[batman]

This had to be one of the easiest courses, in terms of almost no work, in terms of the fact that there was no tests or exams and just 2 assignments throughout the entire year (as it was 3 units over both terms 1 and 2). Fairly pointless in the sense that I feel like I learned nothing new in it, just reviewed basic research skills (like not using Wikipedia). Professor stopped coming at one point and TA's did the final "interview" grading. Its an easy 12 in my opinion.

Do you do a lot of debating in this class? Is it almost always talking?

How was this calss in terms that 1st term it ws one hour but 2nd term it was 2 hours ? and that you had 6 courses at one point either in 1st or 2nd sem; was it hard to balance?

Originally Posted by jass

How was this calss in terms that 1st term it ws one hour but 2nd term it was 2 hours ? and that you had 6 courses at one point either in 1st or 2nd sem; was it hard to balance?

Hey Jass,

Well it really does depend on who your facilitator is. For example, I had a friend take this course this past year with a Geography professor. Although I heard that he was an awesome teacher, I also heard that he would give assignments every week. In fact, on the first day of class, the professor had said his class that he would be giving the most work of all the Inquiry classes. As such, my friend's work load in second semester had become almost equivalent to that of a student's who is taking 6 courses. I say "almost" because there were no tests that she had to study for in Inquiry. On the other hand, I had other friends taking this course with various other professors (from other departments), out of which most students, if not all, found the course to be relatively lighter than their other courses.

So, in short, I would suggest that if you are taking this course, you should look into the different professors that are going to be facilitating. In the end, it is up to them to decide how easy/hard or light/heavy the course will be.

Good luck!

are engineers allowed to take this as an elective?

I personally found this course to be amazing. Easy 12.

The only problem with taking it is this:

There are 6 sections or so. Each section has a different professor. Each professor has a different field of research. As a result, because of the nature of this course (there is no preset curriculum), it is almost like a lottery.

My professor was Dr. Doug Boreham. First semester we grew sprouts and various seeds and did an experiment where he irradiated seeds with a specific type of radiation found in Space, and we observed the effects of that.

Second semester we had field trips to the coolest places around McMaster and Hamilton... We got tours of the Nuclear Reactor, Nuclear Medicine Department of McMaster's Hospital, Genetic Screening Department, the Tandem Accelerator, the Anatomy lab (checked out all sorts of cadavres) and Hamilton's Cancer Treatment center, looking at the various radiation treatments for cancer.

At the end of the year, we did a presentation in groups, based on the places we visited, and the mark was based almost entirely on participation in class.

This was definitely one of my favorite courses, and it helped me find the best program for me for level 2.

Highly Recommended.

(On the other hand, I heard some of the other Inquiry sections were not so fantastic, topics included Global Warming debates, etc.)

You mentioned how there are only 2 assignments in this course. Are these big or small assignments? Are these individual assignments or group assignments? Also, are they hard or easy assignments? Sorry for asking so many questions.

I know this course is no longer offered but just wondering if anyone still has a course outline for it. I need to submit to a grad school with my application. Thanks in advance.