Science Scholars Learning Community: a two-course, writing-intensive, team-taught interdisciplinary cluster comparing scientific and pseudoscientific thinking¶

Design · All designs
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q2 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

A six-semester-hour learning community in which two newly created courses, neither counting toward any major, explored the nature of science by comparing scientific fields and thinking with pseudoscience and science fiction. Students received "the same grade for both courses", both instructors read all major papers, and a substantial grade component came from writing assignments and "a group research project that culminated in a large team-run debate". Faculty met regularly to connect each class period to the previous and subsequent ones.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

Team-taught by instructors from different departments to expose students to different perspectives on scientific and critical thinking
Regular faculty meetings to maintain integration across class periods

Constraints¶

Designed for selected scholarship students with strong high school science and mathematics backgrounds
Neither course counts for credit in any major

Target Learners¶

first-year undergraduate science and mathematics scholarship students

Learning Goals¶

scientific reasoning
critical thinking
scientific writing

Claims¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

Franz, T. M., & Green, K. H. (2013). The impact of an interdisciplinary learning community course on pseudoscientific reasoning in first-year science students. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 13(5), 90–105.

Page metadata

Field	Value
`type`	`design`
`id`	`science-scholars-lc-cluster-design`
`title`	`Science Scholars Learning Community: a two-course, writing-intensive, team-taught interdisciplinary cluster comparing scientific and pseudoscientific thinking`
`description`	`A six-semester-hour learning community in which two newly created courses, neither counting toward any major, explored the nature of science by comparing scientific fields and thinking with pseudoscience and science f...`
`status`	`review`
`generated`	by `process:settle-candidates` on `2026-11-03`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
`sources`	1 — `franz-2013`

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