Updated: 25 December 2023
Contents:
III. What did students say about this course?
IV. Other Comments and Responses
I. Sign-up Forms
If you want to take it next semester (Sem 2, 2023-2024), here is the Sign-up Form.
If you are interested, but unsure whether you can take it, fill in the form and you can change your mind later.
If you plan to take the course in a future semester (not Sem 2, 2023-2024), join the Waitlist.
II. About this Course
Assessment format: 60% Coursework (test and assignments), 40% Final exam.
You’ll only have two assignments. They are meant to help you practice philosophy actively.
My test questions will be MCQs. However, the coodinator may decide to give short essays for the Final Exam.
Either way, I’ll help you prepare for the Final Exam. I don’t want students avoid studying Philosophy of Science because of exams.
I’ll do my best to help you get an ‘A’. I want your intention to focus solely on learning for your life after university.
What you’ll learn
These are some of the themes:
- What is the relationship between Science, Mathematics, Religion and Philosophy?
- How does science history affect how we view Science today?
- What are Cosmology and Metaphysics, and how do they unconsciously influence scientists?
- Is there a scientific method? How is it understood by the scholars compared to the public?
- What are hidden paradigms and values that drive scientists behind the scenes?
- How do we use Logic to consider scientific claims?
- What are the relationship between Science and culture, such as sci-fi movies and other artistic products?
Here is the official syllabus: Rangka Kursus (in Malay, they don’t have it in English). Please note that:
- This syllabus is tentative. The faculty plans to revise it. So things will change.
- Like my other courses, I don’t adhere to the syllabus strictly. I want to make lessons relevant to you.
III. What did other students say about this course?
Here are the responses from students who took this course with me.
I don’t display their names. I allowed the students to not give me their names, so that they are comfortable to give sincere comments.
1. Should you take it?
2. Why?
| he is very patience with students and try to explain everything very clearly |
| No why.Just perfect |
| Philosophy of Science is really essential for students to learn about the basic knowledge of science. |
| Becauss explaination are clear and interesting |
| This course is very interesting, Dr Irwan is very responsible, handsome and funny. |
| This makes them gain more knowledge on something they’ll never touch in their lifetime |
| Because theDr’s class makes us more active in learning |
| Because it can made you become a wise man |
| It help us have a better understanding on life. |
| It’s so amazing and fascinating. Our specialized courses are difficult but FSA is not. It’s easier and maybe I can get an A!!!!! |
| Because its teaches to foundation of the existence of science itself. |
| Dr Irwan is considerable for us and teaches us as much as you can .You arr open to students all the time and thanks for your effort and kindness in teaching! |
| To me this subject would help me in critical thinking and deep thinking |
| Philosophy is very important in this fast-changing world. Many students today think too less. This should be their opportunity to learn how to think logically. |
| Help students especially student in science courses to explore other than just knowing only the material of science but exploring other side of side in terms of philosophy like how science is designed or how science is used |
| we can absorb knowledge from philosophy |
| Philosophy of science is giving me as a science student a new way to look at things when i learn. Before this I usually see science as a straight line which is as it is, now i tend to question why and how things happen. I can relate religious teachings with science, how science has development and helped us throughout history. |
| This course is very interesting and eye-opening |
| For an English Linguistics student like me, I found it very interesting and it, I felt like it pulled me out of the world of language and the similar nonsense I’ve been studying for three years in a row. |
| Very nice lecturer. He explains in simple way, and make you understand the concept fast. He doesn’t give you a lot of coursework, because he knows what the students are going through. He is funny 😀 |
| philosophy is an important part of science, students should learn it |
| I think for some people it may be interesting as we can know the unknown things in the universe but some might thinks it is useless and boring. |
| Philosophy helps to expand the direction in which we think about problems |
| I believe that it is important for students to see the value of why people do research on a broader yet specified spectrum |
| it opens ur mind about something that you didnt think of before. example, as language/science student, most of us only spent to study something that only related to our course. moreover, its nice to know what is other people’s opinion on something serious. |
3. Comment on your experience learning with Dr Irwan
| When Dr Irwan gives his lectures, he always explain clearly and ask all students one by one to make sure every one understand this |
| 🤩🤩🥳🥳🥰🥰 |
| Dr Irwan is such a charming and excellent lecturer. He is very knowledgable and humorous. |
| Dr. Irwan has an amazing teaching skills. It was learning with him. He is hard working and let himself understand the content before teaching us. |
| Dr Irwan is so similar to my other lecturers, because he likes to add notes to the slides when he was teaching and let us watch videos. |
| When Dr Irwan gives his lectures, he always always serious and will share some stories and videos with us. |
| Before I learned with Dr Irwan, I didn’t even know those theories exist, when he taught during the lectures, he’s always there to help us and he cares about us whether we can absorb the lesson or not, is it too heavy for us. He’s different from other lecturer, he’s always being helpful and cheerful, ready to help us. |
| Fun |
| Pretty，i have learnt a lot. |
| Before I learned with Dr Irwan, I didn’t know mythology can influence the modern science , after I learned with Dr Irwan, now I realise mythology has become a important role in the scientific society! |
