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Curricular Innovation/Working Paper #4
YEAR-BY-YEAR INITIATIVES
Overview
The CEP has received numerous proposals that address the goals of each year of undergraduate study as well as the requirements and shape of the major as a whole. We have clustered these proposals under the heading of "year-by-year initiatives." Please refer to Archive 4 for relevant proposals. This memo seeks to provide an overview of these initiatives and to help frame subsequent discussions about the problems and opportunities afforded by each of the four years of undergraduate study.
Several of the proposals received by the CEP identify structural problems with a particular year and suggest ways to ameliorate these difficulties. Others point to a specific year -- especially first year and sophomore year -- as providing an ideal opportunity for the introduction of innovative and intensive learning initiatives. Some of these targeted-year proposals recommend a "common curriculum" or "common core," perhaps articulated around a central theme or set of themes, as a way of providing students with a shared intellectual experience early on in their college careers. Also, not surprisingly, there is considerable overlap between the year-by-year ideas and the three other clusters of proposals identified thus far: Interdisciplinary studies, Competencies and Requirements, and Formats of Instruction.
While many of the year-by-year proposals do indeed focus on a specific year, several open up the more general issue of the structure and progression of the major. Questions about the consistency of major requirements across departments and divisions, and about whether the structure of the major is meeting the needs of students, come up in this cluster of proposals. Concerns about the adequacy of advising in each of the years are also raised here.
Questions and Issues
The questions below are informed by the proposals received by the CEP during fall 2000, and the CEP's discussions to date.
First YearSecond Year
- What do we think is important for students to get out of their first year? To begin, we would hope that students make solid connections with the college and at least one professor, and be exposed to a range of course formats and subject areas (or new intellectual fields); there may be other goals as well for the first year.
- Should 100-level courses be introductions to the major, or should they be geared to meeting broader educational goals and developing critical skills?
- Could a mandatory, writing-intensive first-year course better prepare students for upper-year work?
- Would we want to expand the number of students participating in the FRS (First Year Residential Seminar) program? (Note: FRS is a program in which all first-year students in one entry are housed in the same dorm and enroll in the same seminar.)
First and Second Years
- A number of comments and proposals have made reference to a "sophomore slump." How could we help sophomores to establish more direction, and what might be done to help integrate sophomores more fully into the college?
- What might be the benefits and drawbacks of having students declare their major earlier than is currently the case (say, at the beginning of sophomore year)?
- Could we enhance intellectual interaction between students and faculty during the sophomore year?
- Some possible solutions to the sophomore slump might include the following: sophomore tutorials and/or smaller, thematically focused classes for sophomores; bringing more students into the major at the beginning of their sophomore year, possibly through gateway courses; and improving advising options for sophomores.
Junior year
- What do we want out of the first two years of study? How do the first two years of study relate to junior and senior years? Are the first two years really providing adequate preparation for the latter years?
- What role might a common core or common curriculum play in first and second years? Could a common curriculum or common core help first-year students to acquire a shared intellectual vocabulary? Do they need such a vocabulary?
- Do we want to try to increase students' awareness of international issues early on in their Williams careers? Could Winter Study be redesigned so as to broaden students' (especially first and second year students') understanding of other cultures and societies? This could possibly connect with the Peoples and Cultures requirement.
Senior year
- Do we take full advantage of the junior year study abroad, both in terms of quality control of the actual programs and the incorporation of students' experiences upon their return? Should students who study in a language other than English or who are totally immersed in a non-English speaking culture receive Peoples and Cultures credit, and if so, under what conditions?
- Do we want to look into creating more Williams "away" programs, such as the Williams-in-Washington and Williams-in-New York proposals? What would the junior- year, curricular advantages and disadvantages of such programs be? (See Working Paper #3: Formats of Instruction for more discussion of this.)
Considerations about the major
- Should all students deemed qualified be guaranteed the opportunity to write a senior thesis?
- Should a senior (or possibly junior) thesis be required of all students?
- Not all departments currently offer major or capstone seminars for fourth-year students. Should all students be required to take a major or capstone seminar as part of their major?
- In some departments, students returning from study abroad appear to be at a disadvantage with respect to their senior year -- less prepared than students who remained at Williams. Are students who spend a year away (and whose majors are in departments or programs which do not readily encourage and integrate study-away experiences) getting the preparation they need to do advanced work in their fields, in their senior year? What, if anything, can be done to address this issue?
- Should we consider introducing a minor?
- We may be approaching time for a full review of majors. The CEP feels that the following issues should be addressed when such a review is undertaken:
- the number of courses in a major;
- the issue of a major or capstone course;
- the requirements for honors, which currently vary widely across departments.
Archive 4 - Year-by-Year Initiatives