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.
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.