Inside Iowa State

Inside Archives

Submit news

Send news for Inside to inside@iastate.edu, or call (515) 294-7065. See publication dates, deadlines.

About Inside

Inside Iowa State, a newspaper for faculty and staff, is published by the Office of University Relations.

May 2, 2008

Educators brainstorm about undergraduate experience

by Erin Rosacker

On April 15, an invited group of Iowa State educators gathered to tackle the question of academic rigor in the undergraduate curriculum. The crowd of nearly 40 fleshed out ways to enhance and implement academic challenge and excellence at ISU.

"It's really important for the education of our students and for the persistence of our students to make the first-year experience challenging and yet interesting at the same time," said executive vice president and provost Elizabeth Hoffman. "It's not just about making it harder, because all that does is weed out students."

The event was coordinated by the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT). The discussion addressed the top educational goal in the ISU strategic plan -- "improve the rigor, challenge and international reputation of academic programs."

"President [Gregory] Geoffroy suggested that we identify a specific feature of the undergraduate experience, focus on it and solicit informed faculty opinion about it," said Michael Mendelson, University Professor in English and one of the organizers. "It only made sense to choose the No. 1 educational priority in the strategic plan.

"It was clear from today's discussion that there is plenty of investment in this topic and that ongoing attention to academic rigor has the potential to enhance the undergraduate experience at Iowa State. Of course, we must first determine what rigor means in the context of ISU and how best to approach it as an institutional goal, rather than as an ad hoc activity."

Participants were presented three questions:

  • What options hold the most promise for enhancing academic rigor at ISU?
  • How can we move forward with this discussion?
  • What is the best first step for pursuing this topic?

Participants were divided into smaller groups to discuss the questions. Suggestions and ideas were shared with the entire group and compiled by CELT staff. Mendelson said the planning group will distribute a summary report of the discussion to the participants, the Faculty Senate and ISU administrators.

"I believe our report will clearly recommend that the conversation about academic rigor at Iowa State should continue," Mendelson said.

Quote

"It was clear from today's discussion that there is plenty of investment in this topic and that ongoing attention to academic rigor has the potential to enhance the undergraduate experience at Iowa State. Of course, we must first determine what rigor means in the context of ISU and how best to approach it as an institutional goal, rather than as an ad hoc activity."

Michael Mendelson