Johnson State College External Degree Program. INT-4610-JH01 QE: Senior Seminar in Interdisciplinary Studies, 3 credits Syllabus Spring 2015

Transcription

1 Johnson State College External Degree Program INT-4610-JH01 QE: Senior Seminar in Interdisciplinary Studies, 3 credits Syllabus Spring 2015 Instructor: Dave Cavanagh, david.cavanagh@jsc.edu or Hybrid Format: Online at from Jan. 19 May 10 Plus 2 Saturdays in class, January 24 and April 25, 9:00 a.m. 3:00 pm. No class April 6 12 (spring break) Location for meetings: CCV Winooski, Room 104 (go to for directions) Parking: Parking is limited at the CCV Winooski center but is available in the city s nearby parking garage. Students registered for classes taking place at the Winooski campus can purchase parking passes. Do not park in the small parking lot for visitors and faculty beside the building. You will be towed. For information about purchasing a parking pass please visit or call ADA Statement: Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact JSC s Learning Specialist in Academic Services, as soon as possible to ensure that accommodations, if needed, are implemented in a timely fashion. Please call or Richard.Simmons@jsc.edu. Academic Honesty: (from JSC Catalog) Students are expected to conform to the highest standards of academic honesty in all of their academic work at Johnson State College. Academic dishonesty in any form is prohibited and unacceptable. Acts of dishonesty for which a student may be disciplined include, but are not limited to, receiving or providing unauthorized assistance on an examination and plagiarizing the work of others in writing assignments. The American Heritage Dictionary defines plagiarism in the following way: To steal or use (the ideas or writings of another) as one s own. Students are responsible for knowing what specific acts constitute plagiarism; if students are uncertain as to whether a particular act constitutes plagiarism, they should consult with their instructors before turning in assigned work. Texts: Texts are available through the JSC bookstore. Call or go to Prerequisites: Senior standing as a major in Interdisciplinary Studies with an approved plan of study; successful completion of the Quantitative Reasoning Assessment (QRA) or MAT 1080 Intro to Quantitative Reasoning.

2 Overview and Objectives: The Senior Seminar in Interdisciplinary Studies is a culminating learning experience for you as a student seeking the B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies. It s a chance for you to push the learning you have acquired to a deeper level, to explore more deeply and broadly the connections you may have encountered in earlier coursework. In particular, the senior seminar gives you the opportunity to: - Develop a major project that demonstrates knowledge, connections, and integration of interdisciplinary learning in the chosen areas of study in your major. - Develop and demonstrate skills in research, writing, and oral presentation at a level suitable for graduates of the Interdisciplinary Studies program. - Share learning with fellow students on a variety of interdisciplinary topics. - Develop and demonstrate skill in communicating with people who may not share your expertise in an area of interest. - Find and demonstrate connections between your learning and life outside the classroom. - Learn about valuable resources and tips regarding career exploration and job searching after graduation. - Develop quantitative reasoning skills that you can apply in the context of your interdisciplinary studies and career exploration. - How the course will work: The senior seminar is designed as a hybrid course, which means it involves a combination of classroombased and online learning. It will include two in-person sessions, one at the beginning of the course and one at the end. During these classes you ll meet other students and me, the instructor, work on a major project as an individual and in groups, get feedback from fellow students, and ultimately present your final project for discussion. Between these in-person sessions, the course will continue online. You will develop your major project in stages and receive feedback from other students, the instructor, and an outsider reader with expertise in your particular area of study. If you have not taken an online course before or are having difficulty with the online aspect (or any aspect of the course, really), please let me know right away. The course will also include readings and discussion on interdisciplinary thinking, ways of acquiring knowledge, and connections between knowledge and practical experience. You and your fellow students will choose some of the readings. You will assign for the class one short (article-length) reading on the topic that you have chosen for your major project. You will participate on a regular basis in the weekly online discussion. In these ways, your project and the course itself will become an experience of interdisciplinary learning. Assignments and discussion postings must be done by the stated due dates. No late assignments will be accepted. If you can t meet a deadline for a valid reason, please communicate with me before the due date. The Major (Capstone) Project: The major project may take a variety of forms, depending on the disciplines involved, the goals of the project, and your preferences. It might be a research project expressed in a term paper, or a video project, an oral and/or written history, an art exhibit, an experiment with a resulting report and presentation, just to name a few possibilities. You ll also want to include a quantitative component in

