Built around community, Science One offers a multi-disciplinary experience that is rarely available in mainstream science courses at UBC. Its integrated, enriched curriculum, along with its cohort based approach, make it a challenging but rewarding program, in which student learning is supported in many different ways.
Whether you want to embrace your passion for science, satisfy your curiosity for scientific research, or fulfill your desire for an intellectual challenge in a supportive environment, there are many reasons why you should consider joining Science One!
An Integrated Approach to Learning Science
In Science One, you will develop a perspective about science based on the integration of ideas and information from different disciplines. Unlike the traditional mainstream approach, where foundational first-year science content is taught across multiple courses, in Science One science is presented as one subject, made up of core disciplines that interact together within one course, revealing insightful connections instead of fragmented knowledge.
By attending each other's classes, Science One professors dynamically shape your curriculum to integrate ideas and applications from different disciplines and create a stimulating learning environment. Through a variety of activities (class discussions, homework assignments, group projects, etc.) designed to develop both technical skills and critical thinking, you are encouraged to ask questions, explore and evaluate claims based on evidence, and address problems from a multi-disciplinary standpoint. In a nutshell, in Science One you learn what it means to think like a scientist!
Science often intersects between different fields in interesting ways.
I learned that solving complex problems requires a combination of multiple disciplines and that different scientific disciplines have more connections than initially thought.
Community and Learning Environment
Science One is built around community, a place where you can immerse yourself in science. Being a small, cohort based program, Science One is a place to meet people who want more out of their science education.
Our Community
There are about 75 students and 8 instructors in Science One—a better student to teacher ratio than most high schools, but also a much better ratio than in most mainstream first-year science courses at UBC! Professors are supported by a team of Teaching Assistants who are enthusiastic Science One alumni with a passion to help fellow students. You will also get to meet other alumni through the Science One Alumni club and the Science One Wellness Tutorial group.
Our Learning Environment
All your classes are in one classroom, which means you won't be scrambling to make it to your next class. Like to study in a group? There is a dedicated study space for that. Like to study alone quietly? There is a dedicated study space for that too. No matter what, Science One has the right place for you, and you’ll never be battling for a study spot in the library or studying in a cafeteria.
As a Science One student, you’ll share work and study spaces with your instructors, who attend one another’s classes to dynamically shape your curriculum. Moreover, most of their offices open directly to your study space so it is easier to go to office hours. All this is where Science One shines - you’re all sharing the exact same experience, so it’s easy to get the help you need when you need it.
Working together in groups helped a lot in understanding some of the concepts--other students can explain concepts in a way that's easier to understand.
An Enriched Experience
Science One is the only first-year science program at UBC that offers an enriched multi-disciplinary experience. Its integrated format allows for deeper explorations of science and stimulating intellectual challenges, but it also offers unique experiences that are hard to come by, if not impossible, in mainstream science classes, such as the opportunity to carry out independent research projects, attend seminars by guest speakers, and participate in student conferences and field trips.
Extra Classes and Tutorials
With its extended timetable, Science One offers several opportunities to explore science at a deeper level, from discussions around the nature of science and what it means to be a scientist, to classes in coding and scientific computing. In the weekly tutorials, you gain a deeper understanding of the course material by working in groups on larger problems and hands-on examples.
Having knowledge of computer simulations is beneficial in itself, the tutorial only furthered that by widening my perspectives.
Research Projects
An integral part of Science One are the independent research projects that students carry out throughout the year. The term projects are an opportunity for you to be mentored by one of the faculty in the program. You’ll learn what it’s like to do “real” science and prepare for research positions later in your undergraduate career. Outstanding Science One projects get placed in the UBC cIRcle database, the UBC official repository for research and teaching materials.
The term project was an excellent chance to practise my science communication skills and really humanized science as the passionate, explorative endeavour it should be. Though it was very difficult getting it off the ground, the final paper was something that I had a personal stake in. I got a feeling for the difficulties encountered in the scientific method.
