Development of an Interdisciplinary Course, Chemical Analysis in Chemical Ecology

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世纪世纪世界面临的全球性挑战是复杂的，需要创造新的教育模式来培养本科科学家。为了让学生更好地应对这些挑战，教育工作者需要从根本上重新思考和重组学生在实验室中体验科学过程的方式。目前的模式不再很好地为学生服务，因为它们忽略了科学如何在校园围墙之外进行的基本现实：在由科学家组成的合作研究团队中，他们将多个专业领域带到了手头的问题上。学生的学习不应该再被人为地划分在学科界限内，而不给学生一个机会，让他们在教育生涯的早期体验一个更真实的科学过程模型。 为了满足这一需要，正在开设一门题为“化学生态学中的化学分析”的高级跨学科实验室课程。 该课程由化学系的分析化学家和生物系的化学生态学家共同授课。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），他们在每个六名学生（3名生物学家/3名化学家）的研究团队中共同工作。团队学习一套常见的分析技术，以调查化学生态学中的四个当前研究问题，最终将这些知识应用于利用这些技术的原始研究问题。在课程的发展的指导原则是认识到，本科科学家需要在他们的本科生涯早期真实的研究经验，以帮助开发解决世界上最紧迫的问题所需的批判性思维技能。此外，该课程预计：1）激发科学及其在学生生活中的相关性的兴奋; 2）为学生提供现实的研究经验，包括协作的团队为基础的解决问题的方法; 3）帮助学生建立在国家的最先进的HPLC仪器的动手使用的信心; 4）提供跨越学科界限的机会，寻求科学问题的更完整答案; 5）为学生提供向不同受众清楚地传达他们的结果的机会。 这一跨学科课程的成果将在两个会议上介绍。 其中之一是国际化学生态学学会（ISCE）的年会，将向化学生态学领域的科学家介绍这些努力。第二个是两年一度的化学教育会议，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.