The School of Humanities and Sciences is pleased to announce the Spring 2009 Curriculum Enhancement Grant award winners.
Kathryn Caldwell Assistant Professor, Psychology
Course: Psychology for a Sustainable World Cultural Immersion and Service Learning Models
Goal: develop a new experiential learning course to be offered during the winter term or May summer term 2010. The course will immerse the instructor and students in an alternative setting, hosted by a community still to be identified. We will live together for three weeks in an intentional community whose focus is on living sustainably. We will experience working models of sustainable living, while challenging ourselves throughout the course to make behavior changes by reflecting on our ways of thinking, values, and habits. We will also apply our learning through an action research project that addresses a predetermined need of the host community.
Vincent DeTuri Associate Professor, Chemistry
Course: Computational Chemistry Research Model
Goal: to enhance and formalize components of experiential learning that are part of Computation Chemistry, an advanced elective targeted for senior chemistry majors. The course focuses on theoretical aspects of modern computation methods, and provides students with the opportunity to gain practical experience in running computation calculations and applying theory to research projects designed for the course. I plan to incorporate a reflective component into these projects, formalize the experiential learning outcomes, and develop appropriate assessment methods for this type of learning.
Mary Beth O’Connor Assistant Professor, Writing
Course: Writing about Aging Cultural Immersion/Service Learning Models
Goal: develop an experiential learning core for a new Ithaca Seminar course “Writing about Aging: Media Images and True Stories,” in which students will interview senior citizens at Longview and help them to elicit and write “This I Believe” essays (in connection with NPR’s “This I Believe” project). Students will learn about images of aging and prepare for fieldwork in the first part of the semester, carry out interviews in the second part of the semester, and at semester’s end produce a book and/or CD of these essays. Longview residents and students will be encouraged to send their essays to National Public Radio for on-air broadcast, publication on NPR’s website, and/or podcast through NPR’s website.
Jack Rossen Associate Professor, Anthropology
Course: Archaeological Laboratory Professional Practice/Research Models
Goal: to transform the existing archaeological laboratory course to include a series of experiential learning projects and problem sets that incorporate experiential learning criteria including reflection. I will develop a set of hands-on projects which will give students first-hand experience with problems of artifact classification, development of attribute lists, development of formal typologies, statistical analysis, and interpretation involving a range of materials and data sets. These projects will require students to problem solve in the same way they would if they work for a contract archaeology company after graduation, as many of our majors do.
Anne Stork Assistant Professor, Biology
Course: Environmental Science II Research/Service Learning Models
Goal: to develop a new course, Environmental Science II: Science and Technology, that will be part of the Core Curriculum of the Environmental Studies Program. This course will incorporate experiential learning content through a sustainability pilot project laboratory module (lasting four weeks) and a hands-on service learning assignment to be integrated with course content. I will enhance the laboratory module (used in a previous course) to insure that students make stronger connections between their individual projects and course content. I will devise the service learning assignment, which will last throughout the semester, to help students recognize how knowledge learned in the classroom can be applied to solve real world issues; I will require students to develop a contract with the host organization and to develop a project that incorporates mutual benefits and reflection on learning to meet this outcome.
Curriculum Enhancement Grants
Examples of current experiential learning offerings available in H&S.
