Over the past three semesters, I've had a number of experiences where I saw the benefits of SGC and was able to practically apply what I've learned from colloquium.
The hypothetico-deductive method is essentially a system that can be used to gather new knowledge. It requires repeatable observations, a falsifiable hypothesis, and a theory. Outside of SGC, I've applied this method many times. An example of this would be in labs, for example. Labs such as organic chemistry or physics require learning new information through experiments. This means that we are required to conduct experiments that are clearly defined, making them repeatable. There is also almost always an expected outcome based on our prior knowledge from lecture, in other words, a hypothesis that can be proven incorrect. And finally, following the lab, when writing up post labs, we are often expected to come up with an explanation, or theory, for certain outcomes of the lab in order to connect it to what we'd learned in lecture.
During my time as a college student, I have also encountered several instances of failures in critical thinking. One of the more recent examples of this occurred within my ENES 100 group spring semester of my freshman year. Our group was tasked with building an OTV that was capable of performing several navigation skills and missions. During building, we were having trouble getting our OTV to complete a clean 90 degree turn because the wheels would skip and drag on the ground instead of skidding as intended. Because this was only happening on the wheels on one side and there appeared to not be enough traction, my group was relatively convinced that it was occurring because of the weight distribution on our OTV. We tested adding weight several times throughout the week and the problem never improved, but we continued trying. In this instance our failure in critical thinking was ignoring Sagan's Toolbox and not considering alternative explanations. Ultimately we found that our motor mount dimensions were not tight enough for a good friction fit, causing it to shift while moving, but we could have found the solution much faster if we had looked into multiple different explanations.
Topics that have been discussed in SGC are very prevalent in current news and the conversations surrounding global climate change. An interesting news article I've read is "We looked at 1,200 possibilities for the planet's future. These are our best hope." by Chris Mooney Naema Ahmed, and John Muyskens of The Washington Post. The article talks about the possible solution paths that can be taken to limit warming to under 1.5 degrees C. I thought it was particularly interesting because they looked at the feasibility of each potential outcome and the solutions used, very similarly to how we did in colloquium when looking at the climate solutions from Drawdown. Because I'd participated in discussions in colloquium about possible solutions and activities such as the Nations in class assignment, I had a better understanding of the challenges that come with different scenarios and the argument that they were making about how few scenarios actually keep Earth under the 1.5 degree C mark.
Outside of class, I've also been able to identify and rectify instances of incorrect scientific applications. This semester, a friend had a psychology class assignment where he had to design an experiment in which he tested the relationship between happiness and academic rigor. He was explaining his experimental design to me and said that he was struggling to make it a well designed experiment. I realized that he didn't have well defined outlines for quantifying happiness and because of this, his hypothesis was not falsifiable. Because of SGC's overview of the hypothetico-deductive method in semester one, I knew that he wouldn't be able to rely on any conclusions drawn from his experiment without a hypothesis that could be falsified and this was likely why he was struggling, so I helped his rework his experimental design and hypothesis, so that it was accurate to the scientific method.
I think that SGC has helped me a lot in reaffirming my major choice. I initially came into UMD as a civil engineer and switched to chemical engineering my second semester. This was a pretty daunting switch for me, but it's proven to be a great decision, in large part because of how SGC has impacted my view of my major. I know that I want to go into clean energy and being able to learn about climate solutions during colloquium has amplified my passion for working to mitigate the effects of global climate change. I was initially nervous because I still don't know exactly what I want to do within clean energy, but SGC has helped me understand just how broad the field is and how many different options I have, as well as given me the background knowledge I need to make more informed decisions about my career in the future.
Because the content of SGC is closely related to my major, I've been able to use classes already in my four year plan as my supporting courses, such as MATH141, CHEM135, and BIOE120. These classes were equally as beneficial to furthering my understanding of STEM, although targeted towards their respective topic, instead of the curriculum of SGC. All of them are prerequisites to upper level classes within my major, so I'm now able to take what I learned from them and apply them on a much deeper level. For example, I took MATH141, Calculus II, my first semester, and now in my third semester I'm taking MATH246 in which I have to apply concepts from calc 2 in order to solve much more advanced problems, but having the initial background knowledge has been incredibly beneficial. These supporting courses have also helped inform my major and future plans, although differently than SGC has. Taking BIOE120 helped me reaffirm that clean energy is the path that I want to take instead of going into a more biology focused field such as pharmaceuticals. Although I did well in the class, it wasn't as easy or second nature for me and I didn't find myself nearly as excited or passionate about what I was learning. Although I don't plan on pursuing biology in the future, I am still glad I was able to learn about it to ensure that the path I am taking is the right one for me.
Most of my peers in SGC are also STEM majors and some are even also chemical engineering majors, so I've had many classes together with them. This has been helpful because we've been able to rely on each other for help and study together. Specifically, I've talked with other students that are in both chemE and SGC about some of the topics discussed during colloquium and how it has informed our future plans or projects for other classes. It's been very nice to have people that share the overlap between our major and scholars because we've had projects regarding climate change in our engineering classes and they approach them from a very similar viewpoint as I do.
I always enjoyed coming to colloquium because I saw it as one of the few classes I had where I didn't have to be overwhelmed with large amounts of work and could actually show up knowing that I would enjoy what I was learning. Because of this I've tried to be an active member of the in class small group assignments and longer semester group projects. I hoped to take advantage of my time in colloquium and be engaged in our curriculum and discussions.
Being in SGC has forced me to reflect on what actually can be done for global climate change and the scale that it needs to happen at. I came into scholars with the impression that large changes based on advancing technology needed to be made in order to improve warming, but this belief isn't entirely true. While that is one part of the solution, there are many other parts. My impression of the solution focuses on mitigation, but there are other solutions that are focused on restoration, such as cleaning waterways. There are also many solutions that are more small-scale and can still make a major difference on the state of climate change.
Overall, I'm confident that my experience in SGC has made a lasting impact that I'll be able to carry with me into my future. I think that some of the most beneficial experiences were actually from the first semester because they forced me to look at the root of science and climate change in a way that I rarely do elsewhere. I also think that the passion SGC has fostered for being part of the solution and the skills it's developed in group work and collaboration will be incredibly important to me moving forward. All of this gives me a unique perspective that I hope to carry forward into my future undergraduate education and eventually professional career.
Last modified: 8 December 2022