Science program's popularity grows

Three years after the University launched the integrated science sequence, the program has seen participation nearly double as more students choose its interdisciplinary offerings over more traditional science classes.

"We are looking for, and attracting, students who are deeply interested in the sciences," physics professor William Bialek, who teaches part of the sequence, said in an email. "We're aiming at future scientists — but scientists of all flavors, from physics to biology to computer science, chemistry, etc."

The program filled to capacity this year with a freshman class of 49 students. By contrast, previous years' classes enrolled between 20 and 30 students on average.

Additionally, attrition from the two-year program, which has been high in past years, declined significantly this year, with fewer than 10 students dropping the sequence. Bialek said this may mean students now participating in the sequence are better suited to it. "We really are doing a better job of helping students find the right match," he said.

Launched in fall 2004, the program seeks to "give the students a view of the natural sciences as a whole," Bialek said. "There is something to be gained by presenting everything together ... we wanted to give the students the benefit of seeing how everything is connected."

Ecology and evolutionary biology professor Leonid Kruglyak, who also helps teach the course, attributed this year's increased enrollment to "a concerted effort to make the program more visible."

Over the summer, brochures describing the program were mailed to incoming freshmen, and professors who teach the sequence hosted an open house during orientation week. "It's very hard to reach freshmen, since they aren't here until it's almost too late," Bialek said. "We need to get the word out to incoming freshmen so they have enough data to make informed decisions."

Word of mouth may have also played a role, Kruglyak said. This year, for the first time, members of the sophomore, junior and senior classes have all taken the sequence and can spread the word of its benefits.

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Despite this year's increased numbers, Kruglyak said he does not expect the program's growth to continue in the future. "The size of the freshman class is capped at around 50 [based on] the available lab space," he said. He added that, thanks to increased publicity, he believes that all students who would be interested in the sequence are now taking it.

Bialek said he thinks the 50-student cap is ideal. "If things get too [big]," he said, "it gets hard to maintain the same sense of personal interaction."

Tim Campion '11, who is taking the sequence this year, said he appreciates the close friendships that develop among students in the program. "What really got me into integrated was that I realized that it was going to be a course that everyone was going to be really committed to," he said. "There's a sense of community and enthusiasm. Several people in the class told me that one of the major reasons that they came to Princeton is because they heard about the integrated science class, and they wanted to take that."

Other schools are also experimenting with interdisciplinary science programs, Bialek said. He added, though, that he thinks Princeton is ahead of the curve. "What we are doing is the most radical," he said.

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Freshmen start the sequence with the double-credit course called CHM 213/COS 231/MOL 231/PHY 231: An Integrated, Quantitative Introduction to the Natural Sciences I. They attend lecture five days a week and labs twice a week — a workload that many find very challenging.

"I go through love-hate cycles with this class," Lily Fu '11, who is also enrolled in the program, said. "The stuff we're learning is fascinating, but it's so complicated that it takes a long time to see what's going on." Nevertheless, she added that she would "probably take it again if I had the chance."

Bialek said he thinks the integrated sequence's success may eventually influence how other subjects are taught. "I think that we have learned some things in teaching these courses that lead us to ask questions about the way we teach other courses," he said. "You could imagine that the result will be other kinds of integrated introductory courses."

Princeton also offers a humanities sequence, which was launched in 2003 as an interdisciplinary introduction to Western culture. Unlike integrated science, however, the humanities sequence is a one-year, four-course commitment.