Application Of Team Teaching Concepts In An Integrated Science And Technology Program

A unique baccalaureate degree program called Integrated Science and Technology (ISAT) was developed at James Madison University in the early 1990's in response to industry need for university graduates with a broad knowledge of science and technology and excellent analytical and problem-solving skills. The goal was to produce university graduates with the ability to manage a broad range of technologies and solve science, technology and engineering related problems. A second important goal was to attract and retain students, including minorities, who ordinarily would not have selected an engineering program. Accomplishing both goals from a pedagogical viewpoint required a paradigm shift in the way science and engineering courses are traditionally taught in universities. It required the design of interdisciplinary courses with careful and deliberate integration of concepts from a broad range of disciplines of engineering science and technology. These courses were such that they involved more than one faculty and therefore required some form of team teaching. In this paper, we discuss some of the merits and demerits of the team teaching concepts that have been employed in some of the ISAT courses.