Presentation:

Professor Steven Rolston

The presentation consisted of three parts. Professor Rolston presented the first section.  He described the Marquee Courses in Science and Technology at the University of Maryland, a program designed to offer a set of scientific courses to non-majors with the goal of addressing large groups of students and engage them in the scientific aspect of real world problems.  The motivation for Marquee is linked to the national need for non-scientists to understand STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) in order to address global problems.  He gave the example of the need for people in public policy to have a better understanding of science and its role in solving problems such as the energy crisis. The University of Maryland is a large, public, research university with 25,857 undergraduates distributed among 127 majors. The Marquee program intended for these new/modified courses to be taught by accomplished and active professors and/or researchers.  In order to develop the courses, the faculty formed a “learning community” and met regularly to share ideas and set goals for the courses.

Prof. Rolston described the general course design of the Marquee Program.  Each course is crafted around a specific complex question such as global warming, medical technology, or bio-diversity.  Faculty also try to teach the students how to identify scientific inquiry in policy and in real world situations.  Prof. Rolston described the initial development and recent status of the Marquee courses.  There are 6 courses which fulfill the CORE (general education) requirement.  He points out that this is the first time the College of Engineering has offered a CORE course.  After the trial period, the Marquee courses met the enrollment goal:  they taught 540 students in 5 out of 6 of the original trial courses. 

Prof. Rolston next presented on his course, “PHYS 105 - Physics for Decision Makers: The Global Energy Crisis,” which was developed in collaboration with Professors Jordan Goodman and Bill Dorland of the Physics Department.  This course aims to break down the energy problem into key components and incorporate the subjects of physics, biology, economics, and politics.  The structure of the course is non-traditional, with less homework and exams.  Prof. Rolston said he attempts to provide a “much richer experience” by not simply “reviewing a problem;” he emphasizes group projects and exposure to technology in the form of PowerPoint presentations, clickers, and wikis.  Like the other Marquee courses, he asks the students to relate science to their everyday life and ask scientific questions to further understanding.  An illustration is a project called “Energy Audit.”  It gives the students access to the energy consumption readings of buildings on campus, with the goal of exposing them to real world data.  During the five week project, the students develop an energy reduction plan for their assigned building.  Another example of a classroom activity involving real world problems (which resulted from a group discussion about carbon reduction) is students’ development of a mock treaty between developing countries and developed countries. 

Prof. Rolston concluded his presentation by emphasizing that with the University of Maryland’s proximity to the Capitol Building, it is important that the courses remain current with international and national events.  During the recent presidential campaigns, for instance, his students had vibrant discussions about the various energy policies.  Prof. Rolston invites guest speakers to his class to discuss relevant subject matter to illustrate “how science is connected to politics.” 

Professor David Hawthorne

Professor David Hawthorne described the transformation of his departmental course, BSCI 120, “The Insects: Pollinators in Crisis,” into Marquee Courses. 

His presentation addressed two questions: “Why did he make the changes?” and “What are the motivations?”  In its original form, the course resembled most traditional science courses.  It was organized to build up the discipline and material with basic concepts, such as insect morphology and physiology, in a hierarchal manner and then to focus on the material’s relevance to real world issues at the end of the course.  Prof. Hawthorne judges that, “There are problems with these [traditional methods].” 

In revising his course for the Marquee Program, Professor Hawthorne reversed the order of the traditional course and established a problem-centered context for the scientific materials.  He organized the course around the pollinators crisis.  He did this because, “Thirty percent of the food we eat comes from pollination.”  This structure provides a new context for “real world problems.”  The fresh context addresses problems of traditional “science-phobia” and finds a place for science in the life of the student.  Because of this, students ask new questions, and the course is no longer just about memorization.  Prof. Hawthorne also said that the new method provides a basis for teaching students how to analyze and evaluate the scientific argument and how to identify science in everyday life, which is one of the goals of the Marquee courses.  He then described his use of technology in his course to teach the students how to communicate scientific ideas effectively.  Prof. Hawthorne engages the students in active learning by using clickers, 1-minute papers, and group discussions, because a student “cannot [just] sit through 50 minutes of him talking.”  Prof. Hawthorne closed his remarks by relaying some of the things he had learned from the experience.  He suggested that those who revise established courses should not try to make many changes at once; instead, faculty should let the course evolve. Also, Prof. Hawthorne advised that those who undertake this kind of comprehensive revision must also respect the traditional approach of other colleagues and departments. 

Professor Robert Hudson

Prof. Hudson introduced his course, AOSC 200: “Weather and Climate.”  It was initially taught in the year 2000 and was interdisciplinary from the outset.  In restructuring it as a Marquee Course, Professor Hudson discovered that in the course’s conventional form, students did not know how climate affects them. He quoted Mark Twain, “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it.”  In its new form, the course addresses how the weather and climate affect the life of the student by asking such questions as, “Why does the Earth have seasons?”, “What is the greenhouse effect?”, and “Why does it rain and snow?”  In class, Prof. Hudson persistently asks, “What do scientists do?”  He encourages the students to ask “why?”.  He illustrates for the students practical weather by giving a weather forecast.  In his course, Prof. Hudson replaced homework assignments with poster projects on subjects such as “Beijing Air Quality at the Olympics” and “The Economic Impact of Hurricane Katrina.”  On a more practical note, he said that the department ensures that the students do not have to pay the costs of poster printing.  For discussions and projects, he purposefully groups students who are majoring in different disciplines to encourage them to share ideas and promote cohesiveness. Prof. Hudson also attempts to bring outside speakers and experts on the topics discussed in the classroom to emphasize the more practical side of science. 

