Development, Deployment, and Evaluation of an Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Curriculum Development Testbed (UCDT)

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A team of professors from six schools and eight departments at the University of Michigan (UM) proposes to build an Undergraduate Curriculum Development Testbed (UCDT) to foster institution-wide reform of undergraduate education. The Testbed will bring together innovative curricular elements already developed by members of the proposing team. Specifically, the UCDT will build on the previous experience and success in the design of interdisciplinary undergraduate lecture courses and laboratory modules in the field of earth system science and global change. The overall goal of the proposed work is to establish improved methodologies for the infusion of interdisciplinary courses and materials into the undergraduate programs of major research universities. Interdisciplinary courses, and particularly those involving global environmental issues, will be an integral part of undergraduate education for the next century. The development of such a reformed curriculum faces significant obstacles that need to be identified clearly and overcome - this is a major objective for the UCDT. The project will provide the following: 1) further development of an interdisciplinary courses in global change; 2) development and evaluation of generalizable tools and templates for interdisciplinary courses; 3) will promote more widespread deployment of interdisciplinary courses on and off campus; 4) will assess the viability of new teaching credit schemes for interdisciplinary undergraduate teaching. Additionally, two focused course development activities will be completed. The first pertains to the introductory sequence "Introduction to Global Change". These courses will be improved through the accelerated development of computerized, multimedia laboratory modules, Internet resources, and other lecture materials. The second involves efforts that will involve the upgrade of the new NSF-sponsored "Global Change Laboratory" to provide well-structured opportunities for hands-on experimental and data analysis ex periences for undergraduates. This work will involve the development and documentation of specific experiments to be conducted as part of formal undergraduate course requirements, or as part of summer undergraduate research opportunity programs. New teaching credit schemes within departments and schools will be explored as means to provide effective incentives for improved interdisciplinary teaching. These will be worked out with the direct involvement of three UM deans. The Testbed activity will be subject to a continuous evaluation carried out by the UM's School of Education.