The Science Forward seminar succeeded in establishing its objectives, which are to help its students become interested in Science, especially at a business school and expand their inquiry and critical thinking skills. With the help of Dr. Greer and Jake, the experiences gained from the seminar established precedents that can be used in future endeavors beyond science.

Regarding the science lessons, Dr. Greer’s lectures on the various legal drugs exposed me to the harsh effects that can result from over consumption. I never considered caffeine to be a “real” drug like aspirin, yet it is a stimulant that inhibits adenosine from its receptors in the brain, preventing tiredness. Creating soap and aspirin improved listening skills and encouraged us to follow directions precisely. It is interesting to know exactly how and why drugs like these work, and why their importance is constantly reinforced in society. Dr. Greer’s lectures on health care innovations and her diagrams on the board demonstrated for example, how penicillin was created and why various chemical reactions occur. Her mini lab experiments in the class left me mildly impressed. The experiment with the animal’s blood and hydrogen peroxide was very captivating until I smelled it. I instantly regretted sitting in the front that day.

Establishing how to define and use credible sources allowed us to develop interpretation skills that can be used in future research projects. Knowing how to use Chicago Manual Style, would aid us in preventing plagiarism and fostering professionality.  Designing the Powerpoint slide for the poster taught me how to use grid lines that ensured that it was well formatted. Presenting our project multiple times in front of the class allowed us to effortlessly present during STEAM and improve our public speaking skills, but it honestly felt a little tedious. We could have used that time to actually work on the projects in class instead of doing them mainly on our own time.

Working on two simultaneous projects improved our multitasking skills and did not limit us in terms of creativity. However, I would advise against this in the future. While admirable that the projects were broken up into parts completed over the course of the semester, their deadlines, mainly the final due dates for the reports, coincided directly with midterms (I personally had 3 the week separating the due dates for the BioBlitz and Healthcare Innovation reports). Spacing out the deadlines better would have made writing the reports a much more enjoyable experience. Nevertheless, the actual projects encouraged teamwork and interdependence, allowing us to trust that each one of us would be responsible for delivering our best work. Normally, I dislike having to rely on people to get the job done but my group members alleviated any worries I had. They were amazing to work with.

It would have been interesting to learn more about the science in New York City, keeping in mind that the minor focuses on NYC studies. Thoroughly exploring the biodiversity of New York, maybe not only the rats and pigeons, but the plants and trees as well, would have fostered the curriculum more. Despite this, I definitely appreciated Dr. Greer and Jake’s enthusiasm for this class.

I have spent some time thinking about this class and its relationship to the goals of Macaulay Honors College. I believe that the goal of the Macaulay seminars is to expand the students learning about New York and their lives within this amazing city. Another part of the Macaulay classes should be to expand upon certain skills that are useful for honors students for the rest of their lives. Finally all the Macaulay classes seem to have an emphasis on working in groups and building team skills. This class did not fully embody all three of these things. If the class I was taking was going to be called “Healthcare innovations and Bioblitz” I would have been more understanding of the things we did in this class. It felt as if the professors for this seminar were asked to fill time in the students schedule by doing whatever they could think of. I dont believe that was the problem just for this class. After talking to many seminar 3 students it  seemed like they all had a similar feeling. There was very little guidance and direction to what any seminar 3 was going to be. One class I talked to at the Steam fair said that their professor focused on pesticides for the entire year. When I compare our class to theirs I feel like there must have been some miscommunication in what was expected from this seminar. I dont think any of this was the fault of the Professor or the ITF but I feel like Macaulay needs to come up with a better and more cohesive idea for seminar 3.

Judging our class by itself I feel like I can say I learned something that I can take with me. Since most of the students in the class were not planning on going into sciences I think the level of science work that we did was well suited to our abilities. The most important skills I learned from this class is probably the importance of creating drafts or outlines. For both the Bioblitz project and the healthcare innovation essay we had a lot of pre-existing material to base our essays and posters on because we had written drafts and outlines already which made the process much easier. I was lucky this year to work with one of the best groups that I’ve ever had so all the work was done relatively easily and we worked together well. Looking back on the course I think there is a chance I would’ve signed up for a class like this as an elective if It was clear about what was involved in the class.

