Formulating meaningful public policy in a democracy is difficult if the voters and their representatives cannot grapple effectively with scientific information that pertains to the issues. Part of the solution to this problem lies in revising our educational system so that science is taught as a process in which all citizens are engaged at some level. In an across-the-curriculum research project students will acquire many of the science process skills essential to scientific literacy. While conducting library as well as laboratory or field research, students will organize information; form and test hypotheses; decide whether data supports a statement; separate correlation from cause and effect; modify their hypotheses as the data demands; and regularly report on their progress to peers and the community. The overarching goal is to model how scientific research is conducted and used to address real problems. The research project focuses on water quality and the effects on ecosystems of poor water quality. Each course in the freshmen general education program is involved in research activity. After a period of data collection, students formulate hypotheses and design experiments to test those hypotheses. Student-generated proposals form the basis of the research undertaken by the next class of freshman. Student-designed research plans will also be tackled by advanced courses. Regular symposia promote sharing and synthesis of results between research groups. This proposal involves all first year students in scientific research. We are especially excited about the impact on education students. The science classes that our future elementary school teachers experience must provide them models for how to integrate science into their curriculum, or they will be handicapped as they attempt that task. In this approach, elementary education students would experience science as related to many general education courses. We hope to provide a model for transforming the role of sc ience in general education curricula.
