SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY

TOPIC 1
 OBJECTIVES
To expose students to the major principles of
scientific inquiry and challenges that underlie
scientific investigations

To demonstrate scientific inquiry methods to the

students in terms of local and global issues.

To develop students with appropriate skills and

ethic in scientific inquiry and investigation of
issues in relation to culture and society.
2
Course Learning outcomes (CLO)

• To appreciate scientific inquiry

CLO 01 in addressing local and global
issues.

• To conduct investigation on
CLO 02 local and global issues using
scientific inquiry methods.

• To synthesize the outcomes of

CLO 03 scientific inquiry and derive
appropriate conclusions.
3
 COURSE ASSESSMENT

Remarks
%
SEM SEPTEMBER2019 (propose) (Deadline)

1 Quiz 1 (on-line) 5 Week 5

2 Quiz 2 (on-line) 5 Week 8
3 Survey (report 10% + video presentation 10%) 20 Week 7

4 TEST (MCQ + Structured Q) 30 Week 10

5 Project (report 30% + video presentation 10%) 40 Week 11

Total 100
4
WHAT IS INQUIRY?

Inquiry is any process that has the aim of augmenting

knowledge, resolving doubt, or solving problems.

Inquiry is the act of seeking information by asking

questions.

The purpose of inquiry is to reduce doubt and lead to a

state of belief, which a person in that state will usually
call knowledge or certainty.
 SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY METHOD

The scientific method is used by scientists to conduct experiments and

research and record their findings. There is more than one way to
explore science.
INQUIRY PROCESS

The process of inquiry involves observing,

researching and accessing information in
order to resolve a problem.

This often takes the form of a scientific

experiment, in which the findings are
used to prove or disprove a theory.
Week 1
Observation

8
9
OBSERVATION

10
WHY OBSERVATION?
 SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY METHOD

• Scientists generally begin by making an

observation.

Observation • They explore and collect information with their

senses (smell, sight, sound, touch, and taste)
and ask a question that they would like to answer.

• Senses have big role in the observation

The 5 sense organs in our body are EYES,
TONGUE, NOSE, EARS and SKIN. These
sense organs help us to see, taste, smell,
hear and touch.
Eyes
• We see with our
eyes. Our eyes
enables us to see the
world around us.
• Our eyes act like a
camera. They detect
moving images and
colours and sends it
to the brain.
• The brain then tells
us what we see.
Nose
• We breathe through our
nose.
• We also smell different
things around us with the
help of our nose.
• The brain tells us whether
the smell is pleasant or not.
• The two holes in your nose
are called nostrils.
Skin
• The skin is the outer
covering of our body.
• It protects the
internal organs, bones
and muscles of our
body.
• The skin helps us to
feel by the sense of
touch.
• The skin is the largest
organ in the human
body.
Ears
• We hear with the help of
our ears.
• Sounds reach our ears as
vibrations.
• They receive different
kinds of sounds and send
messages to our brain.
• The brain tells us what we
hear and where the sound
comes from.
Tongue
• The tongue helps us
to speak and taste
things.
• There are taste
buds in the tongue,
which help us to
decide whether
something is salty,
sour, sweet or
bitter.
 SENSES AND OBSERVATION

Observation or awareness is taken for granted as a natural

function; neither its accuracy nor deeper significance being
questioned.

If someone asks us: “Who is seeing

through your eyes?,” we promptly reply: “I
am.”

Few stop to ask themselves further: “Who

is seeing through ME?”

(Rose, 1979c, p. 5).

SENSES AND OBSERVATION

“We don’t see with our eyes, we only see

with our mind” (lecture, 1986).

(Rose, 1979c, p. 5).

SENSES AND OBSERVATION

Senses
Nervous
Systems

Mind

It’s not only are our

SENSES and
NERVOUS SYSTEMS receive and
process information about our experiences in
the world but the MIND that is the real
recipient of this input
Three Ways to MASTER the Art of OBSERVATION
OBSERVATIONS

When I turn on a flashlight using the on/off switch, light

comes out of one end.

What makes light come out of a flashlight

when I turn it on?
 LEARN THE ART OF OBSERVATION

The whole art of medicine is in observation… but to

educate
• the eye to see,
• the ear to hear and
• the finger to feel takes time, and to make a beginning,
to start a man on the right path, is all that you can do.

Source: William Osler. “The Hospital as a College” Aequanimitas. 1914:332

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