A New Undergraduate Program in Freshwater Sciences

华盛顿大学正在为本科生创建一个独特的淡水科学项目。该计划在校园内的不同单位之间进行协调，通过增加学生的实验室和实地机会，更加强调实践研究，并提供更加强调沟通技巧的新课程和修改课程。我们的目标是制定一个计划，反映在淡水科学的国家领导，并成为在淡水势在必行和湖沼学NRC委员会呼吁其他机构的模式。 这两个委员会都强调需要在淡水科学领域开展协调的多学科教学计划，并开展以本科生为重点的实验性学习计划。 此外，该项目改编自美洲淡水组织题为“美国和加拿大湖沼学面临的挑战：1990年代该学科的评估“的报告”湖沼学委员会面临的挑战”（刘易斯，1995年），该报告指出，美国目前淡水科学的重点和课程主要针对研究生。 这个项目是适应一个模型的研究生课程的元素到适合本科专业的课程。 该计划已经统一了校园内现有的课程，并增加了本科生淡水科学机会的可见度。 我们的计划使我们能够适应和实施改革所要求的几个国家审查本科教育，强调需要增加实验室和实地经验。 该计划还在学习淡水科学的本科生中建立了更大的社区意识，使他们能够在本科生职业生涯的早期确定相关课程并接受指导，并培养“工作就绪”的毕业生。 预计该计划的毕业生将有能力：确定关键的水产资源问题，评估和事实与意见分离，协调不同的观点，解释问题和教育他人，收集和分析数据，并写清楚，有效。

The University of Washington is creating a unique program in Freshwater Sciences for undergraduates. The program is coordinated among different units across campus, places a greater emphasis on hands-on research through increased laboratory and field opportunities for students, and offers new and modified courses that place greater emphasis on communication skills. Our goal is to develop a program that reflects national leadership in freshwater science and becomes a model for other institutions as called for in the Freshwater Imperative and the NRC Committee on Limnology. Both of these committees stressed the need for coordinated, multidisciplinary teaching programs in freshwater sciences and for programs with experimental learning focused on undergraduates. In addition, the project is adapted from the report of the ASLO "Challenges for Limnology Committee (Lewis, 1995) entitled "Challenges for Limnology in the United States and Canada: an assessment of the discipline in the 1990's," which indicated that the current focus and course offerings in freshwater sciences in the United States are aimed primarily at graduate students. This project is adapting elements of a model graduate program into a curriculum suitable for undergraduate majors. Already this program is unifying existing courses across campus and increasing the visibility of freshwater science opportunities for undergraduates. Our program enables us to adapt and implement reforms called for by several national reviews of undergraduate education which have stressed the need for increased laboratory and field experiences. The program also is establishing a greater sense of community among undergraduates studying freshwater science, enabling them to identify relevant coursework and receive guidance earlier in their undergraduate careers, and producing "work-ready" graduates. It is expected that program graduates will have the ability to: identify critical aquatic resource issues, evaluate and separate fact from opinion, coordinate disparate viewpoints, explain issues and educate others, collect and analyze data, and write clearly and effectively.