The S.D. Bechtel, Jr., Foundation has awarded a $1.46 million grant to Scripps College to support integrated science education in the Joint Science Department. The Joint Science Department serves students from Scripps, Claremont McKenna, and Pitzer Colleges and houses faculty in biology, chemistry, and physics.
The grant, distributed over four years, will be used to sustain and enhance the Accelerated Integrated Science Sequence (AISS)—a yearlong program for first-year students that takes the place of three standard individual yearlong courses in chemistry, biology, and physics. AISS allows students to move into advanced courses in their chosen discipline earlier than if they had taken the separate discipline-specific introductory courses.
Using AISS as a model, the grant will help foster discussions across a broad spectrum of colleges and universities about creating interdisciplinary science courses. The grant also will support development of new non-accelerated integrated introductory courses and interdisciplinary research opportunities for students. David Hansen, Weinberg Family Dean of Science, will lead Joint Science Department faculty in the implementation of the project.
“With this wonderful new Bechtel Foundation award,” Hansen said, “the course can continue to evolve, and the department can explore additional approaches to bringing integrated science courses to our students.”
Scripps College President Lori Bettison-Varga said: “The Joint Science Department is uniquely poised to be a national model for integrated science education through the successful AISS program. The S.D. Bechtel, Jr., Foundation funding will allow for curricular advances and the continued development and retention of women in the sciences.”
AISS provides a supportive and challenging environment for women who are interested in majoring in the sciences, with women comprising 84% of the total enrollment in AISS over the last three years. Bettison-Varga attributes this high percentage in large part to Scripps’ success in recruiting women who are interested in pursuing majors in the sciences; 62% of all students in AISS have been Scripps College students.