Innovate an interdisciplinary undergraduate curriculum by integrating fi-sci pattern mapping into courses across the university.

Fi-sci is an analytic framework that involves locating the pattern of a scientific phenomenon in a work of fiction. For instance, astrobiologists commonly refer to a circumstellar habitable area as the Goldilocks Zone, because the science and the fairy tale share a pattern: they both describe conditions that are "just right." Click here to explore more examples of pattern mapping across literature and STEM.

With “plug-and-play,” portable course content (PCC). PCC is a ready-to-go cluster of lessons that can be interpolated into pre-existing courses in any discipline. One type of PCC is the micro-credential badge. This is a mini course whose completion earns students badges: digital representations of competencies gained. What sets fi-sci micro-credentials apart from existing micro-credentials available to the FIU community is that the former intentionally interweave literature and STEM into an interdisciplinary thread. Bundled in adaptable, self-contained units, intersections of fiction and science can transform the undergraduate classroom experience.

We learn by analogy: understanding something new by connecting it to something already familiar. An interdisciplinary curriculum is like a welcome banner, encouraging visitors to make new, creative connections.

The PCC model gets interdisciplinarity into places where it would otherwise not exist. Without changing majors, declaring a new minor, or incurring excess credits hours, STEM students in fi-sci badge-adopting courses will have the opportunity to not only interface with the humanities, but assimilate humanistic approaches into their chosen disciplines. Whether they encounter the badge in a humanities course or a STEM course, STEM majors will gain exposure to the humanities that is not perfunctory, but rather fully entwined with their subject of study. Learning for humanities majors improves as well: they see their subject in a new light and observe how it intersects with other fields – what it can offer to the understanding of other subjects. This will enable them to discover novel applications for their humanistic expertise, which can translate into innovative job opportunities.

Over the course of our pilot Fi-Sci Institute, fellows design original micro-credential badges at the intersections of literature and STEM. Fellows participate in four expert-led workshops with guidance about format and ideas for content:

Workshop A | James Phelan and Rhona Trauvitch: Fiction's Rhetorical Role in Conceptualizations of Science

Workshop B | Bridgette Cram and Eliana Guzman: The Micro-Credentialing Process

Workshop C | Daniel Aureliano Newman: Narrativity in Data Visualization

Workshop D | Adrian Bejan: Design in Nature: Form and Flow across Disciplines

To receive individualized support for their badge's Canvas shell development, each team schedules a consultation about instructional technology and design with Associate Director of Instructional Learning Technology Maikel Right. In Spring 2023, each fellow will implement their new micro-credential badge by aligning it to one of their courses.

You, if you're an FIU faculty member interested in cross-disciplinary, cutting-edge, creative pedagogy and are willing to integrate your newly designed badge into one of your Spring 2023 courses.

Via Zoom during Fall 2022.