The Future of Education

In 2003, the National Research Council of the United States in their BIO 2010 report and later in 2009, the Association of American Medical Colleges & Howard Hughes Medical Institute each called for increased interdisciplinary education in the natural sciences at the undergraduate level. However, the number of B.A. or B.S. granting institutions in the United States offering introductory science education for majors are few.

In 2007, the faculty from the W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and Scripps colleges, part of The Claremont Colleges in California began teaching an introductory science program for entering first year students. The goal was to jump-start the process of interdisciplinary thinking for students majoring in the natural sciences. One year of biology, one year of chemistry and one year of physics have been combined to form the year-long program known as the Accelerated Integrated Science Sequence or AISS. In its seventh year, AISS has spawned a biology-chemistry introductory sequence, new interdisciplinary upper division courses and a popular new interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary major. The retention rate in the sciences of students completing AISS is more than 90% vs. less than 50% for the national average of students completing the three introductory sciences separately. Compared with similar science majors who follow the traditional separate introductory sciences path, AISS students are more than twice as likely to major in a combined or interdisciplinary science major and are more than twice as likely to achieve science or collegiate honors. This paper reports on the academic features, participants (faculty, staff and students), and outcomes of AISS. We also offer suggestions for scaling the program for other institutions.