Multidisciplinary Studies (BA.MDS)

The Multidisciplinary Studies (MDS) major provides students with broad exposure to four key liberal arts fields: English, history/social sciences, mathematics, and science. While open to all students, the MDS major is particularly designed for students seeking to become elementary education teachers. (Such students must also complete the courses for Elementary Education Licensure .)

The MDS major is overseen by the Faculty Assembly Committee on Teacher Education.

Educational objectives:

1. Students will demonstrate knowledge of appropriate content in the areas of English Language Arts, particularly the conventions of written English and the dimensions of quality writing and types of writing, as well as a wide variety of quality, age-appropriate literature across genres, and strategies for textual analysis. Furthermore, students will practice appropriate pedagogy for teaching writing as well as textual analysis of literature.
2. Students will demonstrate knowledge of historical and social science content, concepts, and skills in the areas of historical thinking; history; cultural geography; diversity, unity, identity, and interdependence; and citizenship as delineated in current national professional standards.
3. Students will demonstrate knowledge of essential numeracy concepts and their development, as well as content in the areas of number and operations; algebra and functions; geometry in the areas of numbers and operations, geometry and measurement; and data analysis, statistics, and probability.
4. Students will demonstrate knowledge of scientific content, concepts and skills in the areas of development of students' scientific inquiry process; life sciences; physical sciences; Earth, environmental, and atmospheric sciences
5. Students will demonstrate content knowledge in depth for one of four liberal arts content areas.

Note: For students seeking licensure, no courses for the MDS major may be taken on a pass/no pass basis.