In this class, I learned about numerous scientific topics and how they relate to the world around us.  I learned that scientific questions are formed from mere observations and how scientists go about answering these questions.  I felt that this class was extremely informative, although the PowerPoint lectures were somewhat less so than the hands-on lessons.  I liked that the topics we were taught often times related back to current events or things we’ve done like the BioBlitz.  For the most part, I felt that the two major assignments were grueling, to say the least.  But, I felt rewarded after completing them.  With that being said, it felt like much of the material covered in class that related to our projects was closer to sets of instructions (e.g. the PowerPoints on creating an abstract, writing a lab report, Chicago Style guide, etc.).  I also didn’t enjoy that we had two projects; I felt that we ended up focusing on one or the other because we only presented one at the STEAM Festival.  I feel that if we had a choice between the two from the start, the process would have seemed more relevant.  Nevertheless, I still very much enjoyed the class.  I especially appreciated the small experiments in class, such as creating snow and setting things on fire in addition to the labs themselves.  I felt that these hands-on experiments really helped the class grasp the ideas we were taught in class.  Once again, I have to thank my professors for this wonderful class.  I am also really grateful that we don’t have to worry about a final for this class.

When I first walked into this course, I did not know what to expect. I was not sure what I was going to learn and how deep we were going to delve into the science and technology aspects. After taking this course, I ultimately realized that there is so much to learn about the world of science and technology, how they are connected, and what future opportunities are waiting in these fields. Through all of the major and minor assignments and projects, including scientific presentations, hot topics, hands-on labs, BioBlitz, and 3-D printing through MakerHub, I learned so much more than I anticipated when first thinking about this course. Such are the reasons why I genuinely enjoyed this course and the amazing professors that took the time to really help us grow and mold our scientific thinking.

Putting the two major projects (the BioBlitz and 3-D printing model for healthcare innovations with MakerHub) aside, the smaller assignments were just as significant to the course. Working on the hot topic presentations, I gained an understanding of how much research, time, and effort went into putting everything into one final project. From this assignment, I realized that it is extremely important to know the sources you use when finding information, how to read and dissect primary scientific sources (articles and journals), as well as popular secondary sources. Working on the labs actually reminded me of the times I worked in my physics lab in high school and conducted many interesting experiments. But with these labs that I worked on, I got to experiment with real chemicals and products that are used by scientists, chemists, and physicists all the time. I definitely understood the importance of safety, structure, and organization when working not only in a lab, but in any other setting that requires these aspects. These assignments and projects were meaningful and impactful because it taught me different lessons that apply to a wider array of situations, other than a scientific setting.

But what I really took away from this course was everything I learned through the two big projects. Walking through Inwood Hill Park during the BioBlitz was an interesting experience (especially because I was carrying a full laptop bag and a suit in another large bag with me the whole time; I had an interview just before in case you were wondering), primarily due to the fact that there were so many different factors of a park that I never really delved into, including the specific features of plants, insects, birds, and marine life and how the surrounding environment connected to all of those. As for the 3-D printing model, I always knew that 3-D printers existed, but never got to actually see one or use one. This course gave me those opportunities and I was able to formulate a healthcare innovation with my group and have it printed out. Hopefully, our innovation becomes a reality one day and we can thank Dr. Greer and Jake for the motivation to do this project and turn it into something real that regular individuals can use to change their lives.

I couldn’t have been happier with the overall experience that I had in this course and cannot wait to take all the things I learned and utilize them in every future course and life endeavor possible.

I really enjoyed doing the BioBlitz. I am already a person who enjoys hiking and nature and the guides that I was with were very intelligent and had a lot to say about the plants in the park as well as some geological history of the park and even some information about the indigenous people who lived there. Everything they explained sparked my curiosity and would lead to more questions so it was a very educational experience while being relaxing.

Working with MakerHub was also a really good experience for me since I had never worked with 3-D printing before but I have been curious about it ever since the news story a few years ago about 3-D printed guns. Tinkercad was a very good tool for introducing someone like me to design because I have absolutely no design experience whatsoever but I was still able to figure it out very easily. I got to talk with one of the MakerHub guys one-on-one and we had a very interesting discussion about all the possibilities of this technology and how it is going to impact our lives in the future. When asking about the 3-D printed guns and the ban on the designs, he explained to me that with some basic design skills a person would be able to design almost anything that could be made out of plastic and there is really nothing the government could do to regulate something like that. I found that really interesting since this is clearly going to greatly impact our lives in the future, thankfully mostly for the better. While I have already chosen a career and skill path that I want to go down in my life I can see that for the next generation, skills like programming and design are probably going to become absolutely essential or offer a huge advantage and open many possibilities for people as the technology to create anything from the comfort of our homes on our computers will become a reality.

