Welcome to SP2171
Discovering Science
SP2171: Discovering Science (referred to as ’71’) is one of the core SPS modules. It has been designed to equip you with several essential skills that any good scientist should possess. However, we do not expect everyone who joins SPS to go into research or stay in academia. Instead, SPS is a quick way to figure out, for yourselves, if you want to be in research or academia. We have kept this in mind in setting up 71; its primary skills will be readily transferable to a non-academic or non-research environment.
71 extends over two semesters. However, this does not
Contact the module coordinator Dr Chammika Udalagama (chammika@nus.edu.sg) if you require more information about the module.
SP2171 is designed to develop and strengthen the following core skills.
# Skill Why?
1 Information Literacy The world is experiencing an explosion of information. You need to be able to sieve out important, relevant, accurate information efficiently.
2 Literature Review You need to be able to assess the suitability/reliability of a resource and then extract information efficiently.
3 Scientific Writing You need to able to convey your ideas clearly and succinctly using the norms and mannerisms peculiar to scientific communication.
4 Presentation & Interviews Be it a scientific forum or a job interview, presentations (and interviews) are a traditional form of discourse.
5 Group Work Having to collaborate and work in a team is inevitable. This module (and most activities of SPS) will allow you to hone your team dynamics skills.
6 Technology Skills A judicious use of technology can save you time and make you more efficient and more effective.
7 Programming Modern science depends on three pillars: theory, experimentation and simulations. To leverage on the third pillar, you need to gain experience with programming.
- SPS students who have completed SP2171 do not have to read SP1541 (Exploring Science Communication through Popular Science).
- If you withdraw from SPS after 1 semester:
- You will not permitted to continue in SP2171.
- You will receive a ‘W’ (Withdraw) grade for SP2171.
- You will also be required to read SP1541.
- You have the option to S/U SP2171 (Discovering Science).
- All SPS modules are 4MCs, non-examinable, and can be used to fulfil the faculty requirements.
- By completing SPS (i.e. passing all the six SPS modules), you are considered to have fulfilled the Computational Thinking requirement.
- SP2171 is run with happy collaborations with:
- Dr Lee Ming Cherk from the Centre for English Language Communication (CELC).
- Dr Magdaline Ng from the Science Library.
- SP2171 uses the learning environment kindly shared by DataCamp to teach the basics of Python.
- SP2171 uses Google’s free Colab environment for its Python projects.