Integrative Teaching
and Learning
A working definition of integrative learning for Roanoke
College:
A system of learning
that deliberately makes connections between classes, fields, and academic and
co-curricular life, with the end goal being the development of students who can
encounter new challenges and new knowledge in a productive manner.
Important elements:
- A general education curriculum with broad exposure to multiple disciplines and ways of knowing
- A total curriculum that helps students
- Discover clear connections between course content and their lives as workers, citizens, and community and family members
- Examine diverse perspectives on any subject and teaches them how to evaluate competing claims and different perspectives while forming their own judgment
- Connect skills and knowledge from multiple sources and experiences
- Apply theory to practice in various settings
- Understand issues and positions contextually
- Address real-world problems using multiple areas of knowledge and modes of inquiry
- Pursue their college experience in more intentionally connected ways
- Become self-aware, intentional learners
Opportunities for enhancing integrative learning:
Integrative
freshman-year seminars
Learning
communities that link courses
Capstone
projects that synthesize knowledge and skills acquired over students’
undergraduate careers
Multiple
structured opportunities for student reflection on their learning from
matriculation through graduation (for both learning and assessment)
o
Reflective
essays
o
Explicit
self-assessment rubrics for students
o
Writing/electronic
portfolios
Team-taught,
team-planned, and/or team-supported courses in general education and majors
A
core curriculum extending over four years of students’ enrollment
Curricula
that develop student knowledge and intellectual capacities cumulatively,
sequentially, and in developmentally appropriate ways
Strong,
explicit connections between general education and the major
Faculty
modeling integrative thinking as well as recognizing and encouraging it in students
Faculty
members across disciplines assuming collective responsibility for the entire
curriculum to ensure every student an enriching liberal (integrative) education
Faculty
members collaboratively developing skills matrices within the core curriculum
and within majors (to identify where and how often students have opportunities
to develop key skills)
Sources
Association
of American Colleges and Universities. Greater
Expectations: A New vision for Learning
as a Nation Goes to College. Association
of American Colleges and Universities, 2002.
<http://www.greaterexpectations.org/>
Association of American Colleges and Universities and The
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. A Statement on Integrative Learning. Association of American Colleges
and Universities and The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching,
2004. <http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/dynamic/downloads/file_1_185.pdf>
Bierman,
Scott, et al. “Integrative
Learning: Coherence out of Chaos.” Peer
Review 7.4 (Spring 2005): 18-19.
Board
of Directors, Association of American Colleges and Universities. “Ten Recommendations for a New
Accountability.” In Our Students’ Best
Work: A Framework for Accountability Worthy of Our Mission.
Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2004.
Huber,
Mary Taylor. “Fostering Integrative
Learning through the Curriculum.” Public Report of the Integrative Learning
Project. Association of American Colleges and Universities and The
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 2007.
Huber,
Mary Taylor, and Pat Hutchings. “Integrative Learning: Mapping the Terrain.” Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2004.
Humphries,
Debra. Vice-President of AAC&U. Presentation at General Education
Institute, May 2005.
Additional Resources
Humphreys,
Debra, and Abigail Davenport. “What
Really Matters in College.” Liberal Education Summer/Fall 2005: 36-43.
Available on RC Blackboard.
"Integrative Learning: Opportunities to
Connect." Public Report of the Integrative Learning Project sponsored by
the Association of American Colleges and Universities and The Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Edited by Mary Taylor Huber, Cheryl
Brown, Pat Hutchings, Richard Gale, Ross Miller, and Molly Breen. Stanford, CA,
January 2007. < http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/elibrary/integrativelearning>
Jones,
D.P., and P. T. Ewell (1993, pp. 9-13).
“’Good Practices’ Derived from Educational Research.” Cited in Chapter 7: Quality
and Coherence in General Education, Handbook for Undergraduate Curriculum. Jossey Bass, 1997. Available on RC Blackboard.
Special
issue on integrative learning. Peer Review 7.4 (Spring 2005). <http://www.aacu.org/peerreview/pr-sufa05/pr_sufa05contents.cfm>
Selected articles available on RC
Blackboard.
0 Comments