Guest Lecturers
Science One brings in an impressive range of guest speakers, from high profile academics and cutting-edge researchers to professional science communicators. Their guest lectures will provide you with a unique opportunity to hear what’s happening in science and connect with professionals and researchers at UBC and beyond.
For example, in the past we had the honour of hosting Prof. Neil Turok, former director of the Perimeter Institute, Dr. Jennifer Gardy, currently Deputy Director for the Institute for Disease Modeling at the Bill & Melinda Foundation, Prof. Mark Halpern from the WMAP and CHIME collaborations, Prof. Catherine Johnson, UBC Professor of Geophysics and member of the National Academy of Science, Prof. Marco Marra, Distinguished Scientist at the BC Cancer Research Institute and UBC Canada Research Chair in Genome Science and Officer of the Order of Canada, Prof. Mark MacLachlan, Dean pro tem of UBC Faculty of Science and professor of Chemistry and Canada Research Chair in Supramolecular Materials, to name a few.
The guest lectures were always an event to look forward to and an opportunity to see science in action, whether in research, business or communication.
Student Conferences
Ever wondered what an academic conference may look like? In Science One you will participate in two student conferences, one in each term. This is where you will present the findings of your research projects and experience what it means to participate in a real scientific conference, with multiple presentation sessions, Q&A sessions, and conversations about science over lunch and coffee breaks!
Field Trips
Each year Science One students take part in one or two overnight trips, and sometimes other shorter field trips near or on the UBC Vancouver campus. In September, Science One students participate in a two-day team-building adventure to get to know each other and take part in fun and engaging activities. In March, they attend the Term 2 conference, which usually takes place at the Loon Lake Lodge and Retreat Centre in Maple Ridge.
Support for Your Learning
Science One is not a soft option, it demands commitment and dedication. Its enriched curriculum and extended timetable make it an intense and challenging program, but stimulating and rewarding at the same time. Its integrated approach and strong community can support you in many ways, not only academically.
The highly coordinated nature of the program brings small but significant advantages beyond its pedagogical impact. For example, it allows for some flexibility in the scheduling of major assessments—the chances of having two exams on the same day is much lower in Science One than mainstream courses!
There are many opportunities to get help outside of class time in Science One. The large teaching team, with two professors per discipline and several teaching assistants, has many office hours scheduled throughout the week. Our learning environment, with a dedicated classroom and study space, makes it easier to meet up with classmates and form study groups.
When studying in a small, cohort-based program, you build strong bonds with your classmates and learn to work together, building opportunities to both strengthen your learning and develop leadership skills. It is also easier to connect with your professors – going to office hours and asking questions becomes less intimidating if your professor knows you by name!
Science One has also a very active alumni community. Upon entering the program you’ll have the opportunity to connect with them and, depending on availability, you can be matched to a senior student mentor. Student mentors don’t provide specific academic support but they can help you navigate the challenges of your first year at university, and after Science One they may even help you navigate the rest of your undergrad!
Dedicated scholarships
Our program has five scholarships that are only available to Science One students. The awards are adjudicated by the program Director, in consultation with the Science One faculty. More details on the Science One dedicated scholarships.
Impact Beyond First Year
A study1 published in The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in 2012 showed that Science One students do better in some later courses than other students who entered UBC with comparable high school grades but took mainstream first-year science courses. The paper’s authors suggest the stimulating and supportive environment offered by the program provides unique learning opportunities. For example, in Science One all academic subjects are taught at a high level, and the program’s research projects give students scientific research experience, which can open up research opportunities right out of first year. Moreover, Science One offers a community that can support students in many different ways. On top of it, students have the opportunity to get strong reference letters from their professors because they actually get to know their students as a person.
Dryden, N.; Leander, C.; Louis-Martinez, D.; Nakahara, H.; MacLean, M.; and Waltham, C. (2012) "Are We Doing Any Good? A Value-Added Analysis of UBC’s Science One Program," The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Vol. 3 : Iss. 2 , Article 4.