A Comprehensive Stream Study Designed for an Undergraduate Non-Majors Course in Earth Science

Science courses for students not majoring in science present unique teaching challenges to educators. Often non-science majors need help seeing the relevance of the course material and making connections between science and their own lives. One promising way to motivate these students and increase their level of interest and understanding is to teach in an integrated lab/lecture format using inquiry-based methods. Such activities maintain a constant level of attention from the students by requiring them to collect their own data, analyze the data set, interpret their data, and prepare a class presentation of their findings. We are experimenting with a new set of science courses that are designed to be interdepartmentally staffed, to integrate aspects of mathematics, geology, chemistry, and biology in am environmental theme, and to use guided-inquiry methods in a lab/lecture format. The interdisciplinary faculty team provides students with a diverse set of backgrounds and skills, and the interaction betwee...