Interdisciplinary Initiatives at Washington & Lee University

1. Interdisciplinary Initiatives at Washington & Lee University Helen I’Anson Biology & Neuroscience HHMI Program Director

2. HHMI aims: To increase bioscience student competency in sophisticated quantitative and computational analysis, and in collaborative interdisciplinary approaches to problem-solving.

3. Curricular and Faculty Development goals: • to increase interdisciplinary connections by promoting faculty course • exchange teams • to encourage the development of new interdisciplinary courses to be offered in W&L’s new 4-week Spring Term • to encourage development of new courses during 12-week semesters that promote inquiry-based learning and incorporate interdisciplinary approaches • to fund faculty to organize on-campus workshops or to attend courses/workshops • to acquire new pedagogy/methodologies.

4. Faculty Course Exchange Teams: Exchange between Introductory Physics (Dr. Irina Mazilu, Physics-Engineering) and Introductory Biology (Dr. Bill Hamilton, Biology/Environmental Studies) Physics modules: The dynamics of the vertebrate skeletal system to introduce torque and rotational motion The circulatory system to illustrate fluid dynamics Biology modules: Laws of thermodynamics in metabolism Pressure/volume relationships and arterial blood flow Introduction to fluid dynamics related to atherosclerosis

5. Faculty Course Exchange Teams: Exchange between CSCI 121: Scientific Computing (Dr. Simon Levy, Computer Science/ Neuroscience) and Biol 301: Statistics for Biology and Medicine (Dr. David Marsh, Biology/Neuroscience). • Biology module: • Computational statistics to include: • re-sampling: code writing for bootstrapping and permutation methods. • introduction to Bayes theorem and Bayes networks/hierarchical models. • Computer Science module: • Statistical applications of computation to include: • simple computer algorithms for hypothesis testing and experimental design • simulation methods to perform basic statistical analyses • independent projects focused on statistical analysis

6. Faculty Course Exchange Teams: Exchange between Calculus I (Dr. Katherine Crowley, Mathematics) and Introductory Biology (Dr. Larry Hurd, Biology/Environmental Studies). Joint Math/Biology module – radioactive decay (fossil deposits), and carbon dating (organic remains of organisms) • News story, grape vines from a 6000 year old winery, introduces use of calculus to date organic material. • Implications of radiocarbon dating in biology – how radiocarbon dating led to a more accurate understanding of moa extinction. • Journal articles read to investigate the history of radiocarbon dating and its limitations, and to critique authors’ conclusions.

7. Development of new Spring Term interdisciplinary courses: • 2009 – revised spring term at W&L • From 6-week Spring Term with a two course student load toa 4-week Spring Term where students take one course only. • HHMI impact – science faculty felt encouraged to design courses that were intensive, innovative, and often research-oriented, and/or interdisciplinary. • Outcome – exciting courses that were funded directly or indirectly by HHMI (* on next slide) or dove-tailed with HHMI curricular goals

8. New Spring Term courses designed and implemented over the past two years: * Environmental Biology: Endangered Plants of the Appalachians (Bio 101) Physics and Perception of Music (Phys 102) * Disorder & Chaos (Chem 106) Science of Cooking (Chem 155) * Dynamic Systems Modeling and the Global Climate (Chem 165) * Research Preparation in the Biosciences (Bio 200) * Introduction to Robotics (CSCI 250) iPhone course (CSCI 251) * Research Questions in Genomics (Bio 323) * Environmental Modeling and Conservation Strategies (Bio 325) Plant Functional Ecology – Yellowstone Restoration Ecology (Bio 332) * Science in Art: Technical Examination of 17th-Century Dutch Paintings (Arth 356) Courses impact approximately 170 students per year.

9. Courses in 12-week semesters incorporating inquiry-based learning and interdisciplinary approaches : * CSCI 102: Introduction to Computational Modeling (CSCI 102) Science in Art (Chem 156) * Human Biology & Nutrition (Bio 165) * Cell Biology(Bio 211) * Bioengineering & Bio-inspired Design (Engn/Biol 267) Experimental Botany: Global Climate Change(Bio 330) * Developmental Biology (Bio 365) Clinical Trials (Bio 395B) Courses impact approximately 100 students per year.

10. Courses/workshops for faculty to acquire new pedagogy and/or methodologies: • On-campus workshops: • Shodor Computational Teaching Workshop • – 7 new or modified courses, 4 courses with new modules (150 students/year) • NSF Workshop – 8 grant submissions, 5 funded • Applications of Statistical Mechanics To Far-from-Equilibrium and Biological • Systems Workshop • – 47 student & faculty participants from 3 colleges/universities • Computational Chemistry for Chemistry Educators Workshop • – faculty from 13 colleges/universities to attend

11. Courses/workshops for faculty to acquire new pedagogy and/or methodologies: Off-campus workshops: • The Xenopus Cell and Developmental Biology workshop • NeuroSterology workshop • Vensim and system dynamics advanced modeling • Genomics Education Partnership • Applications of HPC, Grids, and Parallel Computing to Science Education • ACS Summer Teaching and Learning Workshop • Red Hat Certified Engineer Rapid Track workshop • Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis workshop Impact: 9 faculty & approximately 450 students per year