Developing an interdisciplinary science community through curriculum materials and a summer science orientation camp

Abstract

Faculty in the biology, chemistry, and physics departments at Linfield College are developing an interdisciplinary STEM community through two new programs. First, we have created curriculum materials that can be used to engage students across the traditional introductory science courses in scientific discussions of related topics. We will describe how we have used these materials in an interdisciplinary science seminar and how we are beginning to use them as stand alone modules in existing introductory courses. Second, we have recently concluded our first annual iFOCUS camp for incoming students. iFOCUS (Interdisciplinary First‐Year Camp for Undergraduate Sciences) engaged ten new Linfield students in collaborative research projects with Linfield faculty for a week before classes began this fall. We will report on the successes of this program, including plans for the future development of interdisciplinary science at Linfield. Funding for this program was provided by Dr. Thomas Hellie, president of Linfield College.