Prof. Hudson next listed the progress of the course. A generic problem that plagues science courses for non-majors is that non-majors are typically not motivated because they see the required course as just another hurdle to graduation.  Also, there are inherent math anxieties and science phobias, and because of this, large lecture science classes can be challenging. TAs for these courses need comprehensive training since they serve as the main point of contact for the students.

Discussion:

The speakers described the challenges they face with the Marquee science courses at the University of Maryland and opened the floor for discussion.  The professors stated that some of their challenges involve diversity. The discussion mostly was free-form; audience members made inquiries about the presentation and the professors answered, which usually generated more questions.  The following is a summary of the questions asked and responses given by the three session leaders:

Question 1:  How much extra time was required to develop the Marquee courses?

Answer:  Prof. Hudson stated that courses created from scratch require extra time, but due to his enthusiasm, he did not necessarily feel the burden.  Prof. Rolston said the new courses required brainstorming and committee meetings, but that he did not feel this lost time.  Prof. Hawthorne said that changing his “The Insects: Pollinators in Crisis” course took time but that having the Dean’s support helped and made a significant impact.  All the professors emphasized that enthusiasm is important for creating new courses.  An audience member commented that it helps to have everything in the course tied to a theme and mentioned an American Chemical Society text, Chemistry in Context, which is geared for non-majors.

Question 2:  Are the resources the same for a traditional course as for a Marquee? 

Answer:  Both Prof. Hudson and Prof. Rolston stated that funding was provided for TAs and that the rest of the resources for the Marquee courses are not consequential. 

Question 3:  How transferable is the 12 week Marquee course to a 10 week course?

Answer:  Prof. Rolston believed that there would be no problem with his course, and Prof. Hawthorne said that projects are just one way to achieve active learning and that there are multiple ways to implement the goals so 10 weeks should be a sufficient time period. 

Question 4:  Do you mentor junior faculty?

Answer:  Prof. Rolston commented that continuity should not be difficult because once a class is developed, there is not a lot of work to transition.  However, a course like this would be more work for an assistant professor at the University of Maryland, since at this stage of their career they may be overloaded with responsibilities relating to attaining tenure.  In reference to this kind of question, Prof. Hudson commented on his concerns about continuity when professors like him retire.  He posed the questions, “How do senior faculty pass enthusiasm on?” and “Should the courses be continued or even expanded?”

Question 5:  How much do the professors interact with the students? A similar discussion arose with reference to social networks.  An audience member asked, “Do they [the students] and the professors have social interaction on the web, such as a Facebook group?”

Answer:  Prof. Rolston says that in a big university it is important for students to feel connections with the group and with the instructor.  In his course, they conduct “peer” evaluations.  Prof. Rolston attends some of the discussions when the students are doing presentations.  Prof. Hudson emphasized the importance of his TAs and that they do much of the interaction and evaluations. None of the professors instituted social web-networking in their course.  Prof. Hudson said that in a large lecture class it is hard to know everyone and the TAs are the main point of contact in his course.  He emphasized the need to teach and train the TAs well and suggested that the university institute a training course specific to Marquee courses.  An audience member disagreed with the assessment that large lecture courses make it difficult to have interaction and suggested the use of clickers.  Both Professor Hudson and Rolston stated that they use clickers and reiterated the emphasis of group work in their lectures. 

Question 6:  Do the Marquee courses excite people to become majors in the department in which they are offered, and does the course supplant any course requirements for the major degrees?

Answer:  Prof. Rolston explains that in this particular Marquee program the courses fulfill CORE requirements, and they do not replace the introductory requirements in the major.  Any other correlations to majors cannot be determined at this point as this is the first full year of the Marquee courses.

Question 7:  Can you measure how well you are reaching the goals of the Marquee courses?

Answer:  Prof. Rolston answered by giving an example of a question that all the courses ask at the end of the semester: “Can you identify science?”  The professors give the students an article on genetic engineering of food and asked them to identify the science.  The results are difficult to interpret.  He admits that assessment of the success of this goal is difficult and consumes time in the meetings about the Marquee courses.   One of Prof. Hudson’s TAs mentioned at this point that the evaluations aren’t asking the right questions. Prof. Hudson commented on the problem of the media confusing students about science. 

One audience member suggested that the most important thing is the passion for the course, which affects its success.  A key goal is to motivate students in what is possibly the last science course they are required to take in their lives.  Students get a bonus point if they report back to him within 24 hours things he has said that are incorrect/a misconception/ a clarification/or amazing.  Also, his students are required to write a one-page “joy and pain” of sitting in the course.  Prof. Hudson stated that he has the advantage of having TAs to get feedback.  Prof. Hawthorne stated that the difficulty with assessment is getting the students apply science across a breadth of subjects.  We can assess individual courses, but it is difficult to draw conclusions about the students across all the subjects. 

Recommendations:

• Explore designing foundation science courses around questions and themes.
• Develop effective communication and active learning strategies to engage students with the instructor and with one another.

References/Resources:

Websites:

1. University of Maryland:  www.umd.edu
2. Marquee Course Listings in Science and Technology at the University of Maryland: http://www.Marqueecourses.umd.edu/
3. VOSTS (Views on Science-Technology-Society): www.usask.ca/education/people/aikenhead/vosts.pdf

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
Rethinking Foundation Courses in the Sciences and Technology. Reinvention Center Conference Proceedings 2008. Washington, DC. Steven Rolston, David Hawthorne, and Robert Hudson, University of Maryland – College Park.