Week 13--Surveying your vision

 1.     Have the divisional requirements encouraged you to take classes you otherwise would not have?

To explain our new curriculum, we created two different surveys, one for the professors and one for the students. Unfortunately, non of the teachers responded, but we received 50 responses to the student survey. We presented our mission statement at the top of the survey, and then made each question one of our proposed changes to the curriculum. After each proposal we asked if students agree or disagree with the change, and then asked them to explain their response.

We first asked about requiring that all new professor hires have experience in two disciplines, so that all of the Emily Balch Seminars can be interdisciplinary. 2/3rd of students disagreed with this plan, claiming that professors wouldn't be as focused on their first discipline, and it would hurt their work.

Then we asked about keeping the two years of language requirement, but restructuring the classes to focus on culture. The response was mixed, with 66% agreeing with the proposal and 34% disagreeing. Most people stated that they wanted the classes to have people who really wanted to be there, and they wanted to make the language requirement just one year instead.

Next, we asked about improving Bi-Co relations to make the two schools more cohesive for students majoring, taking classes, or living on the opposite campus. While most people agreed with the idea (78%) many then commented that they want the two colleges to still be of their own entity, or that they want priority in classes to go to the students who actually attend that school.

The next question was about requiring two half- semesters of Praxis courses, and people were almost split down the middle, with 56% agreeing with the proposal. Most complained that it would be too difficult to find place to work that fit their major, or that people shouldn't be forced in to doing "community service" (their own words).

Finally, we asked about requiring outside work with the senior thesis, which most disagreed with, at 82%. They stated that seniors had enough work, and that it would be hard again to find real world applications.

Overall, their wasn't much agreeance with our plans, and I wonder if students are avoiding changes or avoiding the hassle of having extra work.

“Hopefully, a Bryn Mawr education provides more than this: the ability to think critically about the world and its inhabitants, to interpret and navigate all kinds of information, and to express complex ideas clearly and persuasively.” – Anonymous Participant

In general, when asked what skills would be necessary to function in the world today, most participants replied that basic comprehensive skills of math, reading, writing, sciences and communication skills were important. Other skills mentioned were knowledge of technology, a broad and flexible education, and a specific area of intellectual focus. The above quote was an interesting point by one of our participants that we were not expecting.

“For one, I wouldn't mind having somebody who has no more than 5 students to attend to, since my dean is competent but does not know who I am when she is not looking at my file.” – Anonymous Participant

We found a general trend when asking about whether rather than/in addition to deans and major advisors, course advisors would be beneficial to students. The trend was that most were against the idea, saying it would be “redundant” and overwhelming for students.  While the quoted participant was in the minority in her opinion, the statement offers a perspective that we feel should be considered.

“The requirements made me take some courses that I would never have taken if I did not have to fulfill that subject. This introduction to new fields allows me to broaden my knowledge in different subjects that might benefit me in the future. As stated previously, I think having a general and basic understanding of math serves as an important foundation for the real world (and that is one of the requirements) and the humanities provide students with opportunities to improve their writing skills which would also seem to be quite important. Beyond this, the requirements make students mix with different students that they might not have had the opportunity to meet and this allows interactions to occur and differences of opinions to be shared. Also, this hopefully makes one appreciate the passions and interests others have.” – Anonymous Participant

We found that people’s responses vary for this question. Many of them considered that the requirements would benefit them in the future, while others simply gave negative answers. However, almost all of them agreed that the requirements introduce them to those fields that are outside their specialties.  Many people mentioned that the quantitative requirements, language requirements and intensive writing class would help a lot in the future. Some of the participants also mentioned that having a wide range of knowledge opens up different future careers.

 Graph 1

Graph 1 Analysis

Most people disagreed with our statement that the existences of individual departments (i.e. language department) do not benefit a broad education that is inclusive of different subjects. This implies that the departments at least are not a specific/visible obstacle to Bryn Mawr students’ educations.

