Development of an Interdisciplinary Course, Chemical Analysis in Chemical Ecology

知识的价值全球变暖。人口过剩。可再生能源。国家安全。获得干净的水。靶向治疗。21世纪世界面临的重大全球挑战是复杂的，需要创建新的教育模式来培养本科生科学家。为了更好地让学生做好迎接这些挑战的准备，教育工作者需要从根本上重新思考和重组学生在实验室体验科学过程的方式。目前的模式不再能很好地服务于学生，因为它们忽视了科学是如何在校园墙外进行的基本现实：在由科学家组成的合作研究团队中，他们将多个领域的专业知识运用到手头的问题上。学生的学习不应该再被人为地划分在学科界限内，而不是在他们的教育生涯早期为学生提供机会体验更真实的科学过程模型。为满足这一需要，正在开设一门名为“化学生态学中的化学分析”的高级跨学科实验室课程。该课程由化学系的一名分析化学家和生物系的一名化学生态学家组成团队授课。该课程每学期招收24名学生(12名通过化学系注册，12名通过生物系注册)，他们以研究小组的形式共同工作，每组6名学生(3名生物学家/3名化学家)。这些团队学习了一套常见的分析技术来调查化学生态学中当前的四个研究问题，最终将这些知识应用到利用这些技术的原始研究问题上。更广泛的影响课程开发的指导原则是认识到，本科生科学家在本科生涯早期需要真实的研究经验，以帮助培养解决世界上最紧迫的问题所需的批判性思维技能。此外，该课程期望：1)激发学生对科学及其与学生生活的相关性的兴趣；2)为学生提供实际的研究体验，包括基于团队的协作解决问题的方法；3)帮助学生培养动手使用最先进的高效液相色谱仪器的信心；4)提供跨学科界限的机会，寻求更完整的科学问题答案；以及5)为学生提供机会，将他们的结果清楚地传达给不同的受众。这门跨学科课程的成果将在两次会议上公布。其中一个是国际化学生态学会(ISCE)年会，将向化学生态学领域的科学家介绍这些努力。第二次是化学教育双年度会议，将向熟悉本科教育新举措的化学家传播结果。

Intellectual merit Global warming. Overpopulation. Renewable energy. National security. Access to clean water. Targeted therapeutics. The grand global challenges facing the 21st century world are complex and necessitate the creation of new educational models for training undergraduate scientists. To better prepare students to meet these challenges requires educators to radically re-think and restructure the way students experience the process of science in the laboratory. Current models no longer serve students well because they ignore fundamental realities of how science is conducted beyond the campus walls: in collaborative research teams comprised of scientists who bring multiple fields of expertise to the issues at hand. Student learning should no longer be artificially compartmentalized within disciplinary boundaries without providing students an opportunity to experience a more authentic model of the process of science early in their educational careers. To address this need, an upper-level interdisciplinary laboratory course entitled "Chemical Analysis in Chemical Ecology" is being created. The course is team taught by an analytical chemist from the Chemistry Department and a chemical ecologist from the Biology Department. The course enrolls 24 students per semester (12 registered through the chemistry department and 12 through the biology department) who work together in research teams of six students (3 biologists/3 chemists) each. The teams learn a set of common analytical techniques to investigate four current research questions in chemical ecology, culminating in the application of this knowledge to an original research question utilizing these techniques. Broader impact A guiding principle in the development of the course is the recognition that undergraduate scientists need authentic research experiences early in their undergraduate careers to help develop the critical-thinking skills needed to solve the world's most pressing problems. Furthermore, the course is expected to: 1) generate excitement for science and its relevance in students' lives; 2) provide students with realistic research experiences involving collaborative team-based problem solving approaches; 3) help students to develop confidence in the hands-on use of state-of-the-art HPLC instrumentation; 4) provide opportunities to cross disciplinary boundaries in seeking more complete answers to scientific questions; and 5) provide opportunities for students to clearly communicate their results to diverse audiences. The outcomes of this interdisciplinary course will be presented at two conferences. One, the annual meeting of the International Society for Chemical Ecology (ISCE), will introduce scientists in the field of chemical ecology to these efforts. The second, the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, will disseminate the results to chemists familiar with new initiatives in undergraduate education.