1. dotphysics
  2. Science for non-science majors. Big-course version

Science for non-science majors. Big-course version

By rallain on June 27, 2009.

I have already talked about science and why everyone should take some science courses. The short answer (in case you don't want to read the previous post) is that everyone should take science because science (along with art and other stuff) is what humans do.

So, tomorrow I will be off to attend a workshop on a new physical science curriculum. The goal is to bring more active-learning styles courses to large enrollment classes. This is essentially a similar idea to the Physics for Elementary Teachers course that I teach with one major difference - size. I would love to teach the course for elementary ed majors to everyone, I think it would give a good fundamental understanding of science and I think students would generally enjoy it. The problem is that the administration is not going to want to move from a 90 student course to 3 sections of 30 students.

I don't know how to do the same stuff I am doing with the smaller class (meeting in a lab room) with a large lecture hall style course and setting. Guess that is why I am going to a workshop in San Diego.

Tags
Science
nature of science

More like this

Philosopher Generalizes Beyond Experience
Janet pointed me to a post at the Philosopher's Playground about doing away with laboratory courses in the science curriculum. Steve Gimbel, the philosopher doing the playing, teaches at Gettysburg College. He argues that the lab portions of science classes cause non-science majors to avoid those…
Poor Man's Clickers, or Re-Inventing the Flat Tire?
As previously noted, I'm planning to do more active-learning stuff in my intro mechanics courses this fall (starting next Tuesday), and as a result have been reading/ watching a lot of material on this (which, by the way, includes far too many slickly produced sales videos and not nearly enough "…
A Risky Educational Experiment
It's that time of year again, when I start thinking about my fall term classes. I would really prefer to put it off for another couple of weeks, and I will put off spending much time on class prep in favor of finishing up some paper-writing and other things, but when the calendar turns to August, I…
Pros and Cons of Interactive Classes
A number of people have commented on the big New York Times article about the new intro physics classes at MIT: At M.I.T., two introductory courses are still required -- classical mechanics and electromagnetism -- but today they meet in high-tech classrooms, where about 80 students sit at 13 round…