Workshop Interdisciplinary Mathematics and Science Course

普通教育、科学和数学课程中的许多学生对科学是如何进行的，或者对科学和数学的主要主题和概念知之甚少。这个项目通过开发一门动手的、以实验室为基础的、综合的数学和科学通识教育课程来解决这些问题。这门课程是为所有非理科或数学专业的学生设计的，尤其适合职前教师。这门课程是一个团队授课的两个学期的课程序列，以工作坊的形式每周学习5个小时，其中包括讲课、动手活动和练习以及实验室。每学期有4个学分。该课程的目标是强调科学学科之间的关系，协调数学与科学，促进科学素养，并通过在实践中教授科学来增进对科学的理解。这门课程在本质上是真正的跨学科，既考察了科学中的统一主题，也考察了数学对我们对自然世界的理解的贡献。本课程还从历史、哲学和当代社会的角度考察科学。为了达到这些目标，本课程通过开放式的研究性实验室体验、实验室和图书馆的小组项目以及口头和书面形式的思想陈述，使学生成为学习的积极参与者。预计完成该课程的学生将提高他们的批判性思维技能，并能够更好地在科技世界中导航。该课程还将使听众中的职前教师做好准备，以便在自己的课堂上更好地传达科学和数学的性质和内容。

Many students in the general education science and mathematics courses understand little about how science is done or about the major themes and concepts of science and mathematics. This project addresses these problems by developing a hands-on, laboratory-based, integrated mathematics and science general education course. The course is designed for all students who are not majoring in science or mathematics and is especially appropriate for preservice teachers. The course is a team-taught 2-semester sequence that meets 5 hours per week in a workshop format that combines lecture, hands-on activities and exercises, and laboratory. Each semester is 4 credit hours. The objectives of the course are to emphasize relationships among the scientific disciplines, to coordinate mathematics with science, to promote science literacy, and to enhance the understanding of science by teaching it as it is practiced. The course is truly interdisciplinary in nature, examining both unifying themes in the sciences and the contributions of mathematics to our understanding of the natural world. The course also examines science from historical, philosophical, and contemporary social perspectives. Toward these goals, the course engages students as active participants in learning through open-ended investigative laboratory experiences, group projects both in the laboratory and the library, and the presentation of ideas in oral and written form. Students completing the course are expected to have improved their critical thinking skills and be better able to navigate in the scientific and technological world. The course is also expected to prepare the preservice teachers in its audience to convey the nature and content of science and mathematics better in their own classrooms.