Teaching Outside the Discipline: A STEM-related Course in a Non-STEM Curricular Area

Most of us who teach within the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) curricular areas expect to have teaching assignments that directly align with these disciplines. A teaching assignment in a curricular area outside of STEM is much less common. One focus of this paper is to describe a course that is taught by our physics faculty entitled Changing Views of the Universe. Changing Views is a course that is part of our general education core of courses in a curricular area entitled Traditions that Shape the Western World. Courses taught within this curricular area are typically taught by such departments as anthropology, art history, communication, government, history, and philosophy. Students who enroll in this course are non-science majors who are looking to fulfill their general education requirements towards graduation in this particular content area. Because the course is filled with non-science majors, the often technical course content must be presented in a non-mathematical way. Since the course content includes just about everything from the Big Bang to our present-day understanding of the cosmos, teaching these topics without much mathematics presents many unique challenges. A brief overview of the curriculum developed for the Changing Views course will be provided. Particular attention will be placed on some of the unique ways a writing-based approach has been implemented with the ultimate goal of enhancing of student learning. Emphasis here will be placed on a short paper activity designed to elicit student understanding of key topics addressed in class. In addition, strategies such as rubric development and time-saving grading techniques related to the use of these writing-based approaches will be shared.