Graph 2

Graph 2 Analysis

Most people agreed with the statement do you think the current college curriculum applies to its current mission statement. This suggests that most believe the mission statement is being followed through with the college’s current curriculum and their own experiences.

Graph 3

Graph 3 Analysis

Most people disagreed with the statement that the current amounts of requirements in the curriculum handicap a student’s choice to explore new subjects, especially upper-class women. This indicates that the existence of divisional requirements actually helps students to explore new fields and broaden their knowledge.

The following pie charts are the results gathered from 32 current Bryn Mawr students. Although the results did not always give the predicted results, quotations pulled from the survey that support our claims are included under each graph.

Our predicted outcome was actually opposite. Below are some quotes that supported what we expected. "I'm too worried about not being able to finish in four years or having too difficult a course load during any one semester to really have a lot of freedom." "I came to Bryn Mawr initially expecting to major in something else, and found through taking other classes my true passion."

The results on this question are split down the middle. Although we were rooting for "yes," this outcome might demonstrate students' reluctance to change. People who chose "yes" had ideas like, "Two semesters instead of four would allow me to explore further options and actually appreciate learning another language," and even a radical, "I am not convinced that there is a reason to have any language requirement at all... why emphasize this over other skills or disciplines?"

We predicted the complete opposite of these experimental results. Related to the first question, we wondered if entering students felt rushed to fill requirements and would take classes similar to those of their previous year (math, science, english, language). Apparently this is not the case.

Most people agreed with our predictions. Having multidisciplinary classes without the fear of them destroying a student's GPA liberates a student from taking narrowly focused courses. As one participant said, "Multidisciplinary is always very interesting and important for creating well rounded students."

We assumed students would appreciate writing-focused courses. Students were peeved by the idea of a mandatory writing course every year. "Not sure how I feel about this; I wouldn't want such a course to be mandatory," is a comment one student left regarding a mandatory writing course each year.

Most people love work experience! Some opponents said, "If it were required, no - senior year is hectic enough. But as an option, definitely." Others said, "YES YES YES," and, "I think that would be an excellent idea. Sometimes Bryn Mawr provides you with all these resources but then you are kind of on your own to figure out when to do it and how to fit it into your schedule...it'd be great if there was like a mandatory 6 week requirement where ALL seniors did an internship/externship. We actually sort of had something like this at my high school... for 3 days or so before graduation all the seniors had to "job shadow someone."

Now onto the faculty. We sent a survey geared towards their perspectives. We asked a question along the lines of the fourth question in the students' survey: "Do you think students would be interested in taking exploration courses that don't affect their GPA? ie. "DNA Through the Ages" (multidisciplinary science and history) "Medieval Architecture and Cities" (history, math, cities)".

And there was 100% approval. One professor said, "I think that offering such an option could stimulate interest, invite students to take academic risks, and legitimize exploration."

The three professors were more on our side. One even went so far as to say, "I don't think a language requirement should be emphasized over other skills/disciplines." By lowering the language requirement, students have a greater freedom to try other fields of study.

When asked,"Do you think it's beneficial for students to have a six week writing course every year geared towards their skills/needs?" they all responded the second highest form of agreement: Somewhat Beneficial. Similar to the students, they were concerned that the courses should be optional and also what department would be responsible for teaching these writing courses.

All professors approved the question, "Would you find that a six week internship/externship built into a student's schedule would be beneficial for their future?" Work experience is key, and although a good curriculum can help a students on her path, a very effective way is to get her out there to experience the "real world." Having this built into a student's schedule gives her flexibility between her final year(s) in college to the working world and serves as a good transition.

A service-based approach is one way to design an educational curriculum. It is a curriculum that combines intellectual learning in a classroom with experiential learning in the real world.

