Interdisciplinary (99) This project is developing and implementing a required freshman and sophomore integrated science curriculum for all science, secondary science education and mathematics education majors. The new curriculum, based on the "Building Bridges" program at Bryn Mawr College, is composed of 6 science courses, up to 6 mathematics courses, and a 5-course "backbone" laboratory/research series requiring students to work in cooperative groups to apply learning from multiple courses to solve problems. The intellectual merit of the project lies in the design of a curriculum that demonstrates connections between science and mathematics, while modeling for education majors the use of student-centered, standards-based instructional and assessment strategies. The first two years of the project focus on development and piloting of materials; full implementation is occurring during the third year. To ensure broad impact, curricular materials are being produced for custom and nationwide publication to disseminate the curricular model.
