Have you heard the one about the prof who walks into a classroom and engages with students face to face? Apparently this innovative experiment is a smash hit out west. Indeed, universities across the land are thinking about equally radical interventions in the post-secondary classroom.
Thanks to Bill Atkinson (Physics and Astronomy) who flipped me the link, you too can read all about it at:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/universitynews/experiment-giving-undergrads-more-face-time-with-profs-a-hit/article2218337/
Now, I am delighted that students in Calgary are gaining access to profs and that profs across Canada are experimenting to create face time (as best they can) within the constraints of large lectures. But I'm also feeling slightly smug knowing that this is exactly what Trent has been doing for over forty years. The academic plan will have to recommend some hard choices, but sacrificing an interactive pedagogy is not an option. It's one of our differentiating practices and one, that for my money, makes this place so very special.
These are wonderful riffs but you give us no coherent and consistent view of what goes on in Academic Planning at Trent University. I am saddened to learn that according to CUPE "This is not helped by the fact that the Academic Plan Committee comprises only full-time faculty members and administration. In fact, students, contract faculty, and alumni (recent and not-so-recent) have stakes in Trent’s academic vision and their presence on the Committee would, in our opinion, bring crucial balance to the work of the Committee."
ReplyDeleteThe following is from Ian Ward's letter regarding a recent incident at McGill. "However, as scholars of politics, we know that such inquiries can obscure as much as they illuminate; the devil lies in the details of their mandates and independence. All too often, they are commissioned as pretext for evading responsibility, to cast high-ranking officials as being “above the fray.”
It is about showing your work and collectively deciding on the terms of reference for future work where everyone is involved.