In medias res: Integration & Disintegration

in the First Semester

The Catalyst Project

Presented by: Sara B. Varhus,

Rhonda Mandel & Linda Rae Markert

“A local motion keepeth bodies integral, and their parts together.”

--Francis Bacon

“One can think reflectively only when one is willing to endure suspense and to undergo the trouble of searching.”

“To formulate requires getting outside of (the experience), seeing it as another would see it, considering what points of contact it has with the life of another. . . .”

--John Dewey

“Integrative learning is the next new campus initiative to come from Culkin Hall. . . . While vaguely defined, this is probably something that we are already doing in our department; consider how you might implement integrative learning in your work.”

-- Minutes of a recent department meeting

First Choice Students

Intellectual Issues Students

Capstone Students

Students at Fr. OrientationCatalyst Project Team

Advisory Board

Faculty

CATALYST PROJECT

Overview

The reflective exercise

Our findings

Integrative assignments and the “first year project”

Question oneSummer: looking back at your high school

years, reflect on how your experiences as a student have influenced your interests, goals, beliefs, and/or general outlook.

Fall: as you complete your first semester at SUNY at Oswego, reflect on how your early experiences as a college student have changed or influenced your interests, beliefs and/or general outlook.

Question twoSummer: Describe a recent assignment for one class

in which you used skills, knowledge and/or methods that you learned in other classes. Described how you applied your learning in this course or assignment.

Fall: Describe an exercise or assignment you were asked to complete this semester that required or enabled you to use information and/or strategies you learned in other classes. How did you go about integrating your learning for this exercise or assignment?

Question threeSummer: In college you will be taking classes in

your major, general education courses, and courses that you choose simply because they interest you. What do you think is the value of the variety of courses that you will be taking?

Fall: During this fall semester, you have taken classes in your major and general education, as well as elective courses that interested you. What do you see as the value of this variety of courses you are now completing?

Answers“I did well in almost all subjects, but it

was. . . History, music and language that I became passionate about, instead of going through the motions in subjects such as math and sciences.”

“It’s like dating. . . . You date various people looking for ‘the one.’” High school was a series of classes, which you sample, hoping to find something you enjoy doing. When you find that one thing, you know it’s what you want to pursue in college.”

Answers

“I’m learning to take in information now with less judgment or expectation and have found that I’m actually learning better, and more by being more open to information.”

“Taking a variety of courses, especially during your freshman year, helps to introduce you to the many different aspects of the world and allows you to make connections between what you know and what you have yet to learn.”

Answers

“In my design class. . . I had to be creative and look at something/object in a different and creative way. In all my other classes I have to approach what I am learning open-minded and with a willingness to think about concepts/ideas in a different way.”

Answers“The value of this integration into a

variety of courses. . . . Has allowed me to understand what is out there in the world that is very different from my perceived own understanding.”

“Being forced to read books and learn new ideas and opinions has made me more intelligent towards school work and the role school plays in society. My beliefs have become less cynical and optimism rests inside me.”

Catalyst Project and ILP

Promoting intentionality

Developmental issues and integrative processes

Personal motivation and integration

Social dimensions in integration

2004 Freshman Cohort at SUNY Oswego

Applied = 7466Admitted = 4242 (57%)Enrolled = 1390 (33%)

Breakdown by DisciplineUndeclared =306 (22%)Business =181 (13%)Education =326 (23%)Arts & Sciences =577 (42%)

FirstChoice Fall 2004

This is the first semester that ALL incoming freshmen were enrolled in a First Choice course where the enrollment was capped @ 19 and instructors had received training relative to adding activities in their classes to assist students to be successful in college

At the end of the first term, faculty members of these small classes were asked to have their students respond to nearly the same set of questions they wrote about during summer orientation

One additional question was added which asked them to tell us about what they had learned about being a college student during their First Choice course

Analysis of ResponsesWhat changes have occurred during this first semester & what trends seem to be emerging?

CHANGES in how they perceive that their academic experiences have influenced or changed their interests, goals, beliefs or general outlook

CHANGES in their attitudes/opinions about the “value” of the variety of courses they will be/have taken at SUNY Oswego

Data will be presented for all four questions, but Rhonda Mandel will spend more time analyzing the descriptions students give of the types of assignments they remember completing in high school or have just completed during their first term as a college student

Categories (our rubric) were not pre-defined – after multiple reviews, as a team we derived them ourselves as we discovered recurrent themes and trends in the responses from both surveys

