An Investigative Interdisciplinary Lab: The Harvey Mudd College Story

For many years now, SCUPer Jeanne Narum and Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) have been engaging in research and learning related to all aspects of improving STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education. Aspects of PKAL's research range from studying the development of faculty leadership through the design of learning space. This item is a "What Works - A PKAL Essay" titled An Investigative Interdisciplinary Lab: The Harvey Mudd College Story:

This laboratory course was developed by a small core of committed faculty with the support of the three participating departments and the vice president for academic affairs/dean of faculty.

The faculty members met once a week in the spring semester to design the laboratory with the intention of testing the proposed experiments in the following summer with a team of undergraduate students prior to the fall semester implementation. This planning time was crucial to the efficient use of the summer.