ACS Reform of Introductory Science Courses for Non-Science Majors

Mentoring Activities

In the context of this ACS Science Reform program, mentoring activities are intended to be multi-dimensional, going beyond the usual one-on-one relationship where a more experienced person offers advice, counsel or guidance to someone with less experience.

Mentoring is used here in its broadest sense to mean collegial acts of support and encouragement to

• share information and models
• try new ideas
• evaluate current introductory science courses for non-majors
• design new courses/modules
• dream about the possibilities and to pursue those dreams
• engage your colleagues in dialogue about science reform and the needs of non-major learners
• engage in individual and collective reflection on your own teaching.

While mentoring activities may be one-on-one, we encourage small groups of faculty to agree to work together intentionally on a specific agenda/topic, for an agreed upon amount of time.

The primary goal of this aspect of the ACS Science Reform Program is to promote mentoring of natural science junior faculty at the post-mid-tenure review stage and to foster collaboration and discussion among all faculty teaching introductory science courses both within and among ACS member institutions. To promote mentoring activities on our member campuses, there is limited funding for mini-grants of up to $500 per grant year for each ACS institution to sponsor faculty mentoring activities as a means of fostering the reform of non-majors science education. These mini-grants are made possible by a grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation of Los Angeles.

Examples of mentoring include but are not limited to:

• Facilitator Visitation - experience ACS facilitator or an expert from outside the ACS system travels to an ACS institution to meet with natural science faculty to discuss/present a topic relevant to science reform. A list of available ACS facilitators is available from your chief academic officer.
• Individual Visitation - junior faculty travel to an ACS institution to observe an established model course/program.
• Reciprocal Visitation - for those institutions within driving distance, teams of faculty visit each other’s campuses to observe existing programs and foster collaboration on science reform.
• On campus group meetings/seminars - natural science faculty within an ACS institution meet for presentations and/or discussion regarding non-majors science reform.

Questions about the mini-grants may be directed to Linda McNally, Biology Department at Davidson College.

Use the following links for more detailed information about this program and examples of activities.

Mentoring Mini-Grant Description
Mentoring Mini-Grant Proposal Process
Mentoring Mini-Grant Proposal Cover Sheet (PDF)
Mini-Grant Final Reporting Process
Examples of Discussion Topics
Teaching Squares

ACS Science Reform Program Homepage

This program is supported by a grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation of Los Angeles