Minutes from Foundations Task Force Meeting

November 21, 2016

1.  Discussed title for 4th course

a.  Emphasis on inquiry, multi discipline,--paths of inquiry? Modes of inquiry? Models of Inquiry? Strategies of inquiry?

2.  Discussed student input and all task force input on structure of the 4th course: (1) large lecture + TA discussions or (2) smaller faculty led sections

a.  Whichever model, what does the work of making this course different from 3 five-week courses

b.  Concern because current core never teaches students how to do connective, comparative thinking….this class wants to be the place in the core that intentionally tries to teach this—how will the curriculum of the course ensure that this happens

c.  Student focus groups concerned that the smaller faculty led module model wanted/needed connection with single faculty member—concerns about consistency, fairness—the course felt potentially disconnected for them; students like the idea of a TA who would be with them for the whole year and would be responsible for the grading

3.  Do we like the meta-curricular scaffolding idea and which model—large lecture + TA or small faculty led module….

a.  This course students should be able to be introduced and convey that they know how to use basic methodological approaches from three difference disciplines and then be able to reflect on comparative/connective/integrative approaches. How do professors ask questions differently, what kinds of evidence do they appeal to? What underlying assumptions behind the methodology? Where is there overlap in these approaches, where are there tensions, etc.

b.  how to grapple with the overlaps and tensions in the different ways different disciplines might approach questions--what some of the methodological limitations are of a discipline--what its rhetorics of inquiry are designed to do and what it cannot do that perhaps other disciplines can do so that students also learn why pursuit of knowledge truth, wisdom about really big, hard questions that many disciplines weigh in on require a multidisciplinary effort to address, and reveal some of the limits of inquiry of this kind as well. (this is pasted from my email).

4.  Divided into sub-groups to develop preliminary course descriptions for the first three foundations courses

a.  Each group develops course outcomes for respective disciplines—linked with first three core learning objectives

b.  Groups need to converge on and agree to the three touch point questions that all three foundations courses will address