Development of an Integrated, Multidisciplinary Science Literacy Course for Comprehensive Universities

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Recent reports on the state of science education have identified a need for more process-oriented, multidisciplinary science courses; these reports also call for science courses that are integrated within a coherent general education program. This project will develop a two semester laboratory-based introductory science course taught collaboratively by twelve faculty members from six science disciplines. Called The Natural World, this course will be modular in nature and centered around multidisciplinary topics of current relevance. The Natural World will emphasize the basic foundations of natural science, science as a way of knowing, the uses of science, historical influences on the development of science, and the interrelationships between science and culture. A unique aspect of the Natural World will be its integration within a new core curriculum of 38 hours that integrates the various academic disciplines within a set of comprehensive and cohesive interdisciplinary courses. The Natural World will be linked to two humanities courses students will be taking concurrently. Ten modules of interdisciplinary topics will be developed for use in introductory science courses, each to include an instructors guide, a student guide, suggestions for student and teacher readings, writing assignments and laboratory exercises that involve collaborative and discovery-based learning.