The course SCIENCE 1A03 “Investigating Science: Opportunities and Experiences” was offered inaugurally in Fall 2014 to ~150 Level 1 students in the Faculty of Science, and it has been offered again during the Fall 2015 term. The goals of SCIENCE 1A03 include the following:
- engaging students with different fields of scientific research at the university;
- introducing students to scientific methodologies, reasoning and thought processes; and
- developing skills applicable to their undergraduate degrees and beyond.
To help achieve these goals, Level 1 students are peer-mentored by upper-level students in a parallel course, SCIENCE 3A03 (see also abstract titled “The Impact of Peer Mentoring on Mentors in a Novel Course at McMaster University” by Haqqee, Huang, Goff and Knorr).
The aim of our pedagogical research study is to understand the SCIENCE 1A03’s impact on students and their perception of this course. Through pre- and post-surveys, and follow-up interviews, we are analysing how SCIENCE 1A03 has changed students’ attitudes and approaches towards science - and how these may be different from discipline to discipline.
