One of the most important elements in achieving significant curricular and pedagogical innovation is creating a climate that promotes and acknowledges the contributions of those who engage in these efforts. It is critical that this climate be systemic, existing at the department, college, and university levels. In the past few years, the view that…

How does one develop and deliver the integrated core of a cross-disciplinary arts and sciences undergraduate degree when the degree program has no departmental or college home and no full-time faculty, but plenty of enthusiastic students who are looking for a unique educational experience? This article outlines how a formalized curriculum…

The investments of federal agencies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education are aimed at a single core question: How can educators ensure that the United States will have a well-prepared and innovative science and technology workforce in an era of increasing global competition? As the exploration of what this entails…

Teaching the large introductory science course is a challenge, but when the objective is seen not as covering the field but uncovering part of it to illustrate principles common to the whole, the facts are no longer the end result but tools with which the disciplines can be further explored. (Author/MSE)

The fundamental goal of any STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) course must be to involve students in the acquisition and mastery of the knowledge, skills, and perspectives of a technical discipline. This chapter describes an instructional model for infusing social and cultural learning into a technical course. This model…

Focused on an interdisciplinary graduate program in water resources management, this case study illustrates how theory-into-practice integration occurred in a field course and clarified students' expectations that faculty model interdisciplinary ways of knowing.