A nonmajors general chemistry course entitled "Putting the Science in SciFi" was taught to 19 seniors at the College of the Holy Cross in 2018. The course coupled the delivery of content with experiential learning strategies in the form of writing assignments and hands-on activities. A pretest and posttest indicate that students gained…

Although there is a great deal of available material on using nontraditional resources for teaching sociology, the pedagogical uses of science fiction have not been examined for 20 years. This essay first asserts the need for an update based on changes in society and in science fiction over the past two decades. The paper then focuses on the uses…

An in-depth qualitative study with nine secondary pre-service teachers from an undergraduate "Language and Literacy" class was conducted to examine the potential of simulation using Second Life (SL) in teacher education. Games and simulations were operationally defined in the broadest sense to distinguish key characteristics between…

Describes a science fiction course in which students learn to identify the characteristics and themes of science fiction and are required to write one science fiction story. (RB)

A course based on the science used in science fiction stories is described wherein the students read the stories and discuss the physics content. A partial list of the books read is included along with the background theme and appropriate references. (DF)

Describes an undergraduate physics course for nonscience majors which combines physics with science fiction films. Includes course format, sample module on the concept of momentum, and an appendix with a listing of science fiction films used in this course. (DS)

A college course using science fiction literature as a springboard into the study of geometries is described. (DT)

A brief history of science fiction and an analysis of its functions precedes a description of a university level course taught at Trinity University on science fiction, technology, and values. Science fiction writing is briefly traced from Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" through the golden age of science fiction in the 1940s and 1950s to its…

Describes the objectives, structure, and evaluation of an upper level, limited enrollment, elective course taught by a team of a physicist, a psychologist, and a literary scholar. Reports experience with the course since first taught in the Spring of 1972. (GH)

Describes a three-week minicourse designed to help students think about projected changes in human life over the next twenty-five years. (DD)

This paper describes the content and implementation of a course designed to teach science and technology majors about science fiction. Although many students had expressed little interest in the imaginative world of literature, the scientific content of the texts used attracted their attention and legitimized their involvement in something outside…

An undergraduate course in ancient history which debunks the current hypothesis that the earth was visited from outerspace is described. (DE)

Intended to provide a paradigm for teachers planning a course in science fiction film, the instructional approach outlined in this paper examines films in relation to each other and to culture. The paper provides a course outline, a discussion of lecture topics, a suggested reading list, and a film list. The instructional approach suggested by the…

This language arts minicourse guide for Lampeter-Strasburg (Pennsylvania) High School contains a topical outline of a science fiction course. The guide includes a list of ten course objectives; an outline of the major themes and types of science fiction covered in the course; a description of the course content with emphasis on defining and…

A minicourse offered during a college intersession explored the essence of futuristic thinking through science fiction literature. Reading assignments, guests speakers, films, and simulations used in the course are described. (KM)