The news of science, a colloquium-style course designed to promote lifelong scientific awareness

Abstract

It is generally agreed that informed citizens in a republic such as the United States should maintain broad awareness of current developments in science and technology. This paper describes a colloquium-style course, The News of Science, designed to stimulate in undergraduate students a desire for such awareness, and to present a convenient means for doing so. The course, which has been offered since 2000 at Oregon State University, requires students to read Science magazine and to present oral reports on articles of their choosing. Each student in the course is required to read all of the articles selected for oral presentation, and to contribute toward discussion of each talk. © 2007 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.