Carol Burton (cburton@bcc.ctc.edu) and Melodye Gold (mgold@bcc.ctc.edu)
Professors, Department of Life Sciences
Cathy Lyle (clyle@bcc.ctc.edu)
Professor, Department of Physical Sciences
Donna Sharpe (dsharpe@bcc.ctc.edu)
Professor and Academic Counselor, Science Division
Bellevue Community College
Bellevue, Washington
Why use technology?
Our students do a significant amount of laboratory work. In the modern laboratory, technology is an integral component. We have redesigned many of our lab exercises to be more open-ended and investigative. We use programs developed by Vernier to collect data and perform analyses of these data. Students perform the experiment, graph the results and interpret the data based on their understanding of the concepts learned in the course. This leads to a greater understanding of experimental results.
Most of us in the Science Division want our students to do research, both as labs and investigation of the scientific literature. The baccalaureate institutions to which many of our students transfer expect students to have basic skills in information literacy and critical thinking. We train students to utilize web-based tools to conduct searches of the literature.
Bellevue Community College is a two-year college, the largest community college in the state and the state's third largest institution of higher education. We serve over 20,000 students in credit and continuing education programs. Bellevue provides a variety of educational pathways for students-associate degrees, technical degrees and certification for occupational students, as well as Associate in Arts and Sciences and Associate of Science transfer degrees. Most of our transfer students go on to the University of Washington.
The courses
"Of Mice and Matter: A Successful Journey Through the Scientific Maze" is a learning community based on introductory biology and chemistry, supported by a research strategies class. Chemistry 101 and Biology 101 are the core courses of Mice and Matter. The research strategies course, Basic Science 103, evolved from a study skills class to include more information literacy, critical thinking, and learning strategies. Science and health professions pre- majors take the course, as do non-science liberal arts students. Mice and Matter is offered once a year, either in the fall or winter quarter. The course is limited to 48 students.
Mice and Matter is a blend of existing classes. The difference between it and the stand-alone courses lies in its presentation as a team-taught learning community. Students register for one interdisciplinary course. However, their transcripts reflect three separate courses.
The strategy
The project began about seven years ago when the founding team attended an eight-day workshop at the Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education, at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. The Washington Center promotes interdisciplinary education and learning communities. We learned how to construct an interdisciplinary course and build collaborative learning into the learning environment. We wrote the curriculum that integrated the three existing courses into Mice and Matter, using a team-teaching and learning community format. The faculty team has rotated over the years as interests and commitments change.
In Mice and Matter, technology is used as a tool rather than the central focus of the course. We use computers and sensors for real-time data acquisition in laboratory course assignments. The computer interface/laboratory data collection tools and experiments were first introduced in the Chemistry and Biology programs and ultimately became part of the Mice and Matter program. The tools have become an integral part of the chemistry and biology programs.
Another major component of the course is a campus-wide program, Critical Thinking and Information Literacy Across the Curriculum or CTILAC. This project is funded by the National Science Foundation and uses a variety of initiatives and methods to infuse critical thinking and information literacy skills into campus curricula. CTILAC uses the study of scientific concepts and issues in innovative ways to help students develop valuable learning skills and professional competencies. The CTILAC website distributes course materials and assignments, with links to other department sites on campus. The website is a resource for faculty who can utilize materials and adapt them to fit their courses.
CTILAC assignments are designed to develop proficiency in accessing information on the Internet. We take the students through a training process of accessing and searching the databases of academic journals, popular magazines, and newspapers. We teach them search strategies using different search terms and Boolean connectors to obtain relevant and accurate results. The students then learn how to evaluate the information in the articles they've accessed. They look at the type of information in the articles, the way the information is presented, the wording, and any available facts and sources in the article. Students are urged to go back to the primary sources to verify facts. We encourage students to develop a "skeptical eye" when they're looking at information, particularly in the popular press.
The learning technology
Logger Pro software (demo versions for Mac and Windows available) and Vernier sensor hardware is used by both the chemistry and biology courses of Mice and Matter. Logger Pro enables data collection via Vernier's LabPro interface, which transmits data gathered by Vernier sensors to the computers. Students can then use Logger Pro to analyze the data they've collected. The sensors and probes we use perform standard physical and chemical tests. Some of the probes we use detect pH, carbon dioxide, conductance, and light intensity. For more information on these hardware and software packages, visit: .
Computer hardware: We have two rooms set up with the technology in place, and we have a cart with laptops that serves as a roving laboratory.
CTILAC website: Students and faculty can access the syllabi and assignments for the courses that are participating in the CTILAC initiative by going to the website.
The funding
Mice and Matter began with a small summer grant to develop the idea. We received support from three campus divisions to offer the course. Science, Human Development and Arts and Humanities contributed to the effort. There is a great deal of support from administration on this campus for interdisciplinary programs and classroom technology.
We also received funding from CTILAC, which has just finished up a two-year NSF grant. Prior to the NSF funding, CTILAC was a pilot project funded internally by the college president's discretionary fund. Another NSF-funded project, the Northwest Center for Emerging Technologies, located at Bellevue Community College, provided some seed money for CTILAC. In addition, we received internal funding for the laptop computers. As we said, our campus is very supportive of innovation and the exploration of new technologies.
The results
The students' overall reactions to "Mice and Matter" have been positive. They've enjoyed it, and recognize the value of the transferable skills learned in the course. As with any innovative pedagogy, we recommend starting small. Do a little bit, see if it works, and then add a bit more. This course has evolved over time and continues to do so.
One of the interesting things to come out of this interdisciplinary course is that the life science faculty and physical science faculty work more closely together. Our advice to other faculty who are considering teaching interdisciplinary courses is to work with compatible people because you will be spending a great deal of time working together.
If you have any questions about our project, you can contact any of us at: cburton@bcc.ctc.edu (Carol Burton), mgold@bcc.ctc.edu (Melodye Gold), clyle@bcc.ctc.edu (Cathy Lyle), dsharpe@bcc.ctc.edu (Donna Sharpe).
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