3 your project s preparation and final presentation in keeping with the designation of this course as QE -- quantitatively enriched. During the first in-class session, we ll discuss what this component entails. Whatever the format and approach, the project should be designed to help you see valuable connections among disciplines and in the process push your learning to a new level. The major project, as the name suggests, will be substantial and will be the main work of the semester. You ll want to make sure that the topic is sharply defined and that it interests you deeply. You ll also want to become very clear, as soon as possible, concerning how you ll go about it. As individuals and as a group, we ll help each other to establish a plan that lets you move ahead in specific stages, with a clear timeline for each step of the project. Lisa Kent, one of JSC s librarians, will be embedded in our course and available to help you develop your skills in research. You ll also want to enlist the help of an expert in your area of study who will provide feedback and advice along the way. Finally, you ll present the project not only to me as the instructor but to the whole class, which means that as a group we will benefit from the hard work of each individual, and each individual will benefit from the hard work of the group. Required book: Gardner, Howard. Five Minds for the Future. Cambridge: Harvard Business School Press, ISBN: Texts are available through the JSC bookstore. Call or go to Other readings online or on handouts will be assigned, including: Short articles to be chosen by students about their fields of interest. One goal would be to give fellow students some basis for understanding the final projects to be presented at the end of the course. Evaluation: - Stages for major project: Initial brainstorming, initial statement of purpose and process, annotated list of resources, outline, draft for peer review: 15% of final grade - Final Project: 35% - Presentation based on final project: 15% - Participation in classes and weekly discussion: 20% - Career exploration assignment: 10% - Reflection on how program has met original objectives: 5% - Reflection on extended classroom experience: pass/fail - Participation in Extended Classroom Experience Showcase at JSC, April 24: extra credit. A is for superior effort and product consistently showing strong effort, insight, and excellent presentation. B is for very good effort and a product showing consistently good but not extraordinary thoughtfulness and presentation. C is for average effort and product, with some strengths and some significant weakness either in preparation or final work. D is for work that is of minimal competence, with only minimal effort and low quality of preparation and presentation of work. F is for work showing little effort and little or no thoughtfulness or quality of presentation.

4 INT-4610-JH01 QE: Senior Seminar in Interdisciplinary Studies Spring 2015 Assignments and Weekly Schedule Note: Except for the first and last weeks, the weekly schedule will run from Wednesday through the following Monday. Tuesday will be a day off for reflection, catching up, etc. Jan : Introductions to course and each other. What do we mean by the term interdisciplinary study? January 24: Classroom meeting at Winooski CCV, 9:00 3:00 Reading for Jan. 24: Gardner s Five Minds, preface, pp. xiii-xxii; and chapter 3, The Synthesizing Mind, pp Discussion: Continued from online: What IS interdisciplinary study and HOW can we go about an interdisciplinary project? Workshop: Major project brainstorming activity. What do we mean by quantitative reasoning and how can your project be quantitatively enriched? Jan. 28-Feb. 2: Reading for Jan. 28 and discussion: Gardner, chapters 1 & 2, A Personal Introduction and The Disciplined Mind, pp Due Feb. 2: Describe a possible major project and how you might go about it. Later you ll need to refine this piece, but for now explore your thoughts freely. 200 words. Feb. 4-9: Reading for Feb. 4 and discussion: Gardner, chapter 4, The Creating Mind, pp Due Feb. 9: Statement of purpose and process for major project, including timeline. 1 page. Feb : Reading for Feb. 11 and discussion: Gardner, chapters 5-7, Respectful Mind, Ethical Mind, Toward the Cultivation of the Five Minds, pp Major project: Research.

5 Submission of a reading on your project s topic that will be assigned during the course for the whole class to read and discuss. Feb : Reading for Feb. 18 and discussion: Brief progress report on project to date. Project between Feb : Focus on research and annotated bibliography assignment due Feb. 25. Feb. 25-Mar. 2: Reading for Feb. 25 and discussion: Article chosen by student TBA Due Feb. 25: Annotated bibliography or other research/development component (depending on the nature of your project). Project between Feb. 25-Mar. 3: Continue research. Mar. 4-9 Reading for Mar. 4 and discussion: Due March 4: Outline for major project, including working title and specific, key ideas or elements. 1 page. Mar : Career/job exploration: discussion of assigned videos and assignment due May 4: Quantitatively based exploration of job possibilities. Work on draft of major project. Mar : Reading for Mar. 18 and discussion: Work on draft of major project. Mar : Reading for Mar. 25 and discussion: Article chosen by student TBA Work on draft of major project. Apr. 1-5: Due Apr. 1: Draft of project submitted to instructor, outside reader, and fellow students for online workshop in small groups. Fifteen pages or comparable length in other forms.

6 Apr. 6 12: Apr : Apr : Spring Break. No Class. Reading for Apr. 15 and discussion: Final Workshop on major projects. Discussion of coming presentations Note: April 24 at JSC: Extended Classroom Experience Showcase. April 25: Classroom meeting at CCV Winooski, 9:00 3:00, Due Apr. 25: Major project in final form. Presentations based on final projects. Apr. 29 May 4: Career/job exploration: Visit from Career Development Coordinator Assignment due May 4 (see info during week of March 11): Quantitatively based exploration of job possibilities. May 6-10: Due May 10: Reflection paper on extended classroom experience, including connection with areas of study and plans after graduation. Reflection paper on how well your program has met the objectives you set out in your original plan of study. 1-2 pages. Interdisciplinary Studies exit survey. Course Wrap-up. * * *