Carnegie Mellon   RAIRE Award

1. Expansion of the Freshman Seminar Series

1. Make the first part of the MCS Freshman Seminar a stand-alone mini course, "Introduction to Science." Eric Grotzinger, associate dean for MCS, teaches this course, in the first half of the fall semester. The course provides a valuable foundation for MCS freshmen while establishing communication with the associate dean’s office.
2. Make the second part of the MCS Freshman Seminar stand-alone mini courses. These courses are available both halves of the spring semester in addition to the second half of the fall semester. The mini course format allows more students to participate in the course, particularly since it is compatible with the new mini course formats of the introductory calculus sequence and Computer Skills Workshop. In addition, the stand-alone format makes participation by faculty a formal part of their teaching load.
3. Make these mini courses graded, increase the course credit to 3 units per mini course and make a corresponding increase in the work load expected from the students. These changes allow faculty to cover material more critically while also providing time and incentive for thoughtful projects and collaborative work.
4. Establish a Freshman Seminar Series steering committee. This committee approves proposals for mini courses, assures that they are directed at the goals of the Freshman Seminar Series, and monitors the quality of the program.

1. Expose the students to modern scientific concepts and allow them to develop an understanding and appreciation for a current area of research.
2. Allow the students to participate in an inquiry based, collaborative mode of learning not available in the large lecture classes.
3. Allow the students to experience hands-on, laboratory-based learning wherever possible. This ranges from explorations using scientific instruments like the nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer to computer-based simulations of scientific phenomena
4. Provide students with direct intellectual contact with faculty. Typical mini courses handle 5 to 10 students.

Seminars offered for Fall Mini 1

This course is restricted to first-semester students in the Mellon College of Science. It is a 7-week mini course that ends at midterm break of the fall semester. The seminar offers freshmen an opportunity to participate in a small discussion class that will deal with topics to stimulate thinking and broaden views of learning and science. Classroom discussions will be based on assigned readings and videos. We'll discuss the responsibilities of scientists and the limits, applications, culture, and impact of science. Since academic and professional success is also dependent on personal qualities, exercises in personal development, leadership and teamwork initiatives will be explored.

Seminars offered for Fall Mini 2

The goal of this course is to give you a broader view of mathematics than you would obtain taking only the standard freshman and sophomore mathematics courses. Finite difference calculus has strong parallels with calculus, and we draw comparisons between the two subjects. The hope here is that by learning both subjects and comparing them, you will be more aware of the concepts and less focused on learning the mechanics of solution methods. Since this course will be a smaller and more select group than most of your freshman courses, we'll be able to give a more conceptual emphasis in presentation of course topics and assignments.

Seminars offered for Spring Mini 1

Sex determination offers special opportunities for examining the interplay between genetic regulation, developmental mechanisms, and evolutionary processes. Studies of sex determination in many organisms illustrate how similar developmental outcomes can be achieved through fundamentally distinct strategies. These studies have also revealed that sex determination strategies can change with astounding facility. We will discuss research papers and critical review articles from the classical and current literature to learn about some of the basic observations and hypotheses in this field, including recent suggestions that rapid change at high levels of the regulatory hierarchies may mask substantial underlying stability.

09-102 A3 Issues in Environmental Chemistry
Instructor: Stuart Staley; Enrollment: 8

Current topics in environmental chemistry such as global warming will be presented and studied. Research in current periodicals suitable for freshmen will serve as the basis for lively discussion. Students will also attend two lectures on global climate change at the Carnegie Museum, 7-8:30 p.m. on January 11 and February 8. Chemical and other scientific issues will be analyzed in the context of economic and political issues.

09-102 B3 Polymers and the Modern World
Instructors: Guy Berry and Gary Patterson; Enrollment: 6

This course will use readings and the Internet to examine topics in polymer science. Each week there will be hands on projects and discussions. Week 1: Introduction to the World of Polymers; Week 2: Describing Polymer Structure: Molecular Model Kits; Week 3: Polymer Solutions: From Viscous Fluids to Funny Solids; Week 4: Rubbery Polymers and Gels; Week 5: Liquid Crystalline Polymers: Silk and Kevlar; Week 6: Crystalline Polymers: Polyethylene to Polyacetylene; Week 7: Through the Polymer Glass: Polystyrene and Plexiglass;

33-101 A3 Science and Science Fiction
Instructor: Barry Luokkala; Enrollment: 7

Participants in this seminar will examine a number of works of science fiction cinema, chosen from throughout the nearly 100 year history of the genre, and will critique the science content of these works in light of our current understanding. The goals of our discussion will be to sort out fact and fantasy, and to identify some ideas which may be possible in principle, but for which the technology is not yet available. Laboratory investigation of the relevant physical phenomena will be performed whenever feasible. Topics for discussion will include the nature of space-time and the possibilities of faster-than-light space travel and time travel; the fundamental interactions and the design of "tractor beams", "force fields" and "directed energy" weapons; the conditions necessary for life and the search for extraterrestrial life forms; artificial intelligence and robotics; advanced medical technology, human-computer interaction, and human life in the future. The final week of the course will be devoted to short presentations by the students on topics of their own choosing. The full group will meet once each week for two hours of discussion and viewing of film excerpts. Additional time will be scheduled as needed for individual or small group investigations in the laboratory and for viewing of full-length films.

Seminars offered for Spring Mini 2

This course will introduce some of the modern mathematically oriented software available. After covering the basic operation of a specific software package, specific case studies will be considered to illustrate the strengths and applicability of the package. The software and topics covered will include introductions to: Mathematica: Rule based evaluation and applications; Maple: Symbolic algebra and calculus; MatLab: Numerical linear algebra; LaTex: Technical word processing. This course will be taught in a computer lab and the course grade will be based upon graded homework assignments.

33-101 A4 Astrophysics - Black Holes, Cosmology and Supernovae
Instructor: Robert Nichol; Enrollment: 16

Astronomy and Astrophysics is enjoying a golden era of discovery. Nearly every day now, there appears to be a new and exciting discovery "splashed" over the front pages of the news. Of all these discoveries however, none are more thrilling than the three highlighted above: black holes, cosmology and supernovae. As part of this mini course, we will spend half the class time watching the excellent PBS video series centered on these three topics. The remainder of the time will be devoted to recitation sessions where the students will have an opportunity to raise detailed questions about the material seen in the videos. Moreover, the lecturer will pose questions directly related to these three exciting topics and have students discuss their solutions in class. The objective of this course is to expose the students to the depth and excitement within Astrophysics as well as stimulate their brains!

33-101 B4 Elementary Particles -- The Building Blocks of Matter
Instructors: Gregg Franklin and Curtis Meyer; Enrollment: 6

This seminar will discuss how matter is built from quarks, gluons and leptons, and how this is measured. Discussions, reading and videos will cover topics such the structure of the proton, particles/ antiparticles, particle physics experiments, radiation, and relativistic energy/momentum conservation. Students will perform a simple experiment with radioactive sources, and also write some software to analyze data from an actual particle physics experiment. Programming experience in either C or FORTRAN is required. Upon completion, students should understand how matter is put together from its most basic constituents, as well as what is not currently understood and what people hope to learn from particle physics experiments.

03-101 B4 Proteins in Diseases
Instructor: William Brown and Amy Kennedy; Enrollment: 9

This will be a discussion course with readings on how proteins function in various diseases. Students will be given a list of various diseases. Each student will research a disease and give a class presentation.

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