Data Acquisition, Information Literacy, and Critical Thinking in an Interdisciplinary Course

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

Most of us in the Science Division want our students to do research, both as labs and investigation of the scientific literature. We use programs developed by Vernier to collect data and perform analyses of these data. We also train students to utilize web-based tools to conduct searches of the literature...

Of Mice and Matter Bellevue Community College Critical Thinking and Information Literacy Across the Curriculum (CTILAC) Northwest Center for Emerging Technologies Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education Vernier Logger Pro (demo versions available) LabPro

"Of Mice and Matter: A Successful Journey Through the Scientific Maze" is a learning community based on introductory chemistry and biology, supported by a research strategies class. 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... Another major component of the course is a campus-wide program, Critical Thinking and Information Literacy Across the Curriculum or CTILAC. CTILAC uses the study of scientific concepts and issues in innovative ways to help students develop valuable learning skills and professional competenciesÉ The students' overall reactions have been positive. They enjoy it and recognize the value of the transferable skills learned in the course.

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).