The Impetus for the Conference

In the winter of 2003, the National Research Council published the results of a multi-year study called BIO 2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists. It makes a strong and compelling case for colleges and universities to change the way students are prepared for careers in science. It calls for educators to approach teaching far more integratively, making connections across the broad range of disciplines in the natural sciences and mathematics. Though the focus of the BIO 2010 report is biomedicine, the recommendations and findings of the study have far broader implications – implications for all of the sciences and mathematics. Trinity University’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) grant works to address the issues outlined in BIO 2010, and as part of our dissemination plan for our project, we have funding to sponsor a conference among the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS), the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM), the Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) and the Seven Sisters Colleges to share insights, innovations, and challenges as we work to integrate our curriculum.

The Conference

This conference, "Integrative STEM Learning: Pedagogy and Partners", will provide the opportunity to network and collaborate on ways to improve integrative STEM learning.   It is intentionally a small meeting to allow for brainstorming and sharing of strategies.  The Trinity University HHMI grant will defray travel costs (housing, meals, etc.) for one representative from your campus for the first 16 institutions that submit abstracts for oral presentations. In addition, we welcome additional campus representatives to come along as part of a team. Additional costs will be minimal (only the additional airfare for those willing to share a room). The TU-HHMI grant will cover meals and social sessions, which are meant to be time for networking and sharing ideas.