Cultivating Integrative Teaching and Learning at Fairfield University

1. Cultivating Integrative Teaching and Learning at Fairfield University Dr. Kathryn Nantz Acting Director, Center for Academic Excellence Director of Core Integration nantz@fairfield.edu Presented at NEEAN �Dialogues on Integrative Learning� University of Massachusetts Amherst March 25, 2011

2. Fairfield University Strategic Plan Goal: �Integrating the Core� A. Creating coherence within the core curriculum, bothhorizontally (across disciplines) and vertically (major). Students will come to understand the impact of the core curriculum on their overall education and as the framework on which their major studies build. The Academic Division will create specific structures, drawing on resources of the Center for Academic Excellence and the Office of Mission and Identity, to foster discussion of the spirit and specifics of the core among faculty who teach it. The Academic Division will develop a system for the coordination and regular assessment of the core, and increase the number of full-time faculty teaching within it.

3. What is integrative learning? Connecting skills and knowledge from multiple sources and experiences Applying theory to practice in various settings Utilizing diverse and contradictory points of view Understanding issues and positions contextually

4. Integrative Learning Practices Develop skills and dispositions that enhance ability to find and take advantage of new opportunities as they arise. Invite students to take different perspectives on an issue. Ask students to draw on learning from earlier courses to explore a new topic or solve a problem. Combine academic and community-based work Use systems of journaling and reflection such as guided journals and learning portfolios. 1. Recognize and point out connections among topics & concepts 2. Become aware of how context, environment and culture influence the connections they make to their learning � 3. Apply theory to practice in various settings 4. Identify ways to reconcile diverse or conflicting priorities, viewpoints, or options 5. Call attention to something that has not been adequately noticed by others 6. Apply frameworks from multiple domains of knowledge and practice to have students create something 1. Recognize and point out connections among topics & concepts 2. Become aware of how context, environment and culture influence the connections they make to their learning � 3. Apply theory to practice in various settings 4. Identify ways to reconcile diverse or conflicting priorities, viewpoints, or options 5. Call attention to something that has not been adequately noticed by others 6. Apply frameworks from multiple domains of knowledge and practice to have students create something

5. Our Core Integration Model:�Pathways to Integrative Thinking and Learning� Six pathways identified: Engaging Traditions Creative and Aesthetic Engagement Global Citizenship Quantitative Reasoning Rhetoric and Reflection Scientific Reasoning Purpose: to provide common conceptual frameworks that we can all use to make integrative connections.

6. Background Core Integration Initiative (2005 to present) Faculty conversations, workshops, brown bag lunches, retreats Identified need for students to transfer knowledge and connect knowledge over time. Faculty-driven; 6 Faculty, each a Pathway Director Pathways provide �connective tissue� These pathways emerged from a variety of faculty conversations, workshops, brown bag lunches, retreats, etc. over the past 4.5 years Could have been others! Goal was to provide �connective tissue� that would make sense not only for integration across core courses but also for vertical integration into the major and across the graduate programs. Why is the Pathways project necessary? Common faculty complaint that students have difficulty transferring knowledge to new settings Common faculty complaint that students don�t remember content knowledge from semester to semester 59% of faculty agreed Goal One will impact their teaching; 84% consider teaching part of a community endeavor at Fairfield These pathways emerged from a variety of faculty conversations, workshops, brown bag lunches, retreats, etc. over the past 4.5 years Could have been others! Goal was to provide �connective tissue� that would make sense not only for integration across core courses but also for vertical integration into the major and across the graduate programs. Why is the Pathways project necessary? Common faculty complaint that students have difficulty transferring knowledge to new settings Common faculty complaint that students don�t remember content knowledge from semester to semester 59% of faculty agreed Goal One will impact their teaching; 84% consider teaching part of a community endeavor at Fairfield

7. Core Pathways & Student Development

8. Planting the Seeds of Core Integration Faculty & Professional Staff Special events: Core Kickoff; �Meet the Core Pathways� Summer Institute on Integrative Teaching & Learning for faculty teams Workshops: �Core of the Core� series Pathway Director consults Informational handouts, web presence Practices that impact Students Pathway language on syllabi Assignments encouraging integration of learning Piloting of reflective student electronic portfolios

9. Cultivating the Pathways ProjectContinued Growth� Greater exposure of students to Pathways language and integrative practices Inventory of department/program alignment with Pathways Assessing the Core Pathways learning outcomes Foster more meaningful learning and student growth