Promoting learning through authentic and relevant research experiences in environmental monitoring and remediation across ten chemistry and biology laboratory courses

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Interdisciplinary(99) Flame atomic absorption is being introduced into five chemistry courses and five biology courses including courses for non-science majors and into undergraduate research courses. Environmental concerns provide a common theme whereby students investigate; 1) environmental arsenic occurrence, 2) copper and iron in plant nutrition, and 3) assessment of local watersheds. Each spring students from all ten courses make presentations at a joint poster session.The project incorporates three prominent trends in science education: 1) the promotion of undergraduate involvement in authentic and relevant research science, 2) calls to situate traditional science content within "real-world" contexts and problems, and 3) a movement towards interdisciplinary teaching and learning. The project is serving as a national model for the simultaneous promotion of interdisciplinary research experience and context-based learning across several courses and curricula.