| Learning with dr. Irwan is interesting as he always inserts islamic values or histories in his teaching and always hears out his students suggestions and feedback. His teaching method is not secular like some of the lecturers ~ yeah that’s some of the best part.. |
| Before I learned with Dr Irwan,I knew nothing about science of philosophy,after I learnt with Dr Irwan,I get started to know some knsowledge about civilisations and branches of science of philosophy.When Dr Irwan gives his lecture ,he always devote himself 100 percent to the class and students,even though he is ill.Dr Irwan is amazing ,it makes my learning experience full of joy. |
| My experiene with Dr Irwan is pleasing, I like the topic of philosophy and the subject has opened me up to new perspective and views. |
| I remember that Dr Irwan will sometimes share his experiences regarding his life or his study in the class. He is so willing to relate it to the philosophy and share that, I appreciate him very much. I really hope to be taught by him again in the future. |
| Dr irwan is different from other biotech lecterur, i know dr irwan when i was first sem, and teach me microbiology 1 and immunology😂 when dr irwan offer this course, i was like ‘wow..’, how can dr of immunology can teach this course..hehe😂, so it make me curious and i took this course….andd it is interstinggg..wow mindblowed 🤯..hahha… |
| Before I learned with Dr Irwan, I didn’t know Philosophy’s scope,after I learned with Dr Irwan, now I realise Philosophy scope and know some connection with science |
| Before this class, i am afraid to voice out my questions regarding how and why some phenomenon or reaction happen in science. But today, i feel it is important to ask questions as it makes us understand things better and takes us into further discussions on a topic, about how it is logic to our mind. |
| At the beginning, I chose this course because of the requirements of the schedule. However, after studying with Dr Irwan, I found this course very attractive, and it broadened my horizon and made me understand what I didn’t know before, which made me feel great. |
| Learning with Dr Irwan changed my perception towards Philosophy and how it is so related to science. Before I did not know how deep philosophy is, now I know that even though philosophy sometimes, or most of the times is against logic and religion, it is still something that is unstable, and many people may have many philosophical reasonings to one action depending on their own or their descendants’ philosophy. Some |
| I must say that I got more interested in learning about philosophy of science and science in general after taking this course with Dr. Irwan. |
| good |
| All in all, Dr Irwan is a wonderful teacher, just a little fresh. You could see that he was a little nervous sometimes.But this is perfectly normal. Just because of this, it seems that the relationship between teachers and students is not so strict. My consciousness is that we are just like friends in many times.This is really great. |
| sometimes it’s interesting as we can learn new things and watching the videos make us more interesting about this subject. |
| Dr Irwan is very concerned about students. Once I had a chat with him and he asked me about the exam |
| I took the class expecting it to be super difficult to under but after being taught by Dr. Irwan, I was able to grasp the essence of the topics due to Doctor’s clear explanation and memorable examples |
| I recall being active in his class and constantly asking questions that might be mind-boggling however he was able to explain it in a concise manner and always relates it to real world experiences to ensure we are able to understand. He is also confident in his speech. |
| he is very great in explaining something. as much as he is a great explainer in immunology subject, he is also very knowledgeable in teaching FSA3000. i think that what matters most |
IV. Other Comments and Responses
My response to some of your questions and comments:
- My only concern is whether there will be enough quota for the students 😅
- I’ll do my best to get as many of you in as possible this semester. I didn’t expect that a philosophy course would get overwhelming interests from science students. I’ll find time to teach this every semester, so you can try again next semester if you miss this one.
- This course sounds like a life-long learning.
- It definitely is. When I accepted this course, I knew it comes with a huge amount of extra work that students won’t see in the background. But it will be worth it inshaAllah, because I want to use this experience to learn Philosophy of Science for my own soul.
- Nothing to add but to ensure Dr. Irwan Hanish is the fixed scholar in handling and teaching this course; especially this matter of subject. From my view; it is necessary to gain fully acknowledge regarding to the matter of “what is science?” and how such so called ‘science’ may reflect and shape the framework of society (in this case; student) and also how such ‘science’ should have a harmony coexist with religion (Dīn) that obviously should not be secularized. In fact; students of knowledge (university student) are apparently in midst of confusing in this current era with such many false ideas, false idols, false scholars (they depend to) and much more. It is integral for students (us; Microbiologist and Scientist) to acknowledge this step by step with sabr. Hence; thank you for being such a good scholar that “knows what you knows you knows”. I am anticipating for this subject endlessly from you.
- Thank you. You sound like a perfect fit for this course. I also plan for us to explore non-Muslim worldviews and how they contribute to modern science.
- I’ll most probably take this course during my 3rd year Dr. Please save a seat for meeeee! Hehehehhe tq Dr!
- InshaAllah. I’ll put ribbons on your seat and carve your name on it with golden ink
- I’ve never known any of this is assured or not, but if it helps to save my elective credit hours then I’d like to give it a try someday.
- Sure. You can still graduate even if you take more elective credits than required. So it doesn’t hurt to try this course. Once you leave university, you may not have the time to take a full course like this. If you don’t find it useful, you can drop this course later during the semester. No problem.