Question oneCATEGORY SUMMER FIRST CHOICE

Personal Growth 30.6% 19%

More Motivated 13.8% 5.5

Less Motivated 1.2% 2.9%

No Change 1.8% 11.9%

Less Confident 0% 1.5%

Learned Keys to Academic Success 9% 23.5%

More Confident 7.5% 11.1%

Learned About my Interests 35.8% 22.9%

Question two

CATEGORY SUMMER FIRST CHOICE

Skills Transferred 47.3% 49%

Academic Concepts Transferred * 37.6% 31.8%

Personal Growth * 7.2% 2.8%

Used Skills Learned Outside of Class * 5.3% 2.7%

No Transfer of Information 2% 6.4%

No Response .6% 7%

Question threeCATEGORY SUMMERFIRST CHOICE

Value for the Future 19.7% 8%

Negative Value .003% 10.7%

Means to Discover Interests, Likes &Dislikes & Exploration 33.4% 35%

Breadth/Diversity 39.2% 39.8%

Personal Growth 6.7% 3%

No Response .005% 3%

Question four

CATEGORY FIRST CHOICE

Negative Lessons 7%

Academic Growth 15%

Personal Growth 37%

Realized Keys to Academic Success 41%

Observations about changes during this First Semester after reviewing the DATA

Students’ focus on personal growth issues is much stronger during their summer orientation session. In all three questions, students’ responses illustrated a shift away from relating expressions of individual growth, examples of learning about interests and personal drive – in favor of discovering keys to being successful college students and gaining confidence in their academic abilities.

Pre-College = Personal IssuesPost- Freshman Semester = Academic Issues

When asked to reflect on the “value” of the variety of classes taken in college, most believe there IS value and the number of students describing this as a means to acquire breadth/diversity or discover interests, likes & dislikes remains consistent over time at just over 70% of the cohort.

With regard to their recall about academic exercises and assignments, almost all students are able to identify “something” they have done where they believe integration has occurred. However, the transference of skills is the largest category for the entire cohort and there are slightly fewer students who, at the end of the first term, are able to articulate examples of activities where they have transferred academic concepts – slightly more of these first semester freshmen also tell us that they do not see “any” transfer of information.

Looking ahead. . .

We are now thinking about interventions that might enable a greater percentage of SUNY Oswego’s undergraduate students to integrate their learning experiences and acquire higher level integrative thinking competencies….

Rhonda Mandel will now discuss the characteristics of academic assignments and exercises we believe challenge and engage students in their learning and thinking.

General Observations from the Students’ Reflections on Integrative Projects

Although almost all students could present an example of integration, they differed in amount and degree

The majority of students connected a positive affect to the experience Excitement about the project Pride in their accomplishments External affirmation in grades and

comments

Classifying for Levels of Integrative Complexity

Categories Skills Integration

Simple realizations that skills can be taken from one class to another

(ex. Use calculus in physics) Multiple skills integration

One project integrates many skillsUsually a project in a single course

Classifying Projects for Levels on Integrative Complexity

Content Connections – Student is making the connections

Contextual grounding One course is used as grounding for another

(ex. place a novel in a historical context) Usually involves connecting two courses

Content applicability Student makes the connection across courses Can involve multiple courses

Levels of Integration

Global Student makes connection from one or

more courses to a concept that applies to many courses

Personal Connections Student makes a connection to his/her

personal life“Cosmic” Student comes to the realization that

everything is connected “Students achieving oneness will move

on to Twoness” – Woody Allen

Types of Projects

“Soup-to nuts” projects: Students take the projects from question formation to oral presentation Term papers Science lab projects

Simulations Can be “soup-to-nuts” but center around real life

issues related to a class Used most often in business classes and in political

science classes

Forced Integration Projects Problem explicitly asks students to integrate material

from a variety of classes

Types of Projects

Public policy issues: Students are asked to research all sides of an issue Ex. Legalization of marijuana,

homelessness, censorship

Projects with creative products Ex. Films, sculpture

Internships or field placements

Projects that relate personally to the student’s growth and development

How Projects and Levels of Integration Are Related

Skills Integration

Content Integration

Global/Personal Integration

“Cosmic” Integration

“Soup-to-Nuts” Projects

Forced Content Integration

Internships/Field Placements

Simulations

Public Policy Issues/ Creative Projects

Personal Perspectives

How Can We Use What We Have Learned about Integrative

Assignments?

The First Year Project!!

Two Main Principles

Since our first year program is composed of a variety of different courses, a set of principles for faculty in developing first year projects seems most feasible

First year projects should be developmentally appropriate for the level of student.

Principles

Students should have some input into the choice of topic within appropriate guidelines

The integrative nature of the project should be made explicit to students

There should be some presentation component to the project

PrinciplesProjects should provide a challenge to the students but not be so challenging as to be daunting

Projects should focus as much on process as on product

Students should keep a reflective journal throughout the project

Special thanks to:

Patricia Michel, our research associate, for providing us with the early categories which enabled us to build our models

The summer orientation faculty who graciously allowed us to usurp their session at orientation

The FirstChoice instructors who collected data for us after the first semester

The Advisory Board members who consulted with us about the first year project

All the incredible students who provided us with the rich data that allowed us to make this analysis

Questions?The Catalyst Project”

Sara B. Varhus, varhus@oswego.edu

Rhonda Mandel, mandel@oswego.edu

Linda Rae Markert, markert@oswego.edu