Course Calendar 2011-2012 - Champlain College Saint-Lambert

Methodology (Also see page 85)
360-101-LA
Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences
(Methodology for Social Science students only)
Unemployment figures, the success rates of various
diets, polls on people's political preferences, teams'
standings in various leagues, athletes' records, number of
cases of child abuse - data like these surround us. The
aim of this course is to give students the tools to assess
this kind of information to help them become more
confident and critical consumers of numerical or
quantitative data. Students will learn how information is
quantified and how to read and evaluate numbers
reported in the media and in texts and journals.
4 hours/week Units: 2.00
360-301-LA
Principles of Logic and Mathematical Language
(Methodology for Liberal Arts students only)
This course is designed to allow students to investigate
themes and topics related to one of the major areas of
human thinking and knowledge: logic and mathematics.
The course will consider such topics as the nature of
reasoning, the relation between logic and mathematics,
the relation between knowledge and mathematics, the
nature and place of truth and validation within
mathematics, and the place of beauty of mathematics.
The course will include: sections on propositional logic;
numbers and infinity; and simple axiomatic systems. It
will also include a laboratory component made up of
exercises to allow students to explore and better
understand these themes and topics.
5 hours/week Units: 2.66
360-402-LA
Liberal Arts Extended Essay Seminar
(Methodology for Liberal Arts students only)
The seminar will focus on a key theme in Western
Civilization as well as review the humanities in the 20 th
century. The theme selected will be announced at the
beginning of the semester; this theme will be examined
through readings and discussions of these readings. The
seminar will also be the framework within which students
will be required to write the extended essay and the final
exam required in the program’s comprehensive assessment.
3 hours/week Units: 2.00
Prerequisite: 300-201
360-921-LA
Quantitative Methods for CS Students
(Methodology for Computer Science students only)
This course will acquaint students with the fundamental
concepts and basic techniques of quantitative methods and
their use in the computer science field. Among the topics
covered are discovery of fundamental concepts and skills of
quantitative reasoning by exploring real-world data from
many disciplines and data collection, organization, display,
analysis, probability simulation, variation and sampling, and
expected values. Students work with graphing hardware
and software tools.
3 hours/week Units: 1.66
Absolute Prerequisite: 201-921
Also see page 85
360-401-LA
History of Science & Scientific Methodology
(Methodology for Liberal Arts students only)
This course charts the history of the scientific approach
to knowledge. It focuses on the transition from the
medieval worldview to one where nature is studied
through the application of the scientific method, through
to the post-modernist critique of science. Students will
learn the theory underlying some of the important
developments in science after the 1500s. The course
explores the philosophical assumptions that frame
knowledge in science, and contextualises scientific
knowledge within the artistic, literary and political
movements of the time. An important distinction
between science and other philosophies is that scientific
knowledge is derived from sensory information and
physical manipulation, augmented by technological tools.
For this reason this course includes two hours of
laboratory work per week, and emphasis is placed upon
directly experiencing some of the techniques used by
scientists to understand the world around us.
5 hours/week Units: 2.66