Working Group #1 – Foundational & Capstone Courses: “The Art & Science of ” June 3, 2014...
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Transcript of Working Group #1 – Foundational & Capstone Courses: “The Art & Science of ” June 3, 2014...
Working Group #1 – Foundational & Capstone Courses: “The Art & Science of”June 3, 2014 Curriculum Renewal ForumTeam: Peter Stoicheff & Gordon DesBrisay(Co-Leads); Rainer Dick; Mike Horsch; Dean McNeill; Sheryl Mills; Alison Norlen; Mark Meyers; Wendy Roy; Ulrich Teucher; Andrea Wasylow-Ducasse
Introduction• A strategic way to introduce first-year students to ways of knowing
across multiple disciplines in the College of Arts and Science• Useful to any student in the College• A signature feature of the College• Aligns with College Learning Goals • Will connect to capstone courses
PrinciplesHow can first-year students intellectually sample the flavour of our college?
Interdisciplinarity; creativity; simplicity / clarity; sustainability; flexibilityAboriginal student success and achievementHigh-quality learning experienceCollaborative with other colleges and regional colleges Potentially career-related, potentially grad school-related; contributes to recruitment and retention goalsAdaptive innovation to PSE environment and demographicsCross-culturalWriting intensive
Features Experiential learning; internships; student portfolios; undergraduate research,
theme-based as well as discipline-based; structured first-year experience that enables broad sampling; internationalization (diversity / global learning); service learning; community-based learning; common intellectual experiences
What higher order thinking can be (ways of knowing)
Instructors are invited not as representatives of their disciplines/ Divisions, but as a professional and public intellectuals
Course Contributors
1. Academic Programing Appointment
2. 5-9 instructors from various disciplines in College; credit given to departments through TABBS
3. TAs and / or grad students
4. First Nations and Metis Elder(s)/ knowledge keepers
Recommendations:“The Art & Science of”
foundational course A 3-cue course for first-year students. Approx. 9 different disciplinary modules on one theme. Open call for themes each year. Departments/programs invited to contribute modules on selected themes. Instructors chosen / recommended by individual departments. No added program requirements; fit into distribution requirements as
either general requirement or elective.
Possible topics / themes
Ways of knowing Light
Chaos Creativity
AIDS Play
Civilization Resources
Conspiracy theories Life
Proposed Format• Large classes (200-300 students) with smaller seminars.• One week for each of the 9 disciplinary modules: two lectures and one seminar.• Additional classes for introduction, wrap-up, discussion of elements of good
writing, etc.• Mid-way and near course end, panel of contributors to bring together concepts.• Flipped classroom key; readings and/or videos assigned ahead of time.
• Also a possibility: Recorded lectures rather than in-person appearances.
Ideas for Assignments
One short assignment for each module; graded by seminar leaders under supervision of academic coordinator.
Environment where students can take risks (e.g. not all assignments count). Longer assignment based on student interest in one disciplinary module or
intersections between disciplines. Writing Across the Curriculum element.
Proposed timeline Proposal for a shell course by fall 2014 to Academic Programs
Committees. First pilot course(s) in fall 2015.
BenefitsInspire students about the diversity of possibilities in the College of Arts and Science. Provide opportunities to:
o Experience a wide variety of perspectives in understanding the world o Identify differences between disciplineso Understand that disciplinary boundaries exist to aid in understanding and explorationo Build community
The Art & Science of Beauty
Why Modules on Beauty?The theme of Beauty can help weave together connections between our splintered disciplines and knowledge fields.Theologian von Balthasar (1989): Beauty is a fundamental property of beingWriter Dostoevsky (1869): Beauty saves the worldPhysicist Chandrasekhar (1987): Truth and BeautyMathematician Orrell (2012): Truth or Beauty
The different modules will consider multiple viewpoints of beauty; the relationship of what we see, how we are persuaded to perceive beauty in certain ways, and how this reflects who, where, and what, we are.
Modules on BeautyArt and Art History on BeautyHow do we see, define, and perceive beauty in our visual world?
Biology and BeautyHow do evolutionary processes select for beautiful designs?
Computer Science and BeautyWhat are the computational aspects of beauty?
English Literature and BeautyHow do writers present what is beautiful and what is not?
Modules on BeautyHistory and BeautyHow have notions of beauty varied according to time and place?
Indigeneity and BeautyHow do indigenous aspects of beauty relate to specifics of place, mythology, and spirituality?
Physics and BeautyWhat is beauty in the universe – and how do the properties of light convey this beauty?
Psychology and BeautyWhat are the social and media influences on perceptions of attractiveness – and are there evolutionary purposes?