December 4, 1970

THE SCARLET AND BLACK

PAGE 3

Bowman Says That Experimental Courses Should Be Devised

by lnci Bowman

Recently, Iattendeda confer
ence on the "model univer-
sity”, sponsored by the Dan-
forth Foundation. Although th’
ere were no agreements on
what a university is or should
be, the gathering was an ac
tasion on which various criti-
cisms of higher education
were brought into the open,
thus giving me a chance to
think certain issues over.
Moreover, I am aware of the
current interest at Grinnell in
using group independents as
“experimental" courses. In
some ways, I see definite ad-
vantages in incorporating
more ”experimental" courr
ses in the Grinnell curriculum
and I would like the members
of the college community to
consider the possibility.

It appears that many people
have given up on finding a
suitable definition fora liberal
arts education. Rather, the
tendency is to regard unders
graduate education as ful~
filling or trying to fulfill sev-
eral functions at the same
time. Commonly, the campus
is a place Where one an get
the background necessary to
go to a graduate or profes
sional school for further spe-
cialized training. Secondly,
the college offers general edu-

cation in a traditional sense,
which is intended to provide
the individuals witha means of
coping with the complexities
in life and of being effective
citizens. Finally, there is what
some people call the "baby-
sitting” function ofthe college
for those young people who
are on the campus for various
reasons. Among this group,
one might cite those who do
not have aspirations of climb-
ing up via graduate schools
or who have turned against
middle class values, but still
interested in some kind of
educational experience.

When one views Grinnell in
terms of the above generali-
zations, one would likely ads
mit that the college carries
out its functions well in pre
paring students for graduate
and professional schools, and
even providing them withgen~
eral education in the tradi»
tional sense, But what is the
college doing in meetingsome
student demands which can-
not be fulfilled by traditional
courses? The obvious answer
is, of course, that individual
or group independents have
been instituted in order to fill
this very gap. (At this point,
many critical students admit
that Grinnell is not such a
bad place after all.) However,

 

Season’s
Greetings

POWESHIE

 

—mmmwm

4th & Broad/5m 4 Wait - Erin/tall

 

Molar Bank m A W.»

‘il’hllm BANK

em

are the group independents
being employed satisfactorily
in making the individual an
active member and providing
a group experience, in line
with the desires of some stu-
dents on campus?

Defines ‘Ex erimentol’
P

Before discussing some ad‘
vantages of “experimental"
courses, I mightpoint outwhat
is generally understood by an
"experimental" course and in
what ways it may differ from
a traditional course. However,
this is not by any means a
rigid description, but rather
a heuristic model which may
be used as a guideline.

An "experimental" course
is intended for a group of ins
dividuals with common inter-
est in a subject matter, who
agree to study and come to-
gether to exchange ideas or
share their intellectual ex-
perience. It is expected that
each individual will contri-
bute to the group lain-ring by
coming prepared and partici-
pating in the discussions. Ads
mittedly, the loose structure
of the course makes it very
prone to corruption. In order
to avoid this, each person will
be responsible for preserving
the integrity of the group in
so far as it constitutes "a
community of learning". Thus
the faculty member may or
may not contribute more than
others. The bibliography and
the format of the course may
be determined by the students
and the faculty memberacting
jointly. Such a course is re
garded as being “experimen—
tal" in the sense that it will
be subject to constant evalua—
tion by the group in order to

Povnrrns

Fourth Avenue Fashions

Take home
that gilt

from Poyntor’s

THREE FLOORS
OF FASHION

GIR LS’TEEN
LADIES

FREE
GIFT WRAPPING

 

 

#406 a. new, 6.4mm
Eat a holiday dinner with us

TOM'S

SLONGHORN

“FINE FOOD IN A FRIENDLY WESTERN ATMOSPHERE”

 

meet students' educational
needs. Needless to say, there
will be no letter grades nor
any exams. Although, in gen-
eral, it is expected that ex?
perimental courses willcover
topics net included in the cur
riculum, there is no apparent
reason why some already ex-
isting courses may not be of-
fered as experimental cour~
ses, if the faculty member
and students choose to do so.
The main advantage of "ex~
perimental" courses is the
fact that they will constitute
an alternative form of eduta-
tion. The student will assume
a more active role in the
learning process and will
come to grips with collective
responsibility. I do not intend
to question here the value of
techniques employed in tradi~
tional courses--1earning from
lectures, writing papers, pres
paring for exams. Such tech-
niques may be quite approp-
riate for teaching certain dis‘
ciplines, and obviously are
well suited for preparing stir
dents for more specialized
graduate training. Neverthe‘
less, traditional courses gens
erally give rise to compartr
mentalized knowledge, andthe
idea of sharinga learning ex-
perience is secondary to the
purpose, if it is considered at
all. Therefore, ”experimen-
tal" courses, if carried out
satisfactorily, will provide a
different form of education--
a form which may corres-
pond better to the concept of
an ideal edumtion.

Moreover, wider employ-
ment of "experimental" cour-
ses in the curriculum will
make it possible for the col‘
lege to fulfill rather well
what i take to be one of its
functions; namely, educating
students who are uninterested
in either “making it" in the
system or going through a
process which subjects them
to constant competition and
imparts on them some “pri-
vate" knowledge. However,
the establishment ofthispoint,
whether or not the college
should accommodate such
non—conformist students, ap-
pears to be thorny as it ulti-
mately depends on how one
defines the role of an educa-

tional institution in the soc-
iety.

Let us consider, for the time
being, the conservative View
which denies that educating
nonrconformist students is a
legitimate function of higher'
education. Perhaps the mm<

'pus is not a place for them,

and thus "experimental" cou—
rses have no role in the curri~
culum. If this argument were
tenable, then college should
not admit students whoare not
willing to go through a tradi-
tional process of learning.

If the college were to open
its doors only to those who
are interested in conforming
to the system, then it would
become an institution serving
the needs of the establish
ment. Closing doors to non-
conformist students would in
fact be like sweeping under
the rug the problems that such
students bring to the campus,
which in turn reflectproblems
not generally seen from the
establishment point of view.
If one of the primary goals of
an educational institution is to
serve the society, then the
university must assume the
responsibility of educating a
wider group of individuals with
various interests. Therefore.
the education ofnonr conform-
ist students is as much a fun-
ction of the collegeasprepar-
ing individuals for graduate
specialization and providing
them with general education
in a traditional sense.

When we consider the scene
at Grinnell, it does notappear
to be a rigid institution. The
possibility of takingindepend-
ent courses and the recent
decision of the faculty to drop
the general education require-
ments :indicate the college's
intention to provide students
with an education ﬂexible to
their needs. Why could not we
take one more step and use
group independents as "ex-
perimental" courses? Ifmore
"experimental" courses were
to be included in the curricu-
lum, not only would the col-
lege be responding to the edu-
cational demands ofaparticu‘
lar group ofstudents, butalso,
more importantly, it would be
offering a different form of ‘
educational experience to all.

 

60 DAYS IN EUROPE

Summer 1971
July 1 - August 30

EUROPEAN ART 8. ARCHITECTURE TOUR

20 Day Seminar at Oxford

40 Day Continental Travel
(England, Denmark, Greece, Italy,
France, Holland)

4 hours academic credit

Write to: Dean Robert P. Ashley
Ripon College
Ripon, Wisconsin 54971

 

 

 

THE VERY BEST OF

THE 'GRINNEll HERALD- REGISTER

 

 

