Preparing K-12 Students for the New Interdisciplinary World of Science
Author: Russell Hulse
Date of PPPL Report: February 2006
Presented at: the Association of Anatomy, Cell Biology, Neurobiology Chairpersons conference, January 18 – 21, 2006. Submitted to the Journal of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine.
The increasing importance of interdisciplinary science brings with it the need to consider what impact this has on the educational process. Such considerations extend even to the earliest educational years of K–12, and also exhibit a strong overlap with many issues involved in improving science education across the board. I will offer some general remarks, followed by a focus on three educational objectives of importance to interdisciplinary science as well as to improved science education as a whole. I will close with a brief discussion of the challenges involved in implementing such ideas in the educational system.