Envisioning Teaching & Learning:Keeping Science Real: The UMASS iCons Program

From a radical idea first proposed in 2008, the integrated concentration in science (iCons) program at UMass Amherst has evolved into a living, breathing, academic program that has uprooted expectations about what undergraduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are capable of achieving. Students in iCons have learned how to integrate knowledge to solve problems as part of interdisciplinary teams, conducted research on issues from endocrine disruption to the fate of nanoparticles in photovoltaics, and learned how to communicate about their work with poise and professionalism. Though situated within the sciences, the program’s commitment to contemporary teaching and learning practices– such as collaborative learning, reflective assessment practices, and progressive curricular scaffolding– will inspire faculty from across the disciplines..

(RSVP for lunch at go/pedagogy)