Exploring Impediments to Innovation through Linfield’s Interdisciplinary Science and Mathematics Seminar
Faculty Sponsor(s)
Megan Bestwick, Joelle Murray, Jennifer Nordstrom, and Catherine Reinke
Subject Area
Colloquium
Description
Many of today’s critical scientific and technological challenges (pandemic response, responsible use of big data, automation and artificial intelligence, mitigation of climate change, utilization of stem-cell technology, and regulation of gene-editing in healthcare) occur at the intersections between various disciplines. When working in these areas, it’s essential to effectively communicate with researchers from a variety of disciplines. The Interdisciplinary Science and Mathematics Seminar (ISMS) aims to engage thinking from a variety of disciplinary perspectives to help students build their interdisciplinary communication skills. The seminar is focused around discussion of proposed ideas "that must die"1 because they impede progress. Often, the ideas being discussed are controversial because they are fundamental and rarely questioned. Students and faculty approach discussion in a flexible format to facilitate deeper understanding of what drives thinking in, and how to best communicate across, disciplines. Students consider multiple viewpoints throughout the semester and work to propose ideas that they determine to be an impediment to the practice of science and STEM teaching and learning. In this presentation, current students share insights from class discussions and their examinations of science from an interdisciplinary perspective.
1This Idea Must Die: Scientific Theories That Are Blocking Progress, edited by John Brockman (2015)
Recommended Citation
Apgar, Shannon; Bowen, Vanessa; Herrera-Kuehn, Marques; Krutzikowsky, Ronan; Simpson, Joseph; Wolff, Carmel; Bestwick, Megan; Murray, Joelle; Reinke, Catherine; and Nordstrom, Jennifer Firkins, "Exploring Impediments to Innovation through Linfield’s Interdisciplinary Science and Mathematics Seminar" (2020). Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement. Event. Submission 31.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/symposium/2020/all/31
Exploring Impediments to Innovation through Linfield’s Interdisciplinary Science and Mathematics Seminar
Many of today’s critical scientific and technological challenges (pandemic response, responsible use of big data, automation and artificial intelligence, mitigation of climate change, utilization of stem-cell technology, and regulation of gene-editing in healthcare) occur at the intersections between various disciplines. When working in these areas, it’s essential to effectively communicate with researchers from a variety of disciplines. The Interdisciplinary Science and Mathematics Seminar (ISMS) aims to engage thinking from a variety of disciplinary perspectives to help students build their interdisciplinary communication skills. The seminar is focused around discussion of proposed ideas "that must die"1 because they impede progress. Often, the ideas being discussed are controversial because they are fundamental and rarely questioned. Students and faculty approach discussion in a flexible format to facilitate deeper understanding of what drives thinking in, and how to best communicate across, disciplines. Students consider multiple viewpoints throughout the semester and work to propose ideas that they determine to be an impediment to the practice of science and STEM teaching and learning. In this presentation, current students share insights from class discussions and their examinations of science from an interdisciplinary perspective.
1This Idea Must Die: Scientific Theories That Are Blocking Progress, edited by John Brockman (2015)
