Proposal Title

Western's Integrated Science Program: A response to complex global problems

Session Type

Presentation

Room

P&A 148

Start Date

5-7-2017 3:05 PM

Keywords

integrated science; innovative teaching strategies; student engagement

Primary Threads

Teaching and Learning Science

Abstract

Western’s new Integrated Science degree emphasizes connections among scientific disciplines and encourages undergraduate students to use an interdisciplinary approach to address real-world problems. The program is a four-year honors program that combines the focused coursework of a traditional honors degree with a unique set of courses in Integrated Science. Through novel classroom, tutorial and laboratory experiences, students refine their critical thinking and problem-solving skills while at the same time strengthening teamwork, leadership abilities and community engagement. In our presentation, we will discuss strategies that proved effective in integrating concepts from astronomy, biology, calculus, chemistry, computer science, earth science, mathematics, physics, and statistics together. Our presentation will also address how we overcame challenges relating to developing a new program. In addition, we will explore how we measured student engagement, and solicited and incorporated feedback.

Elements of Engagement

We will model some of the interactive teaching techniques used, such as tag-team lecture, peer interaction, and exit cards and provide opportunities for attendees to reflect on and practice these techniques.

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Jul 5th, 3:05 PM

Western's Integrated Science Program: A response to complex global problems

P&A 148

Western’s new Integrated Science degree emphasizes connections among scientific disciplines and encourages undergraduate students to use an interdisciplinary approach to address real-world problems. The program is a four-year honors program that combines the focused coursework of a traditional honors degree with a unique set of courses in Integrated Science. Through novel classroom, tutorial and laboratory experiences, students refine their critical thinking and problem-solving skills while at the same time strengthening teamwork, leadership abilities and community engagement. In our presentation, we will discuss strategies that proved effective in integrating concepts from astronomy, biology, calculus, chemistry, computer science, earth science, mathematics, physics, and statistics together. Our presentation will also address how we overcame challenges relating to developing a new program. In addition, we will explore how we measured student engagement, and solicited and incorporated feedback.