2008 Woodie Awards
Interdisciplinary Courses to Enrich SCW Science Curricula
Yael Wolynetz
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: News
In consonance with the restructuring of general education requirements, the Curriculum Review Committee of SCW has proposed the creation of a variety of interdisciplinary courses, to be implemented in the fall 2009 semester.
"The Curriculum Review Committee decided that we should re-imagine the science requirement for non-majors," said SCW Dean Karen Bacon. "What emerged was the proposal that we create both interdisciplinary science courses (one semester courses) as well as new semester courses within each science department," she added.
According to Dean Bacon, the hope is that "the combination of a semester of an interdisciplinary science course and a semester science course within a discipline would [eventually] constitute the new science requirement for non-majors."
Despite sounding hopeful about these new courses, Dean Bacon was quick to add that the plans are "still in the proposal stage and have not yet been approved by the faculty."
In their proposal for an introductory science course for all majors, Psychology Professor Robin Freyberg, Biology Professor Marina Holz, Chemistry Professor Evan Mintzer, and Physics Professor Anatoly Frenkel outlined the particulars of the new course series.
"'Experiencing Science and Technology' is the name for one of these new requirements which includes two science courses, one of which is interdisciplinary, and a second one is in a specific discipline and is lab based," explained Frenkel, speaking for the group. "All science departments will propose a variety of such second semester courses to cater to diverse interests of students and also to introduce modern trends in liberal arts education including cross-disciplinary courses as well as courses which are more closely addressing main problems that concern society."
The first of the two-part course series will offer a brief overview of each of the four scientific disciplines: physics, chemistry, biology, and psychology.
"The Curriculum Review Committee decided that we should re-imagine the science requirement for non-majors," said SCW Dean Karen Bacon. "What emerged was the proposal that we create both interdisciplinary science courses (one semester courses) as well as new semester courses within each science department," she added.
According to Dean Bacon, the hope is that "the combination of a semester of an interdisciplinary science course and a semester science course within a discipline would [eventually] constitute the new science requirement for non-majors."
Despite sounding hopeful about these new courses, Dean Bacon was quick to add that the plans are "still in the proposal stage and have not yet been approved by the faculty."
In their proposal for an introductory science course for all majors, Psychology Professor Robin Freyberg, Biology Professor Marina Holz, Chemistry Professor Evan Mintzer, and Physics Professor Anatoly Frenkel outlined the particulars of the new course series.
"'Experiencing Science and Technology' is the name for one of these new requirements which includes two science courses, one of which is interdisciplinary, and a second one is in a specific discipline and is lab based," explained Frenkel, speaking for the group. "All science departments will propose a variety of such second semester courses to cater to diverse interests of students and also to introduce modern trends in liberal arts education including cross-disciplinary courses as well as courses which are more closely addressing main problems that concern society."
The first of the two-part course series will offer a brief overview of each of the four scientific disciplines: physics, chemistry, biology, and psychology.
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