Student Survey (43 responses)

1. Would you apply to a school that is service based?

Yes/No

2. Would you feel comfortable/confident in the work environment?

Yes/No

3. Do you feel you would have the initiative necessary to benefit from this type of education

Yes/No

4. Would you be willing to be almost entirely self directed, in a limited environment?

Yes/No

5. Do you think this student participation in the work force will actually encourage increased service to society after graduation?

Yes/No

Professor Responses

The responses were overwhelmingly positive. Students seemed very confident that they would be comfortable with and interested in service learning. Although some students did not report a positive reaction, that is inevitable with any curriculum proposal.

1. Would you be willing to teach at a school that used a service based curriculum?

Yes/No

2. Have you ever participated in service learning?

Yes/No

3. Have you ever instructed a service learning course?

Yes/No

4. Do you believe service learning could be effective at Bryn Mawr?

Yes/No

The responses from professors were also very positive. Nearly all the professors felt that this type of curriculum could be effective at Bryn Mawr.

 Sample size: 100 students

1. Do you feel you learn better in a lecture-based or discussion-based class?

    In general, most people answered that they learn better in discussion-based classes.  About 25% of the people answered that they learned best in a lecture-based class. 

2. Do you feel that a classroom with bright colors (such as yellow and red) would be distracting or helpful to learning? Please elaborate.

            In general, the responses were split pretty evenly between distracting and helpful.  People that found it helpful commented that bright colors can brighten their mood and liven the atmosphere of the class.  People that found it distracting commented that in general they are easily distracted and thus bright colors would hinder their ability to pay attention to the professor. 

3.  Which classes do you participate in most? Explain why.

            Many people answered smaller classes that are discussion-based, such as their esem or language classes.  People also said that they participated in classes that they are most interested in. 

4.Do you learn best in the morning or the afternoon? Do you feel that a rotating schedule (one class occurs in the morning one week and in the afternoon the next week) would be beneficial?

            Most of the people answered that they learned best in the late morning or the afternoon.  They also responded negatively to the rotating schedule because it would be too complicated and they like a set schedule.  

5.What classroom environment do you learn best in? Do you feel Bryn Mawr classrooms meet your needs? Please explain why or why not.

            Many people were pleased with Bryn Mawr’s classrooms.  They thought that the newer classrooms, such as those in Dalton, had the best learning environment.  They also liked the smaller, more intimate classrooms.  Many people believed that the classrooms in Park were too large and dull. 

            Overall, we found that most students like smaller, more intimate classrooms with more discussion-based learning.  We found it interesting that people believed that bright colors would be distracting when research has shown otherwise.  This is because bright colors unconsciously facilitate in learning, thus while they would think bright colors would be distracting, it could actually help them.  If we were to run the survey again, we would have them distinguish which class they were from because the results of the survey did not distinguish between classes. 

Sample size: 4

Questions asked:

1. Do you enjoy teaching lecture based classes or discussion based classes? Please Explain.

2. Do you feel the environment of the classroom (ie: color of the room, lighting, cleanliness) impacts your teaching ability?

3. In your experience, what do you feel is the best teaching environment (ex: optimal lighting, colors, class size etc)?

4. Do you feel that it is easy to incorporate technology into your teaching (ex: using a Smartboard or Powerpoint presentations) and manipulate the temperature in Bryn Mawr classrooms? How do you feel these factors impact your teaching?

5. Do you feel a rotating schedule (where classes would meet at two different times -- ex: at 8:00 am and at 1:00 pm -- throughout the week) would work at Bryn Mawr? Do you feel it would be beneficial to students?

In general, professors enjoyed both discussion and lecture-based classes, depending on the material they are teaching.  This resulted in teachers wanting classrooms that were flexible and easy to manipulate.  Three out of the four found that the color, cleanliness, temperature, and lighting impacts their teaching ability.  They also prefer to have a smaller class (between 8-12 students), but they recognize that oftentimes it isn’t practical to have such a small class size.  Most professors find that a rotating schedule would be too complicated and interfere with other commitments (student meetings, faculty meetings, etc).