THE IMPACT OF AN INTERDISCIPLINARY COURSE ON STUDENT'S UNDERSTANDING OF CONCEPTS IN ORIGINS

An interdisciplinary Center for the Understanding of Origins was established at Kansas State University (KSU) in November 2003 with seed money from the KSU Targeted Excellence Program. One of the overarching goals of the center was to improve upon education and outreach efforts aimed at increasing the public's understanding of biological and physical evolution. Six members from the Center have taught an interdisciplinary undergraduate general education course entitled Origins: Humanity, Life, and the Universe for two semesters. The course teaches the scientific ideas of evolution from the perspectives of cosmology, geology, biology, English, and philosophy.

The 16-week course was team-taught in the fall 2005 and 2006 by faculty from the sciences and humanities. The course included three blocks of science content interspersed with lectures from English and philosophy. The elements of the course included interactive lectures, exams, homework, and readings. The course was designed for an undergraduate intermediate level student and has had 20 students enrolled each semester from different departments.

Different instruments were used to measure the effectiveness of the course and its impact on student learning. Students were given a pre-post content and science beliefs survey, university course evaluations were completed and a questionnaire was given soliciting written comments from students regarding their overall experience in the Origin courses. Data from 40 students has been included in this research.

Results from the instruments indicate that students showed significant changes in their attitudes and beliefs as a result of the instruction from the Origins course. Of the five content areas philosophy was consistently the most difficult for students to grasp as indicated by written questionnaires and pre-post surveys. Students struggled with the transitions between the content blocks and the amount of material covered on exams. Overall student experiences within the course were positive and their understanding of the evolution theories from different disciplines and how they connect was significantly enhanced as a result of the Origins course.