SOCL11058 - Science Technology and Society

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit provides an understanding of the importance of science in contemporary society, including its claims to knowledge and the ways such claims are validated. It assesses the impacts of technology on society as well as focusing upon five main questions which allow students to examine the ethical issues which underpin much contemporary scientific debate: Can Local Knowledges be Science; Who Owns Your Genes? Do Animals Have Rights? Should First World Technologies be Exported to Third World Nations? and, Is Technology Gender Neutral? The unit is team-taught by academics from the bio-physical sciences, social sciences and the humanities.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 1
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026


Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Online Quiz(zes) 20%
2. Written Assessment 50%
3. Written Assessment 30%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2015 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 77.78% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 37.5% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: course evaluation and student email
Feedback:
 Lectures scheduled early in the week

Recommendation:
 While there is no control over the designation of lecture time slots past lectures can be made available and/or lectures can be pre-recorded and made available prior to the start of the week.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Source: course evaluation
Feedback:
 Regular quizzes and group discussion in the eFIL (electronic facilitated interactive learning) forums help in informing student learning and providing feedback on progress. Some students mentioned the lack of explanation by other students for answers selected in the eFIL forum discussions as an issue.

Recommendation:
 Continue to use eFIL and to monitor all groups and participants' resopnses in the forum in order to facilitate the exchange of views amongst students.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Source: course evaluation
Feedback:
 Supplementary material useful and helpful for students in understanding the weekly topics and in preparing for the assessments..

Recommendation:
 Continue to update and provide additional learning materials in a variety of different formats.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Source: student email
Feedback:
 There is a range of readings and activities that provide for new ways of thinking about aspects of life and seeing issues much more clearly

Recommendation:
 Continue to provide timely and insightful sociological readings that bring a new perspective to science and technology developments in society.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Unit Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Outline the scientific method and contrast it to other 'ways of knowing'.
  2. Evaluate the social, economic and political circumstances under which science and technology develop in contemporary society.
  3. Examine the social issues surrounding the application of science and technology to everyday life-particularly as they affect the natural environment.
  4. Appreciate the ways in which science and technology are socially constructed.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • •
3 - Written Assessment • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • • •
6 - Information Technology Competence • • • •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • • • •
8 - Ethical practice • • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10
2 - Written Assessment • • • • • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • • • • • •
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • • • • • •