This proposal requests funds to obtain computers and computer interfaced probes and sensors for an interdisciplinary science course that emphasizes data acquisition and analysis. The course is intended to prepare first year college students for furthcr study in the natural sciences. Under- graduate science courses are increasingly structured so that students discover important concepts from experimental data. In order to discover the underlying concepts, however, students must be able to interpret the data, which requires certain mathematical, analytical, and critical thinking skills. In the absence of these skills, students are unable to discover the underlying relationships, and, as a result, cannot acquire an understanding of the relevant concepts. This course is designed to help students to develop the required skills in the context of familiar everyday problems, so that they are not trying to master new skills and learn difficult concepts at the same time. Each exercise will engage students actively to help them achieve specific learning objectives that will be useful in other science courses. Students will then be expected to apply the skills that they have learned to a related problem. Introductory exercises will emphasize numbers, measurement, and experimental error. Subsequent activities will focus on the use of graphs to look for algebraic relationships between variables, as well as on the use of standard curves and controls. Computer and calculator based data acquisition will be utilized extensively. A final project will incorporate the diverse skills learned in the separate exercises. Selected activities will be used in math and science courses de- signed for non-science majors, so that the project will help to increase the scientific literacy of a wide range of students.
