Master of Interdisciplinary Studies

This concentration combines graduate-level education courses with science technology courses in a liberal arts setting, providing graduate education to those who teach others - including the public - about science. Educators include science museum curators, zoo and parks department staff, consultants training on new biotechnological methods, community college instructors, technical college instructors, medical science liaisons, science writers, science journalists/bloggers, tech support specialists and others.

All courses are 3 credit hours unless otherwise noted.

M.I.S. Requirements
13 credit hours

• IDIS-D 501 - Humanities Seminar (3-4 credit hours)
• IDIS-D 502 - Social Sciences Seminar (3-4 credit hours)
• IDIS-D 503 - Natural Sciences Seminar (3-4 credit hours)
• IDIS-D 510 - Introduction to Graduate Liberal Studies (4 credit hours)

Concentration Requirements
15 credit hours

15 credit hours of electives, including no fewer than 2 courses (6 cr.hr.) in Science Education (EDUC) courses and no fewer than 2 courses (6 cr.hr.) concentrating in one area of science (AHLT, ANAT, BIOL, CHEM, GEOG, GEOL, MICR, PHYS, PLSC, ZOOL).

Examples graduate courses in Science Education

• EDUC-Q 550 - Science, Technology, and Society (STS) for a Changing World
• EDUC-E 518 - Workshop in General Elementary Education
• EDUC-Q 590 - Independent Study in Science Education (1-3 credit hours)
• EDUC-S 518 - Advanced Study in the Teaching of Secondary School Science (For science teachers)
• EDUC-E 516 - Workshop in Elementary Science (1-3 credit hours)
• EDUC-E 548 - Advance Science Teaching in Elementary Schools
• EDUC-S 512 - Workshop in Secondary Education (1-6 credit hours)

Examples of graduate courses Natural Sciences

• BIOL-L 579 - Community Ecology
• IDIS-D 513 / PLSC-B 364 - Summer Flowering Plants (5 credit hours)
• IDIS-D 513 / PLSC-B 373 - Plant Growth and Development (5 credit hours)
• IDIS-D 513 / CHEM-C 317 - Equilibria and Electrochemistry
• IDIS-D 513 / CHEM-C 364 - Introduction to Basic Measurements
• IDIS-D 513 / CHEM-C 486 - Biological Chemistry Laboratory (2 credit hours)
• IDIS-D 513 / GEOG-G 338 - Geographic Information Sciences
• IDIS-D 513 / GEOL-G 334 - Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy (4 credit hours)
• IDIS-D 513 / GEOL-G 417 - Optical Mineralogy
• IDIS-D 513 / BIOL-L 313 - Cell Biology Laboratory
• IDIS-D 513 / BIOL-L 319 - Genetics Laboratory
• IDIS-D 513 / BIOL-L 474 - Laboratory in Ecology (2 credit hours)
• IDIS-D 513 / BIOL-L 303 - Field Biology
• IDIS-D 513 / MICR-M 315 - Microbiology: Laboratory (2 credit hours)
• IDIS-D 513 / PHYS-P 418 - Laboratory in Comparative Animal Physiology (2 credit hours)
• IDIS-D 513 / ZOOL-Z 383 - Laboratory in Entomology (2 credit hours)

Graduate Project/Thesis
6 credit hours

• IDIS-D 601 - Graduate Project/Thesis on topic investigation or applying methods of science education or science technology
• IDIS-D 602 - Graduate Project/Thesis on topic investigation or applying methods of science education or science technology