Fall 1996
Vol 5 Issue 1
IN THIS ISSUE...
Tweaking MCLI to Faculty Needs
The Search for Community: The View from the Front Porch
The Joys and Challenges of Team Teaching
Building and Maintaining a Sense of Community
Going "Solo" in a Coordinated Studies Program
Plus/Deltas for Integrated Learning Communities
Maricopa Skilled Creations: Vocational Interdisciplinary Project (VIP)
"What more could three teachers ask for?" -- Storytelling Integrated Studies
Connecting and Staying Connected: A Student's Perspective
Upcoming Events
SEE ALSO...
The Labyrinth
Plus/Deltas for Integrated Learning Communities
Gwen Argersinger, MCC
Periodically, strong faculty consider ways to rejuvenate their solid courses. Recently faculty from several of the Maricopa campuses piloted many variations of Integrated Learning Communities (ILC). Results of their experiences will be published from time to time. Here we list quickly the benefits and potential drawbacks involved in running ILC's examined from the point of view of the faculty involved.
PLUS
- meet colleagues in other fields, observe new teaching techniques, view your field from a new perspective; bright students appreciate new approach, eager students see advantages of new combinations
- students enjoy seeing academic professionals work together, exploring ideas, methodology, techniques, theories
- students' critical thinking skills appear much stronger overall than students not in ILC classes
- students gain a new appreciation of the wholeness, connections of their classes and learning
- faculty get to know students better with block classes and can help them adjust to college
- faculty can help each other with joint students who may need extra help
- students in ILCs feel more confident in college knowing more students in the block classes
- time to meet/plan with colleagues, adjunct faculty have no extra time to read/study other subjects students fear new combinations
- students enroll late in only open course with no idea of the ILC goal, students may not recognize basic skills of each subject and may become prepared for the next level of skills in each subject
- basic skills of each subject may be neglected in favor of more general thinking skills
- in some programs students who have to drop one class may be required to drop all related ILC courses; students sometimes enjoy the social aspects of block courses or ILCs more than the academic aspects; some students take refuge in group action to control a class or avoid personal responsibility
- time to help students personally may be satisfying but overwhelming
With the right combination of caring, conscientious faculty and eager, conscientious students, most faculty have found the ILC experience most worthwhile. The greatest drawback, as always, is the factor of time€planning time to meet with other faculty, time to plan for new approaches to materials, and time to work with many students who feel more personally involved with a college program than they may otherwise. But these are the same factors that faculty cite as posing the most rewarding aspects of the ILCs: the time spent getting to know faculty, students and new areas better rejuvenates faculty and rewards them with fresh energies for teaching and learning.
The information for the plus/delta of Integrated Learning Communities was gathered as part of our final reports for a Disitrct Priority Education Project (PEP) Grant on ILCs, with Barbara Shovers, Chandler-Gilbert Community College, as Project Director. Seven of the Maricopa colleges participated in the grant. I personally interviewed or received personal responses from faculty at six of the colleges. Part of our goal when we were completing the grant was to share not only the benefits we discovered of the ILCs in our specific, respective classrooms, but also the drawbacks so that other faculty might have a realistic idea of ILC situations and think about how and whether they might use some of our concepts and plans
Maricopa Community Colleges
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