To better prepare undergraduates to succeed in a scientifically and technologically advancing world, the instructors in Columbia's Frontiers of Science course seek to teach students how to think like scientists—to employ their analytic skills when confronted with a challenge and to engage with the cutting-edge research topics of the day. To this end, instructor and professor of astronomy David Helfand and the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching & Learning created Scientific Habits of Mind, an interactive textbook that provides concepts and examples of the abilities the course hopes to develop in students. FoSO users have access to the full interactive textbook; you may offer readings from Habits to your own students or use the text as background reading and a source of ideas for teaching.
View Scientific Habits of Mind