Accepted Proposals

The Spanish Department faculty are restructuring the Spanish Major, including transforming the curriculum and pedagogical methods in the gateway course to the major (Spanish 211); assessing and restructuring the required research course; and reviewing, redesigning and/or replacing the comprehensive exam. They also take into consideration the existing language course sequence and are working with colleagues to clarify and streamline the multiple paths that majors take through the Department, from language courses, to intermediate culture courses, to study abroad, to advanced culture courses and honors theses.

Economics piloted their applications-oriented sections of Econ 111, Fall 2017 and Spring 2018. The content did not change from the previous lecture-based course but the material is organized around real-world applications, with theory introduced to demonstrate how it can lead to a deeper understanding of those applications. Each section also met separately for a fourth hour at the end of the week for discussions/debates. Within these sections, students were given an opportunity to independently research topics (in teams) and debate some policy question. In contrast to previous approach, in which a professor presented material in a lecture format, and each student is expected to demonstrate their individual mastery of that material on exams, they believe the discussion/debate approach increased the amount of collaborative interaction between students in the classroom, and fostered an active learning community in which students engaged in teamwork to tackle complex, open-ended problems.