Preliminary report to the faculty

On 30 November, we of the Core Curriculum Task Force made a preliminary report to the faculty on some of our recommendations for Caltech Core reform. The full preliminary report can be found here:

report-2Dec.pdf

Most of the discussion from the faculty involved the issues addressed in the appendix to the report where we outline some of the topics likely to generate controversy. Many of the faculty were sympathetic to the general philosophies proposed here.

A report to the full student body will be made on 3 December. Vigorous campus discussion will invariably ensue.

Why Peer Discussion Improves Student Performance on In-Class Concept Questions

Hey,

 

I found an interesting education research article in Science that is titled "Why Peer Discussion Improves Student Performance on In-Class Concept Questions."  I thought that this would be very relevant to our discussion about how to make Caltech core class teaching (and teaching at Caltech in general) more effective.

 

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/323/5910/122

 

-Neal Bansal

Smaller Core Lectures with More Emphasis on Personalized, Interactive, and Collaborative Learning

Hey,
I came across this very interesting article on efforts by MIT and other
universities to redesign their introductory science courses. While the
approach is resource-intensive and would require a large commitment from
Caltech, it seems to be far more effective at raising and sustaining
attendance, engaging students during lecture, and improving overall
student understanding of concepts. I remember that there had been talk
earlier of switching our Core classes to individual sections, with a more
individual approach to learning rather than the large lecture format. I
don't know whether Caltech would be willing to invest in this, but it
seems like an effective approach that we should at least consider. Here
is the New York Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/us/13physics.html?_r=1

-Neal Bansal