.


Last modified: 2 December, 2022