Friday, January 16, 1998
Trial cluster class ‘unsuccessful,’ but still growing
REQUIREMENT Administrators plunge ahead despite logistical
problems with course prototype
By Brian Fishman
Daily Bruin Contributor
First-quarter logistical problems with the cluster course format
have left administrators unfazed during the trials of the new
general education reforms.
The first prototype class, "Global Environment: A
Multidisciplinary Perspective," began this year. Three year-long
cluster courses are slated for next year.
If a proposal to the Academic Senate is implemented fully,
year-long courses will be mandatory for all incoming freshmen.
Cluster courses are team-taught by several professors for two
quarters and have a seminar for the third quarter.
"The first quarter, I think we were relatively unsuccessful.
There’s a lot of logistics in organizing a three-quarter course
with six professors," said Richard Turco, a professor of
atmospheric sciences.
A special interim body, organized through the Academic Senate,
will determine what cluster classes to offer next year. The
committee meets in early February.
The proposed full-year courses are a response to students’
comments that general education is not giving them the
instructional depth they need, said Edward Berenson, history
professor and chair of general education.
"There was a general sense that we were not doing all that well
with general education," Berenson said.
Cluster classes are designed to meet the new interdisciplinary
goals of general education.
The cluster class format attempts to "integrate many disciplines
more broadly than has ever been done in the past," said Turco.
Clusters integrate different subjects by requiring professors
from seemingly disassociated disciplines to teach in the same
class. The goal is to force students to study subjects from
different perspectives, Turco said.
For example, "Global Environment" approaches environmental
problems from a biological, environmental and public policy
standpoint.
"The major benefit is that you are dealing with that specific
topic for nine months. I think that’s a tremendous benefit," said
Chuck Kopczak, head teaching assistant (TA) for Global
Environment.
Some Global Environment students were receptive to the new class
format.
"I like having different professors because you get an expert
from different fields," said student Lianne Chew.
The Global Environment experiment has not been without its
problems, though.
"(Global Environment) is taught, in total, by six faculty
members, which introduces some disruption," Turco said.
Kopczak agreed, explaining that because this is such an
innovative class, there will be growing pains.
"It went well in a relative sense, given it was the first time
the class was offered," Kopczak said.
Berenson capitulated that there were problems with global
environment, but he maintained that the class and the cluster
concept are good ideas.
"Lectures didn’t go together as well as they would have if there
were only one professor. When you are doing an experiment, there
are always kinks to work out," Berenson said.
Berenson did not seem to be bothered that 31 of 120 students
dropped the Global Environment course between the first and second
quarters.
"(The people that dropped) thought it was unorganized, that the
class was a waste of time, but the people that are back, they’re
eager to see what’s up this quarter," Chew said.
Kopczak, whose duties included much of the planning for Global
Environment, insisted that the problems were mostly logistical and
often a result of the class being held near the dorms in the
Northwest Campus Auditorium, as opposed to a more traditional site
on campus.
He also noted that the TA office did not have a computer until
the second quarter.
Turco emphasized that Global Environment is more important than
just a year long class and noted that Global Environment’s growing
pains will be worth struggling with in the long term.
"We are developing what may become a model for General Education
all over campus," Turco said.