Engaging undergraduates in interdisciplinary science during a pre-orientation camp

The Interdisciplinary First-Year Orientation Camp for Undergraduate Sciences (iFOCUS) was created three years ago at Linfield College. Foremost, we looked to create a supportive community to enhance the recruitment, retention, and success of science students--all students, and especially students from non-traditional backgrounds. We saw the close knit community of athletes that came together during pre-orientation practices. Could a community of science students come together with similar enthusiasm and energy? And, we were also looking for a way to expose first year students to a scientific way of thinking, embracing open-ended, research oriented, interdisciplinary problems. After the camp is over, iFOCUS students frequently join faculty research laboratories, they draw in additional students to ongoing learning communities, and a seminar series brings in outside speakers. I will discuss the program initiatives and outcomes, which have been especially useful to physics--where building an enthusiastic peer network and addressing misconceptions about science in general, and physics in particular, seem to be especially useful.