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SFT Course Information  |  SFT Required Texts    |    SFT Assignment Calendar  | Lesson Plan Format  | WebCT  |

Science Fiction and Teaching SGET 644

SGET 64401 will meet in May 27, 2001 - June 26, 2003 on Tues, Wed., and Thurs. evenings from 6:00-9:30 p.m. in E-213 (classroom). We will also be spending a portion of our time in a computer room E-233.

Office: School of Social Sciences and Human Services, E-222 Office Phone: 1-201-684-7565  Fax:  1-201-684-7978 web address: http://orion.ramapo.edu/~kfowler email: kfowler@ramapo.edu Office hours: 5-6 p.m.  Wed. and Thurs.

"Sophisticated readers are accepting the fact that an improbable and unmanageable world is going to produce an improbable and hypothetical art. At this point, realism is perhaps the least adequate means of understanding or portraying the incredible realities of our existence. A scientist who creates a monster in his laboratory; a librarian in the library of Babel; a wizard unable to cast a spell; a space ship having trouble in getting to Alpha Centauri: all these may be precise and profound metaphors of the human condition. The fantasist, whether he uses the ancient archetypes of myth and legend or the younger ones of science and technology, may be talking as seriously as any sociologist-- and a good deal more directly -- about human life as it is lived, and as it might be lived, and as it ought to be lived. For after all, as great scientists have said and as all children know, it is above all by the imagination that we achieve perception, and compassion, and hope." (Ursula K. LeGuin, from her "National Book Award Acceptance Speech" in The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction, 1979, 47-48).

Course Description:

This is a 4 credit graduate course in the Master's in Educational Technology Program. We will meet for five weeks from 6-9:30 TWR for a total of 10 1/2 hours a week. This demanding schedule will be accompanied by an intensive reading/writing/computing load, so be prepared for a whirlwind ride! We will focus on the use of science fiction as a teaching tool to spark creativity, to inspire delight in reading, to foster curiosity and interest in science, and to explore technologies (current, projected, and improbable). The class will draw on a mix of texts, films, tv clips, sf ëzines, electronic resources, research and critical materials on science fiction, etc. While we will work primarily with sf resources (and recent ones at that), similar approaches, values, and results -- along with some other interesting possibilities -- can be achieved using older sf texts and using fantasy texts or "speculative fiction" (works which mix fantasy and science fiction elements). After all, as Arthur C. Clarke tells us: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Much of the class will involve common texts and materials (with some alternative choices provided) and the group participation in a Course Management System called WebCT. The rest of the class will be guided individual student reading and viewing of science fiction materials appropriate to the teaching level leading to the development of a formal lesson plan (which will be partially prepared on a WebCT module which you will design), and an oral presentation of the lesson plan with accompanying handouts and an accompanying bibliography.

Required Texts:  Click here for the list of required texts.

Lesson Plan on Selected Novel from Oral Reports List: You will be responsible for selecting and reading one additional novel which is appropriate to the level at which you teach from a list of choices which I will provide separately. I will ask that each student in a section choose a different novel so that there will be the widest possible range of reports. You will be developing a full-scale lesson plan for including this text in your classes' curriculum. NOTE: If you find that you are especially eager to build your extended lesson plan around one of the texts that are already being required for our course, feel free to do so. However, you are still to choose and read a novel from the separate list and to prepare the class handouts and your oral presentation (see below Class Handouts/Oral Presentations), according to the text you chose from the separate list.

See Lesson Plan Option for one way to prepare your lesson plan.  However, since all of you are practicing teachers you may already have a model for lesson plans that you find more viable -- in which case, use your own. Whichever model you follow, the lesson plan should indicate in fairly extensive detail the goals of the unit, the activities leading up to the introduction of the text, the activities (including actual materials ó quizzes, handouts, guidelines for projects, tests, etc.) to accompany the text, and the activities which will follow the text in the course. Note also where further on in the year's activities references back to this text would occur. Think of this task as not just an assignment for our course, but as an early start on your next year's teaching. (This is an especially good reason to choose carefully the text you wish to read/use for your extended lesson plan.)  There is a very rich resource for curricular activities for teaching literature maintained by Dr. Jim Copel for his course on Literature for Young Adults.  Another valuable site is Carol Hurst's http://www.carolhurst.com

Films:    I will be showing some films during class sessions.  The choice of films will be made after I survey the class on the first evening.

Class Handouts/Oral Presentation: For the novel that you have selected from the separate list you are to prepare a 2-4 page handout to be posted for the entire class. This will allow the class to be familiarized with a much wider range of texts than we can attempt to get through in a summer. As you groan through this task, remember that your contribution to the classes' collective knowledge will be returned times every one in the course. (Good investment, No?) The handout for the class should include some biographical information on the author, internet/web sources, a brief bibliography, and a novel description including: a brief plot summary, annotations on key characters, setting, themes, point of view, and stylistic features. Finally, the handout  should include a brief outline of your lesson plan for teaching the text. (If you chose to do your lesson plan on one of the texts we read for class distribute a brief outline of that lesson plan to the class instead along with the background materials you are providing on the text chosen from the list). You will be presenting on your chosen novel during the final week of class. The oral presentation should be planned for about 10-15 minutes.

WebCT Course Management System:  The very first class you will be introduced to the WebCT Course Management System on which the class will run and which we will work on throughout the five weeks.  You will, in turn, be creating your own WebCT site for the module you are constructing with your own lesson plan.

There are a number of wonderful websites for children's educational resources, science, math etc.

Calendar of Assignments   (Click here for the day to day breakdown of assignments for the course)