The course "Integrating Science, Technology, and Mathematics" is designed to replace Physical Science as a general interest science course when Waycross Colleges changes to semesters.

The conversion from the quarter to semester systems gives us as mathematics and science educators an opportunity to enact recent advancements in the teaching of mathematics and science, curriculum interdependence, learning styles, and collaborative learning.

For example, some selected quotes from the AMATYC (American Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges) Crossroads in Mathematics: Standards for Introductory Mathematics Before Calculus are:

• Students will develop the view that mathematics is a growing discipline, interrelated with human culture, and understand its connections to other disciplines.
• Mathematics faculty will foster interactive learning through student writing, reading, speaking, and collaborative activities so that students can learn to work effectively in groups and communicate about mathematics both orally and in writing.
• Mathematics faculty will model the use of appropriate technology in the teaching of mathematics so that students can benefit from the opportunities it presents as a medium of instruction.

Inquiry is not equivalent to a laboratory experience: inquiry-based science means that students ask real questions - not just rhetorical ones posed by the instructor or a textbook - and they perform real investigations - not just exercises in which students are judged by their ability to accurately reproduce what others have done before.

The implications of inquiry-based science on a curriculum are tremendous. Course objectives must be rewritten to reflect process over content, and time must be allotted for open- ended activities instead of employing only a straight lecture format. The structure of Science, Technology, and Mathematics will reflect this.