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Relevancy Resource Guide

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Call for proposals

Resource Guide:

High Impact Practices Definitions

Common Intellectual Experiences and Cross Curricular Assignments

The older idea of a “core” curriculum has evolved into a variety of modern forms, such as a set of common courses or a vertically organized general education program that includes advanced integrative studies and/or participation in a learning community. These programs often combine broad themes—e.g., technology and society, global interdependence—with a variety of curricular and co-curricular options for students.[1] Faculty electing to develop a project around a common intellectual experience are encouraged to work with another faculty member to devise activities that help students make connections across the general education curriculum and to career programs. Although multi-campus environment makes implementation more difficult cross-curricular projects enhance course relevancy and student engagement.

Collaborative Assignments and Projects

Collaborative learning combines two key goals: learning to work and solve problems in the company of others, and sharpening one’s own understanding by listening seriously to the insights of others, especially those with different backgrounds and life experiences. Approaches range from study groups within a course, to team-based assignments and writing, to cooperative projects and research.[2]

Service Learning, Community-Based Learning

In these programs, field-based “experiential learning” with community partners is an instructional strategy—and often a required part of the course. The idea is to give students direct experience with issues they are studying in the curriculum and with ongoing efforts to analyze and solve problems in the community. A key element in these programs is the opportunity students have to both apply what they are learning in real-world settings and reflect in a classroom setting on their service experiences. These programs model the idea that giving something back to the community is an important college outcome, and that working with community partners is good preparation for citizenship, work, and life. [3]

[1] TBR High Impact Practices. (2016, October 25). Retrieved March 02, 2017, from https://www.tbr.edu/academics/studentaffairs/tbr-high-impact-practices

[2] AAC&U. (2015, February 18). High-Impact Educational Practices. Retrieved March 02, 2017, from https://www.aacu.org/leap/hips

[3] TBE High Impact Practices.

Cross-Curricular Common Intellectual Experiences and Problem Based Activities

Develop a Common Theme or Investigate a Common Problem

See: Ohio University's Arts and Science Themes

One potential project to propose is to develop a theme that could investigated across a few different courses or even across the college. For a general sense of some themes to consider, review Ohio University's general education “themes”. While replicating this program at RSCC may not be the end goal, the descriptions of the individual themes is a good place to start in developing a cross-curricular or common intellectual experience that will help students make connections between their classes and to "real-life" issues. The themes explored at Ohio University are: Becoming Human; Between Love and Hate; Food Studies; Knowing the Future; Making and Breaking the Law; Ohio: Sense of Place; Sustainability Studies; Technology & Society; War and Peace; Wealth and Poverty.

Create an Interdisciplinary Unit/Lesson

See: Design and embed a Multidisciplinary Unit

For a detailed look at how to create a multidisciplinary unit or lesson see California's Connect Ed's guide. While the complete guide is a lot to digest, pages 25-31 have great examples based on an "Essential Question".

Propose a Shared Book

See shared intellectual/book experiences: AAC&UOSU, Pellissippi

Colleges and universities have for many years offered common book or common theme programs. The AAC&U has a good overview of some of the general elements of common intellectual experience. For specific examples, you can look at what has been done at The Ohio State and University and Pellissippi Community College.

Math

Develop Lessons and Units with Concrete Applications

See: Example Quantway Lesson 

A unit centered on personal finance that addresses students’ ability to estimate, calculate percentages and ratios, create a budget, and use basic excel formulas for calculations. (See Quantway Module 1 for an example unit).

See: LaGuardia Community College Project Leap

Use recent data from environmental impact studies and other data sources to develop policies for an airport to reduce its Co2 emissions. (See LaGuardia Community College Project Leap for example).

English and Reading

See: Accelerated Learning Program--Collaborative Learning

Developing an early term assignment that asks students to either write a college entrance essay or a career-related cover letter to a specific employer. The assignment could also ask students to conduct some initial research on the college or employer. (See ALPS)

Sciences and Social Sciences

See: National Science Foundation’s National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science

Implementing one or more of the many problem-based projects from the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science.

See: Delaware University Project Based Learning Database

Ask students to participate in data gathering and analysis, with reference to scholarly articles in the context of current events that have had an emotional impact on the students. (See )

  • Business 
  • Service Learning 
  • Career and General Education Faculty Collaboration

Service Learning & Business 

See: Roane State's Service-Learning Coordinator

Roane State's service learning initiatives are coordinated by Sociology professor John Brown. Recent service-learning projects conducted at Roane State include: Political Science classes that have volunteered at local non-profits and reflected and wrote about the policies effecting these organizations, a Marketing class in which students created videos for local non-profits, and a GIS class mapping the Cumberland trail. 

See: GWU's Integration of Service-learning into Business

Given how grounded most business classes are in real-life case-studies, they easily lend themselves to service-learning and addressing the needs of local businesses and service organization. George Washington University has archived a range of projects completed by their business classes. Projects include the creation of: survey, advertisements, handbooks, and process documentation. 

 

Career and General Education Faculty Collaboration

Career and General Education Faculty can work together to produce a series of activities that help students in general education classes see the connection between the career courses and their general education classes. 

Faculty can work together to host a student forum where they discuss the connections between careers and general education.

Appendix (List of resources)

General

Delaware University Project Based Learning Database

Ohio University's Arts and Science Themes

Design and embed a Multidisciplinary Unit

National Science Foundation’s National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science

 

Math

Example Quantway Lesson 

Example Statway Lesson

LaGuardia Community College Project Leap

Sciences

National Science Foundation’s National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science

English and Reading

OSU First-Year Common Book 

Pellissippi--Common Book Experience

Accelerated Learning Program--Collaborative Learning

Cross Curricular & Common Intellectual Experiences

Ohio University's Arts and Science Themes

Design and embed a Multidisciplinary Unit

AAC&U Common Reading Overview 

OSU First-Year Common Book 

Pellissippi--Common Book Experience

Service Learning

Roane State's Service-Learning

GWU's Integration of Service-learning

Contact: 

Jeffrey J Tinley • • Click name for email address

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