Our work in the lab was also great for me since I had no idea how soap was created at all and have also been curious about how drugs are actually synthesized in a lab, though I am sure it can get much more complicated than the simple procedure we followed to make aspirin.

I definitely believe all these experiences have made me a more well-rounded person

Other than that, I have to say working with my group I learned a lot about communicating and managing workload with my partners especially when other obligations begin to interfere. In this case I thought it was a good thing that we had the same groups for both of the projects.

Finally thank you Jake and Professor Greer, I thought both of you were great instructors and class time was always a pleasure because you made it so much fun.

Coming into this seminar, I was not sure what to expect. Would it be Chemistry based because of Professor Greer’s background, would it relate to the science of NYC, or maybe a combination? I quickly learned that I would learn a diverse set of skills from this class. From learning how to write a proper abstract, how to use Chicago style MLA guidelines, and how to properly use the scientific method to create presentable and publishable work was something I took pride in. As the class draws near an end, I have highlights as well as things I would change in this class.

Some of highlights include the small experiments we would do in class, like creating snow or even setting things on fire. I wish this was something we did more of throughout the year. The Soap Lab was something I really enjoyed, whether it was just creating something useful or applying science in a way I never thought of before was eye opening. Other highlights include how group oriented this class. Working with peers always made the experience more enjoyable, such as going to BioBlitz together and working on our two major projects together.

Some things I might change in this class is all the times we spent learning about remedial subjects, such as the lesson on statistics. I believe that time could’ve have been better used, such as working on our projects. We also had too many assignments due too often in my opinion, which definitely caused stress throughout points in the semester.

However, this class was still informative and I learned a lot, I am grateful to my Professors and peers for making this experience what it was.

IDC courses have generally been nerve-racking for me. There are always a lot of requirements to meet and works to complete, including the brochure in Seminar 1, booklet in Seminar 2, and presentations and posters in Seminar 3. However, I will always end up appreciating those classes for broadening my horizon and enriching my knowledge at the end.

Starting from the first day of this class, I had a strong feeling that it would be very stressful, and it did prove me right when we had our hot topic presentation in the first few weeks of the semester. However, without doing it, I would never have any knowledge of medical science or healthcare innovations. I would not gain insights into how insulin pills can be used to treat diabetes, nor how genes are edited to treat DMD, a topic presented by my classmates. As a result, it was truly an incredible experience in which I had the chance to open my eyes and direct my attention to see how science magically progresses nowadays.

If anything significant and meaningful, that will definitely be the two lab experiments that we have done. I had been quite indifferent about performing a lab experiment because I felt scientific terms are so difficult, and the experiment itself might be risky as well. However, until I personally did the lab in this class, I somehow started to understand the passion and excitement that people like Dr. Greer has for science. It was so amazing to see the colors changing, to see the reactions happening, and to have the chance to synthesize aspirin and soap by ourselves. I really love how my soap smells, and I feel so proud of myself when using it at home.

This class really shows the possibility and variety of science, from health science to natural science. Because of the healthcare innovation project, I learned about TinkerCad, MakerHub, and even realize that 3D innovations can be printed. On the other hand, I was also surprised to see how the posters were printed in such a huge size.

At the end, I really enjoy the small experiments that Dr. Greer did at the beginning of some classes, enjoy the nervousness that presentations cause me to have because I now fear less and less about doing presentations, and enjoy the comments that Jake and Dr. Greer provided to us because of them, I was able to focus on the small details in order to improve for the better. Thank you, Dr. Greer and Jake, for all the help!

Throughout this course, I’ve learned how to be more observant about the skills and techniques that I use. Most of the time, we go through working through projects without acknowledging the amount of technique and skills it takes to simply make an observation or analyzation. Both of the projects worked on throughout the course actually made you think about what skills you used in order to produce the work we presented in the end.

