Brick Kin

THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE AND THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION

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DISCUSSION BOARD I

1. First, read the policy pertaining to Discussion Boards in the MODULE – Writing Assignments.
2. This is a senior level course, to answer the Discussion Board questions you will need to incorporate the knowledge that you have acquired in your college education, in particular what you have learned in psychology, the material from the textbook, lecture material and other material provided. The questions will require you to incorporate your knowledge with advanced reasoning and critical thinking (see grading rubric below). What I am looking for in your discussion is how you apply your empirical knowledge to the problem at hand. What will not be accepted is personal opinions, assertions or personal experiences. 
3. This is to be a scholarly discussion, therefore present scholarly information.  Post your discussion by 11:59PM Friday February the 3rd.  Please do not reply to any posting until you have been instructed to do so.

4.The Problem (questions)

Apply the principles of Logical positivism and Sir Karl Popper's falsification to Charles Darwin's theory of Evolution.  Now look at Thomas Kuhn's structure of scientific revolution and apply it to Darwin's theory of evolution.  Does Darwin's theory fit well with these two views of science?  Is Darwin's theory of evolution a scientific theory?

1. This posting is to be approximately five (5) pages in length, including the references.  The paper must be in APA format and typed using MS Word with a font size of 12 pt (please use spell checker and grammar checker).  The link below will direct you to a web site that can help you with APA format.     http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ (Links to an external site.)
2. You are to find four (4) articles relevant to the topic. Articles that are acceptable for citation must be from scientific journals or scholarly texts.  Popular press articles and web sites are not acceptable for this posting.
3. To enhance critical thinking, advance reasoning, and writing skills, your arguments must be based on empirical evidence and the scientific literature.  Opinions and speculations should be kept to a minimum.  Faith based arguments, such as the bible or god, are not acceptable arguments for this discussion.

GRADING RUBRIC

Possible Points

Complex Reasoning

10

Critical Thinking

10

Grammar & Spelling

8

Formatting

8

Replies to other Postings

4

1. Complex Reasoning: 0 - 3 = No evidence of complex reasoning; 4 - 7 = went beyond what the literature says; 8 - 10 = drawing logical inferences from the literature.

1. Critical Thinking: 0 - 3 = No evidence of critical thinking; 4 - 7 = some ability to critic the literature; 8 - 10 = ability to question underlying assumptions.

1. Grammar & Spelling:0 - 2 = Badly written and/or numerous spelling errors; 3 - 5 = a number of grammatical and/or spelling errors; 6 - 8 = none or minor grammatical and/or spelling errors.

1. Formatting: 0 - 2 = Numerous formatting errors; 3 - 5 = some formatting errors; 6 - 8 = no or very minor formatting errors.