Herin Greta Ann, Lewis Gwendolyn M
Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ. 2024 Aug 31;22(3):A167-A176. doi: 10.59390/PVEC2816. eCollection 2024 Spring.
We sought to enrich our neuroscience curriculum by developing a study abroad program that would address curricular goals and requirements at several levels. "Neuroscience and Technology in Germany" was designed to include a diversity of participants, integrate intercultural competence in participants, fulfill university core curriculum requirements, build on the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) foundation of our major, and fulfill major electives. We also hoped that it would serve as a synthetic experience allowing students to integrate foundational coursework with novel ideas and real-world research applications. We developed an itinerary that balanced multiple activities to meet those goals. We included scientific visits, STEM-focused museums, and significant cultural and historical sites. Scientific visits covered a range of topics in the field of neuroscience including cellular and pharmacological neuroscience, development, cognition, mental illness, artificial intelligence, and the mind-body problem. Pre-visit academic activities included review lectures on general topics (e.g., visual system), scaffolded literature reading, and discussion of previous literature from our hosts. Post-visit academic activities integrated previous foundational curriculum with new research. Cultural historical activities encouraged comparison between a student's home culture, predominant North American culture, and German culture. The first iteration was successful academically and logistically. In post-program surveys, 87.5% of students felt the program had met the learning objectives 16). Students agreed that scientific visits and preparatory lectures were relevant to the learning objectives, together with several cultural and historical visits. Students responded positively to an outing to the mountains and found a concentration camp memorial visit moving. They nearly universally reported that the program led to their personal growth. Students did not find several guided tours of STEM-related sites were relevant to our learning objectives, and opinions were mixed as to the balance of structured vs. unstructured time, balance of scientific vs. historical/cultural activities, and how to schedule free time. Students asked for more scientific background preparation, so we modified the upcoming iteration to include a "Neuroscience Boot Camp" prior to departure. We also selected guided tours more carefully and modified scheduling according to student feedback.
我们试图通过开展一项海外留学项目来丰富我们的神经科学课程，该项目将在多个层面上满足课程目标和要求。“德国的神经科学与技术”项目旨在吸引多样化的参与者，将跨文化能力融入参与者之中，满足大学核心课程要求，以我们专业的科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）基础为依托，并满足专业选修课要求。我们还希望它能成为一种综合性体验，让学生将基础课程与新颖的想法及现实世界的研究应用相结合。我们制定了一份行程安排，平衡了多项活动以实现这些目标。我们安排了科学访问、以STEM为重点的博物馆参观，以及重要的文化和历史景点游览。科学访问涵盖了神经科学领域的一系列主题，包括细胞和药理神经科学、发育、认知、精神疾病、人工智能以及身心问题。访问前的学术活动包括关于一般主题（如视觉系统）的复习讲座、有指导的文献阅读，以及对我们的接待方之前发表的文献进行讨论。访问后的学术活动将之前的基础课程与新的研究相结合。文化历史活动鼓励学生比较其本土文化、占主导地位的北美文化和德国文化。该项目的首次实施在学术和后勤方面都很成功。在项目结束后的调查中，87.5%的学生认为该项目达到了学习目标（16）。学生们一致认为科学访问和预备讲座与学习目标相关，还有几次文化和历史参观也是如此。学生们对一次山区郊游反应积极，并认为参观集中营纪念馆很感人。他们几乎一致表示该项目促进了他们的个人成长。学生们认为几次与STEM相关的景点导游游览与我们的学习目标无关，对于结构化时间与非结构化时间的平衡、科学活动与历史/文化活动的平衡以及如何安排自由时间，看法不一。学生们要求提供更多科学背景知识准备，因此我们对即将到来的下一阶段进行了修改，在出发前增加了一个“神经科学集训营”。我们还更仔细地挑选了导游游览，并根据学生反馈调整了日程安排。
