Creation of a Faculty/Student Information and Instruction Technology Cluster for SME&T Education Reform

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A. Project SummaryAn interdisciplinary team of faculty from SME&T Departments across the University, under the leadership of the Chemistry Department, will employ informational and instructional technologies (IT) to initiate and propagate the reform of undergraduate science, mathematics, engineering and technology (SME&T) education at Columbia. The faculty team will be joined by undergraduates, graduate students and administrators to form an "IT cluster" that will consist of innovators, change agents, and opinion leaders who are willing and capable of catalyzing the "diffusion" of the acceptance reform of SME&T education throughout the University so that reform can become comprehensive and sustainable in a rapid manner.The goals of the IT cluster will be (1) significant improvement of the scientific and technical literacy of both science and nonscience majors; (2) an interdisciplinary collaborative engagement of university research faculty in the SME&T disciplines in the education of undergraduates from diverse backgrounds, interests and preparations; (3) the development of a reform model which can be transported to a wide range of educational institutions of higher education, including public and private research universities and colleges; (4) the development of IT materials at all possible levels as tools for educational delivery systems that are flexible and that recognize and accommodate different student preparation, skills and learning styles; (6) the establishment of outreach programs which establish partnerships with high schools in the NYC area, with selected small liberal arts colleges and with selected historically minority and black colleges; (7) continual assessment and evaluation and appropriate modification of the IT activities.