Spotlight on Engaged Learning

On Wednesday, Nov. 14, the Educational Affairs Committee (EAC) organized a panel on project-based and experiential learning at the College. Faculty members from an array of academic departments presented on hands-on teaching and learning techniques they have employed in their own classrooms.

Albert D. Mead Professor of Biology Jeremy Ward, Professor of Mathematics Frank Swenton and Associate Professor of Physics Noah Graham described their experience overseeing the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) Innovation Project course during J-term, focusing on applied sciences. STEM is a nationwide educational movement that seeks to improve education and experimentation in the sciences across the country. The J-term course project extended into the spring and summer, allowing students to further hone their ideas and designs and produce a thorough, engaging and hands-on final project.

Professor of Geology Peter Ryan and Coordinator for Community-Based Environmental Studies Diane Munroe described the Environmental Studies Senior Seminar as an opportunity for students to participate in “community-connected experiential learning,” citing the Fall 2010 seminar as an example.

Students in the seminar worked in collaboration with the Vermont Geological Survey and the Vermont Department of Health to map and study arsenic contamination in private wells in Vermont and worked with State Senator Virginia Lyons to design legislation addressing the problem. The legislation that students worked on passed in the Vermont legislature, but was ultimately vetoed by Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin.

College Professor David Colander argued that the College could implement an interdisciplinary “Liberal Arts Plus” plan to apply the principles of a liberal arts education to practical problems. Colander’s idea would involve the College awarding a certificate to students who completed a number of related Liberal Arts Plus classes and that participation by “Professors of the Practice” would be a crucial component of his plan. These professionals would serve as guest mentors in classes from and would “teach an applied portion of the course relating their experience to the students.”

Assistant Professor of History of Art and Architecture Sarah Laursen and Director of the College Museum Richard Saunders described their experience teaching “Gold, Sex and Death at the Museum,” a 200-level course in the History of Art and Architecture Department, explaining that the course is meant to introduce students to a museum’s many working parts by incorporating lectures by visiting museum curators, conservators, and critics.

Hannah Ostrow ’14, a HARC major and a student in “Gold, Sex and Death at the Museum” has found the structure and material of the course to be incredibly valuable.

“I think we’d all be better off if Middlebury incorporated more pre-professional coursework into the liberal arts model,” Ostrow wrote in an email. “I’m taking Gold, Sex, and Death in the Museum this semester alongside an art history theory course, which is as ‘pure’ liberal arts as it gets and I don’t feel that either is diminished because of the other.”

Discussions from the panel have the potential to influence EAC discussions surrounding internships for credit and an increase in experiential learning opportunities. Student appetite, too, is likely to drive the College to facilitate professional development through course offerings such as the ones discussed at the panel and the expansion of MiddCORE.