Main description:

Across science and engineering, new opportunities are unfolding at the convergence of traditional fields. To meet the demands for students with interdisciplinary education, new undergraduate curricula have emerged. Biomedical engineering, for example, builds upon foundations in biology, physics, chemistry and materials science coupled with engineering design principles.

In building successful interdisciplinary science programs, however, many questions must be addressed. Although many resources exist for developing and implementing new academic programs, there does not exist in a single volume that adequately address this important topic. Integrated Science: New Approaches to Education is a focused collection of essays addressing the myriad challenges associated with conceptualizing, developing, implementing and measuring the success of new undergraduate programs in interdisciplinary science and engineering fields. This book will provide an overview of this process drawn from a broad perspective of experts within their respective fields.

Feature:

This book will have three sections, each addressing key topics from different angles and perspectives.

Section I will discuss new approaches to graduate training in the sciences including the decline of both the large laboratory and the usefulness of traditional Ph.D. program

Section II covers the politics, sociology and economics of integrated science with essays offering contending perspectives on interdisciplinary science education as well as focused discussions of issues of diversity and economic analysis

Section III address new frontiers in science and emerging areas on interdisciplinary education

Experts discuss specific details and unique challenges in five emerging frontiers in integrated science, including Biotechnology, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Nanotechnology, Brain Science, and Bioinformatics

Back cover:

With the global challenges that face us and our environment, there is a growing sense among leaders in science, public policy, business, and education that we need new, more integrative approaches to science.  In turn, these interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches to solving problems at the frontiers of science demand responses and reformations at the institutional level.   Integrated Sciences:New Approaches to Education,  a "virtual roundtable" on the topic of integrative science,creates a symphony of voices addressing the pluralistic nature of approaches to recasting science research and education.  The "participants" come from different perspectives and experiences, and include Nobel laureates, university presidents, serious scholars, and distinguished scientists.  Although their comments, talks, articles, and interviews on this subject may have taken place at different times and in widely different venues, they have been organized into a coherent ensemble of conversations about the necessity, promises, challenges, and implementation of integrative approaches to scientific research and education.  This book will be helpful to a wide range of scientists, educators, and university and college administrators facing the exciting, if daunting, hurdles involved in integrative reform.

Contents:

The Promises and Challenges of Integrated Science.- In What Ways Can or Should Science and Government Be Integrated?.- What Are the Promises and Challenges of Scientific Integration?.- The Integration of Academic Science and Industry.- Should Business and Industry Create Integrative Partnerships with Academic Science?.- What Are the Institutional Obstacles to the Integration of Academic Science and Industry?.- The Implications of Interdisciplinary Science on Education and Training.- What Are the Long Term Implications of Integration/Interdisciplinary Science on Traditional Disciplines and Their Professional Associations (Turf Wars)?.- What Are the Implications of Integrated Science for Liberal Arts Education and Pedagogy at the Undergraduate Level?.- Do the New Directions in Scientific Training Have an Impact on Developing a More Diverse Workforce?.- What Are the Implications for Training at the Master’s Level?.- What Are the Implications for Training at the Doctoral Level?.- What Are the Architectural Implications of Integration?.