I found that BioBlitz was the project that introduced me to realizing the amount of skills we used in order to make our observations throughout the event. With this in mind, I would say that it was impactful, especially when it came to understanding the Scientific Method. Although this event did made me realize this, it wasn’t my favorite, possibly due to the fact that I’m not the biggest fan of science. I did, however, really enjoy the healthcare innovation assignment. I am more of a creative person so being able to think and design our own invention was something very fun and entertaining to me, especially when we presented it at the STEAM Festival. Our group received a lot of compliments and comments to go on Shark Tank.

In regards to the smaller assignments, such as the labs and other blog posts, I didn’t really find them to be enlightening or constructive. I had already taken Bio over the summer, so doing the labs was a bit repetitive. I liked how the blog posts made us reflect, but it was something that I felt I could’ve reflected on my own without having to write one out of obligation.

Fortunately, I loved my group. We all became friends and actually enjoyed working together, which is not a common experience I have when working in groups. I did find working on two projects at the same time to be a bit overwhelming and, at times, found the side-assignments to be more busy-work rather than something that I found relative to the main projects we were working on. I understand that BioBlitz was the Macaulay event of the year, but I would have preferred to focus on one project for the STEAM Festival rather than producing a whole other big project that wouldn’t have been presented in the end.

I did find the class enjoyable. I found the small science presentations by the professor to be extremely entertaining and fun, especially the fire one. I think this was one of the better seminar classes, but I would have enjoyed a field trip of some kind with just our class. Other than that, I found this to be a great semester.

When I first enrolled in this course, I was not sure what to expect. After less than a week of being in Professor Greer’s class, I knew that I would learn an incredible amount. First and foremost, my favorite experiences in this class were the two labs that we did. Learning how to make aspirin and soap from scratch was very cool and insightful. I had no clue that soap was able to be made from simple fats and that aspirin requires such specificity while being created to ensure edibility. I felt like an actual scientist and I was able to learn that in the real world it can take hundreds of thousands of tries to figure out how to achieve a specific desired outcome.

While in the class, I found it difficult to work on two projects at the same time; however, towards the end, I felt incredibly accomplished. Luckily, the fact that these two projects were in groups made them a bit less stressful due to split responsibilities. The BioBlitz and Healthcare Innovation projects truly enabled me to learn how to do proper scientific research, create an experiment from scratch, work in groups for a prolonged period of time, and practice my presentation skills.

Additionally, I really appreciated and enjoyed the side-lectures that both Jake and Dr. Greer held throughout the course. Jake presented slideshows on doing scientific research, creating proper citations, writing lab reports, and creating abstracts, all of which were very useful. Meanwhile, Dr. Greer presented more fun slideshows and lab demonstrations, such as how certain drugs react to the human body.

This course was very insightful, fun, hands-on, and eye-opening. I learned things that I would have never expected to learn. Most importantly, I truly felt like a scientist through all of our projects and labs, and I was eager to participate each day due to the fact that Jake and Dr. Greer fostered such a strong and positive environment for learning. Thank you both very much!

Before strictly adhering to the instructions I will make a general statement, or possibly a series of them. This was a great course, especially in comparison to the science related subjects I have taken in the past. As someone who is at times intimidated by the STEM field I left this seminar feeling more confident in my ability to analyze and understand scientific journals/findings. The making of Aspirin was an especially valuable lab experiment, as we created something that has been and continues to serve a great public good. For someone like myself who is more interested in the humanities, this felt like a journey back in history where we retraced the steps of Felix Hoffman and other great innovators like him.

The soap lab was another highlight as we were able to overlook the process  for the making one of the most in-demand commodities. Saponification is even more fun than the name makes it sound. One of my all time favorite lessons was for our last class when Dr. Greer taught us about caffeine and how it interacts with the body. The topic was timely and of great interest to a caffeine driven subset of the population, college students. Even though the process of presenting our projects in front of the class repeatedly was not the most thrilling, the final result spoke for itself and reflect the effort we put in. Group work is something I usually shy away from when possible, preferring to control most aspects of the assignment. This group activity made me adjust my professional approach when interacting with fellow students and to find common ground whenever possible. Most importantly I am leaving this class with a newfound love of and interest in science. Thank you Dr. Greer and Dr. Cohen for that.