91探花

Discovery Core for first-year and pre-major students at 91探花Bothell

First-year students at 91探花Bothell are immersed in a curriculum designed both to inspire creativity and to bridge the transition to the rigor of college-level academic work. When the Bothell campus added freshmen and sophomore students in 2006, the campus also created the to house support services for first-year and pre-major students. Then CUSP launched the , an innovative core curriculum that welcomes students into small seminars and gets them academically engaged through creative course offerings such as 鈥淭he Biography of a Commodity,鈥� 鈥淯topias and Dystopias,鈥� 鈥淔ood and Social Justice鈥� and 鈥淒reaming.鈥�

Bringing resources to students, rather than sending students to resources: While the Discovery Core classes are innovative, so is the curriculum鈥檚 approach to bringing student success strategies and support into the classroom. The faculty who teach first-year seminars break the ice between new students and the people dedicated to supporting them by, for example, asking the director of the writing center to spend an hour in their classroom modeling how to do a deep read of a scholarly article. 鈥淭he literature suggests that this student body doesn鈥檛 do 鈥榦ptional鈥� very much,鈥� says CUSP Program Manager Ismaila Maidadi. 鈥淭hey were in second or third grade when 鈥楴o Child Left Behind鈥� was passed, and they鈥檝e been taught to the test. Because most resources are optional, those things we think are crucial we are moving into the classroom. We want students to be able to easily and quickly access any resources they need.鈥�

A curriculum that engages both students and faculty: The Discovery Core offers new students a way to have fun, make friends and learn how to navigate the challenges of college life while also fulfilling general education requirements. But the program is designed to inspire its instructors, too. 鈥淲e like to think the Discovery Core seminars are not just a rich opportunity for students, but also for faculty,鈥� says CUSP director Leslie Ashbaugh. In a competitive selection process, faculty from across campus apply to teach in the Discovery Core. Lecturer Kristy Leissle says, 鈥淭he openness CUSP has had to my proposals for content鈥攚hich range from chocolate to science fiction鈥攔eally spurs my pedagogical creativity. In the Discovery Core, I am teaching in an open and welcoming environment where innovation is encouraged.鈥�

High-impact experiences make learning meaningful and memorable: The Discovery Core curriculum deliberately and explicitly incorporates what the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) calls 鈥�,鈥� educational experiences with a demonstrated effect on student retention and engagement. Faculty coordinator Jennifer Atkinson, a lecturer in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences (IAS), sees this as a hallmark of the Discovery Core. 鈥淪tudents aren鈥檛 shut away in their classrooms,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey go out into the community for field trips, service learning, research in the wetlands or North Creek Forest; they interview workers in local industries or activists in the streets; and we regularly host guest speakers from the community in our classes.鈥�

Collaboration is the key: CUSP is a team effort from the location of staff offices to the development of curricula. In order to help students find what they鈥檙e looking for and foster collaboration, the Bothell campus brought partners such as CUSP, academic advising, veterans services, study abroad, disability support services and career services into one . The Discovery Core is also a joint effort. When faculty and staff met last summer to revamp the curriculum, they were joined by leaders from the Teaching and Learning Center, the Quantitative Skills Center, Career Services, Institutional Research and several other units. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to have all the key stakeholders in the room,鈥� says Ashbaugh. As faculty coordinator, Atkinson ensures collaboration聽continues throughout the academic year, and that the Discovery Core faculty meet regularly to discuss teaching best practices.

Student success in three stages: The Discovery Core is designed to help students transition from a top-down high school model of learning to a student-centered, inquiry-based model of learning, says Ashbaugh. The curriculum tackles this challenge in three phases:

• Discovery (fall): Students learn about campus resources and college-level academic skills, from interpreting written sources to reading a syllabus
• Research (winter): Students build on discovery skills while focusing on developing new research skills, such as critical analysis and facility with academic citation standards
• Reflection (spring): Students write about their intellectual development, reevaluate which majors best suit their skills and interests, and curate a portfolio of their work to present at a spring showcase

Overall, the Discovery Core sequence is designed to prepare first-year and pre-major students to take full advantage of their college

education. 鈥淢ost students will change their minds about what they want to focus on,鈥� says Ashbaugh. 鈥淭he whole point is to expose them to a rich environment and a diverse set of ideas and experiences, and hopefully by second year they鈥檙e finding a pathway for themselves that includes study abroad, service learning, undergraduate research and other high-impact opportunities we offer on campus.鈥�

Wrapping resources into assignments: The faculty and student services staff who design the Discovery Core curriculum intentionally integrate learning outside of the classroom into class assignments. For example, one early low-stakes writing assignment puts students in touch with a variety of resources while emphasizing the value of drafting and revising. After reviewing first drafts, their instructor uses class time to schedule one-on-one meetings with each student to offer feedback. 鈥淎pproaching a faculty member can be intimidating,鈥� says Ashbaugh. 鈥淭his breaks that barrier.鈥� Students are then sent to the writing center, and asked to fill out a form reflecting on their experience鈥斺�淣ot only about using the service, but also imagining how it could be useful to them going forward,鈥� says Ashbaugh. Students then go through a round of peer review before submitting the paper again for a final grade.

The ePortfolio is a communication tool, workspace and archive: Throughout the Discovery Core, students build an that is more than an academic archive鈥攊t鈥檚 designed to become a snapshot of their curricular and co-curricular life throughout four years.

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Read the full Provost report on how to .