Rockman et al (REA) was contracted by the California College of the Arts (CCA) to conduct an evaluation of various course development and delivery processes, and instructional and assessment elements associated with the CCA’s Water: Exploring Science in the Studio project. The broad objective of this project was to increase the ability of CCA students to interact with scientists within the context of a series of four design courses. Using water as a unifying investigative topic, four CCA faculty partnered with four scientists to examine the topic of water through the lens of sustainability, materials, and social justice in fine arts, architecture, humanities, and design studio courses. CCA also hopes to develop and disseminate new pedagogical approaches to more effectively deliver science content to its students. REA developed and administrated online surveys to four CCA art faculty and four visiting science faculty who collaborated on the development and delivery of these courses.

Selected Findings:
All 
four
 faculty
 were 
very
 confident
 
teaching
 a 
course
 that
 integrated
 general 
education
 content and were 
also 
very
 confident
 
working
 with 
a
 faculty 
member
 outside
 their
primary
 discipline.


 Faculty felt that 
incorporating
 science
 in
 the 
class
 improved 
the
quality
 of
 the
 teaching 
experience, and
 better 
prepared 
students
t to
 apply 
studio 
skills
in 
other
 fields.