CHED 130 |
| This project began when five faculty attended a Project Kaleidoscope Conference on interdisciplinary teaching with the goal of the project to incorporate inquiry-based education into classes in Mathematics, Biology and Chemistry. The “Sprouts Project” has evolved to include over 200 students each semester in the three departments working on interdisciplinary projects. Each student group grows sprouts (over twenty species are used) and measures growth as a function of some variable: environment, species, or growing conditions. Students then perform appropriate mathematical analysis of the data and present their findings during an interdisciplinary poster session. Results have indicated that students develop a more realistic concept of research and working in interdisciplinary groups. Several workshops and presentations for K-12 teachers have demonstrated that this pedagogical approach is applicable in their classes. Many teachers embrace this idea and a workshop scheduled for this summer closed out because of high interest. Analysis of the assessment data is ongoing and latest results will be presented with plans for future directions for this project. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the NSF (DUE 0536468) for support of this project. |
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NSF Catalyzed Innovations in the Undergraduate Curriculum
8:30 AM-12:00 PM, Monday, August 20, 2007 Seaport -- Flagship Room, Oral
Division of Chemical Education |