An “Interdisciplinary Teaching and Research Action Committee” facilitates communication and collaboration among all science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. Meetings allow disciplinary representatives to discuss the details of their discipline’s curriculum, including recent and/or planned changes and issues related to the three thematic foci.

The three topical foci include:

• Integrating research and teaching –  The focus is on incorporating more original research as well as inquiry-based, investigative experiences and modules into the curriculum.

• Teaching STEM in context –  The focus is on conveying the excitement, appeal, and significance of each STEM discipline to each other (e.g., biology to the physical and mathematical sciences, and vice versa).

• Developing interdisciplinary modules, courses, and/or curricula – The focus is on rendering disciplinary boundaries more transparent. By overlapping subject material and finding unifying themes among courses, students better appreciate the contributions and relevance of each discipline.

Committee meetings and discussions are based on readings from the pedagogical and primary literature, attendance at educational conferences, and Committee field trips/visits to other institutions that have successfully implemented interdisciplinary curricular initiatives.

The goals for this Committee are to:

• Become a clearinghouse of models of “What Works” in interdisciplinary undergraduate science education.

• Discuss and synthesize those best-practice models in the context of the Truman and community college environments.

• Facilitate effective dissemination and discussion of curricular models and issues by organizing focused retreats for the entire science, technology, engineering and mathematics community.