What to Know About Foundations of Science: Energy and Matter

This article was part of a series by the Board of Student Academic Support Services (SASS) that interviewed OHS course peer tutors about the courses they tutor. You can book an appointment with these peer tutors through the OHS Writing Center, which can be found on the OHS Gateway site. 

SASS: What did you enjoy about this course?

Eli Gendreau-Distler (‘22): I really loved getting to explore physics, chemistry, and biology in this course. I especially enjoyed the labs, which forced me to push myself to use my understanding of the material to reach my own scientific conclusions.

SASS: What challenged you the most in this course? How did you overcome those challenges?

Eli: The most difficult part of JS002 for me was the lab write-ups because writing for science classes was still relatively new to me at the beginning of the course.  I was able to get more comfortable with the lab reports by leaving plenty of time to complete and review them, usually on different days.

SASS: What tips do you have that could be useful to students taking this course?

Eli: I often found myself confused with complicated topics because I was still trying to figure out the simpler topics upon which most of the more challenging topics were based. I would recommend making sure that you really understand all the material, especially in the beginning of the semester, because it will be very useful and necessary later on.

SASS: About how much time a week did you spend working on assignments and preparing for discussion sessions in this course?

Eli: I spent about four hours per week on work for JS002. Most of this time was spent working on labs, which I found the most demanding, but also rewarding, assignments in this course.

SASS: What was your favorite topic covered in this course?

Eli: My favorite part of JS002 was physics, especially electricity. However, I really enjoyed all of the topics and found it interesting to build upon physics into chemistry and biology later in the year.

SASS: What assignments did you enjoy doing in this course?

Eli: My favorite assignments were the labs because they helped me improve in performing the experiments, reaching scientific conclusions, and writing lab reports. I also really enjoyed the practice quizzes, which I typically found more challenging than the actual quizzes, because they helped me use and test my understanding of the material without worrying about grades. 

SASS: Did you have any experiences with this course that could encourage those who are uncertain of the course to want to take it?

Eli: I would completely recommend JS002 to OHS students because it is a fun and challenging course that introduces many of the disciplines of science. The material was exciting and interesting, and I feel that I gained a new perspective on and a good foundation in physics, chemistry, and biology.