Fostering Integrative Capacities for the 21st Century

Tricia A. Ferrett

I open with two stories to help frame the purpose and contributions of this book. These stories will provide concrete anchors for a more extended discussion of an approach to undergraduate science education—"connected science" learning and teaching.

Alice's Senior Biochemistry Thesis

Several years ago a student from Africa did her senior thesis on the design of new drugs for HIV AIDS. Alice had a strong biochemistry background, and she was drawn to the moral purpose of her topic. As she evaluated the pros and cons of first- and second-generation drugs, she learned not only about research on chemical structure and function relationships at the molecular level but about side effects and drug effectiveness in the human body. It was clear—human issues, not just scientific ones, were guiding research in the science of AIDS. Alice worked mostly alone, with my guidance as a chemistry instructor. As instructed, she became immersed in the scientific research literature and began to integrate her prior learning of chemistry. But while she was drawn to the human context, she was never entirely at ease with bringing it into her thesis. She had been explicitly asked to "do the chemistry deeply." One day Alice said, "what about if I do just a little bit of context in the introduction?" Alice was good at reading faculty signals; she knew to keep the human stuff off to the side. When I suggested she steer her paper and conclusions in a creative and synthetic direction that grabbed her, she was tentative at first. What would that mean? Would she be sacrificing the science in doing so? Is that allowable for the senior thesis? In the end, Alice chose to propose a specific next-generation drug that overcame some difficulties encountered in earlier versions. Once she hooked onto this approach, she blossomed with a larger purpose to her work. Her motivation and creativity rose. Her scientific thinking was strongest here. Alice stepped over the threshold to create something that was uniquely hers—the structure and rationale for a new HIV drug.

Jeff's First-Year Study of Sustainability

Jeff was a first-year student in a learning community facilitated by Xian Liu and Kate Maiolatesi that integrated first-semester English language and literature with an introduction to sustainability studies. In teaching an honors course integrated across disciplines, the two instructors were committed to creating an atmosphere of community. They began with a kayak trip on a local river, where students were introduced to the concepts of complex ecological systems, aquatic ecology, and each other. In the trip, Jeff and his classmates began to develop a sense of each other's needs while engaging in the science. As the course progressed, Xian and Kate gave the students the option of doing a community-based project at one of two local sites—the community food bank's vegetable farm or an alternative high school. Half the students chose to work on the farm, which donates healthy produce to a local food bank used by low-income families. Other students worked as consultants for the high school director, researching how to make the campus green, the energy renewable, and the lunches healthy. Both options combined science, sustainability, community service, and links to social justice. At the end of the semester, Jeff believed that the learning community worked so well, in part, because students quickly became friends and spent deep time together learning in part through real-world experiences. Once Jeff came to understand the complexity of issues around sustainable living and the scientific concepts underlying personal choices, he wanted to take this to the next level. Fortunately, his college was preparing to offer a formal sustainability studies program. His excitement built as he discussed his next steps with Kate and Xian. Jeff proposed the development of a campus "sustainability center." The instructors agreed to have a cohort of students design a two-room green building to house the program and its classroom while linking to the community through demonstration projects and an onsite organic farm. Their vision also included teaching some introductory science labs at the farm. The green building would be accessible to those outside science and the program. The instructors and students imagined a busy, cool place to hang out, work, connect, and learn—a "science in action" community place.

What do these stories have to teach us about the promise and practice of college science learning, and its role in preparing students to live, work, lead, and learn in the complex and changing world of the 21st century? The first story departs subtly from traditions for college science teaching in order to move toward a more connected science. A senior worked on an "integrative" capstone exercise—integrative within the discipline, that is. Working alone, she drew from the original scientific literature, approaching the science with a critical eye while integrating and applying chemistry she had learned. Yet she was unpracticed with regard to letting a larger purpose steer her science learning. The integrative nature of her topic was notably understated in the final product. Her hesitation to include "context" shows the barriers to integration that instructors create when we project compartmentalized disciplinary norms onto our curriculum and students. Admirably, Alice displayed a deep engagement with her science and took her learning to a new...