Development, Deployment, and Evaluation of an Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Curriculum Development Testbed (UCDT)

密歇根大学(UM)一个由6所学院和8个系的教授组成的团队提议建立一个本科课程开发测试平台(UCDT)，以促进整个院校的本科教育改革。测试床将汇集提议团队成员已经开发的创新课程元素。具体地说，UCDT将在设计地球系统科学和全球变化领域的跨学科本科讲授课程和实验室模块方面借鉴以往的经验和成功。拟议工作的总体目标是建立改进的方法，将跨学科课程和材料注入到主要研究型大学的本科生计划中。跨学科课程，特别是那些涉及全球环境问题的课程，将是下个世纪本科教育不可或缺的一部分。制定这样一个改革后的课程面临重大障碍，需要明确确定并克服这些障碍--这是UCDT的一个主要目标。该项目将提供以下内容：1)进一步开发全球变化跨学科课程；2)开发和评估跨学科课程的通用工具和模板；3)促进在校园内外更广泛地部署跨学科课程；4)评估新的跨学科本科教学学分计划的可行性。此外，还将完成两项重点课程开发活动。第一个是关于“全球变化导论”的介绍顺序。这些课程将通过加速开发计算机化、多媒体实验模块、互联网资源和其他讲授材料来改进。第二项工作将涉及升级由美国国家科学基金会赞助的新的“全球变化实验室”，为本科生提供结构良好的动手实验和数据分析体验机会。这项工作将涉及特定实验的开发和记录，作为正规本科课程要求的一部分，或作为夏季本科生研究机会计划的一部分。我们会探讨在部门和学校内推行新的教学学分计划，以期为改善跨学科教学提供有效的诱因。这些问题将在三名密歇根大学院长的直接参与下制定出来。测试床活动将接受密歇根大学教育学院的持续评估。

A team of professors from six schools and eight departments at the University of Michigan (UM) proposes to build an Undergraduate Curriculum Development Testbed (UCDT) to foster institution-wide reform of undergraduate education. The Testbed will bring together innovative curricular elements already developed by members of the proposing team. Specifically, the UCDT will build on the previous experience and success in the design of interdisciplinary undergraduate lecture courses and laboratory modules in the field of earth system science and global change. The overall goal of the proposed work is to establish improved methodologies for the infusion of interdisciplinary courses and materials into the undergraduate programs of major research universities. Interdisciplinary courses, and particularly those involving global environmental issues, will be an integral part of undergraduate education for the next century. The development of such a reformed curriculum faces significant obstacles that need to be identified clearly and overcome - this is a major objective for the UCDT. The project will provide the following: 1) further development of an interdisciplinary courses in global change; 2) development and evaluation of generalizable tools and templates for interdisciplinary courses; 3) will promote more widespread deployment of interdisciplinary courses on and off campus; 4) will assess the viability of new teaching credit schemes for interdisciplinary undergraduate teaching. Additionally, two focused course development activities will be completed. The first pertains to the introductory sequence "Introduction to Global Change". These courses will be improved through the accelerated development of computerized, multimedia laboratory modules, Internet resources, and other lecture materials. The second involves efforts that will involve the upgrade of the new NSF-sponsored "Global Change Laboratory" to provide well-structured opportunities for hands-on experimental and data analysis ex periences for undergraduates. This work will involve the development and documentation of specific experiments to be conducted as part of formal undergraduate course requirements, or as part of summer undergraduate research opportunity programs. New teaching credit schemes within departments and schools will be explored as means to provide effective incentives for improved interdisciplinary teaching. These will be worked out with the direct involvement of three UM deans. The Testbed activity will be subject to a continuous evaluation carried out by the UM's School of Education.