3 credits
Spring 2025 Distance Learning Lecture Lower DivisionScience
Designed for both forensic science majors and non-majors, this course will provide an overview of the issues affecting the study and practice of forensic science as defined by the National Academy of Science 2009 report: "Strengthening Forensic Science". Using a mixture of popular media (film, television, news articles) as well as more conventional academic peer-reviewed articles, students will learn how the scientific method is applied to forensic investigations including; identifying pseudoscience, crime lab procedures, DNA evidence, errors in thinking and problem-solving, types of fraud, and the influence of the "CSI Effect".
Learning Outcomes1Recognize basic phases of science and the procedural steps of the scientific method and explain the difference between the two.
2Recognize the difference between science and pseudoscience and how poor forensic science impacts the application of law.
3Understand how basic procedural issues affect crime labs.
4Recognize how a need for confidence in measurement impacts the scientific method and how this need shapes the current paradigm in forensic science.
5Recall basic tenants of DNA evidence.
6Understand the primacy of DNA evidence under the current paradigm of forensic science compared to other forensic science disciplines.
Attachments
made by Purdue students.