Group Learning in an Interdisciplinary Physical Science Course for Non-Science Majors

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Interdisciplinary Sciences (99)This project addresses the development and integration of progressive pedagogies to engage students in Group Learning in an Interdisciplinary Physical Sciences Course for Non-Majors. The investigators plan to stimulate interest and excitement about science through the use of collaborative learning coupled with an interdisciplinary approach to learning basic science concepts. The primary activities centers around restructuring and enabling non-majors to take an active role in their education, minimizing the teaching science to science majors traditional approach and incorporating proven strategies in the classroom and in the laboratory which require active learning strategies. The principle investigators primary intervention will be that of a redesign and development of a new course and companion laboratory. A second objective will be the inclusion of a focus on how science is done since a majority of non-science majors do not have a correct picture of who a scientist is and what they do. A third objective will be to provide students with an opportunity to explore how science effects their lives at home, school and work through a project based learning approach..Currently over 2,000 students are in non-majors courses and can be impacted by this work. Since Middle Tennessee State trains over 25% of the states K-12 teachers the potential impact is great. Institutionalization of the work will be addresses through university workshops and to the university faculty development program.