Part 2: [Growing, Connecting, Expanding] Future of PFS

Chapter 2, Parts A and B

Author names and email addresses:

Christina Sanchez: C.Sanchez@uncc.edu

Christine Robinson: CRobinson@uncc.edu

Erik Byker: ebyker@uncc.edu

Stephanie Otis: sotis@uncc.edu

Takiyah Amin: TakiyahAmin@uncc.edu

Draft date: February 12, 2016

Status Description: This is still in somewhat a rough draft phase. Needs some development still at the beginning. And there are some transition that need to be added.

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Part 2: [Growing, Connecting, Expanding] Future of PFS

I. Benefits of Expansion: The T-Shaped IndividualA. Curriculum and Course Integration

1. First Year Writing (inquiry) (Stephanie)2. CXC (Communication Across the Curriculum) (Takiyah)

B. Successful Examples of College Initiatives1. College of Education (Erik)2. College of Arts + Architecture (Takiyah)

Benefits of Expansion: The T-shaped Individual [Christina]

The initial implementation of UNC Charlotte’s Prospect for Success (PFS) Quality Enhancement

Plan established a platform for engaged dialogue among a cohort of faculty members from

various disciplines who teach classes in which 80% of the first year students are enrolled.

Combined with the required first-year seminar experience, all entering first-year students partake

in an academic journey to address three learning outcomes: academic success, inquiry, and self

and cultural awareness. The institution is poised to build upon the inroads made from the PFS

initial implementation, to strengthen the foundational building blocks of the program and expand

the framework to explicitly embrace the development of curricular and course design based on

the T-Shaped Individual.

The T-shaped individual (Brown, 1991) is commonly referenced as a metaphor indicating

the depth of one’s skills within a particular area (vertical line of the T) and one’s ability to apply

skills across a spectrum of fields (horizontal line of the T). The concept is commonly applied to

academic and business environments regarding types of employees and learners. In business, T-

shaped individuals “are deep problem solvers in their home discipline but also capable of

interacting with and understanding specialists from a wide range of disciplines and functional

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areas” (Daviding, 2008, para 3). T-shaped individuals drive innovation and creativity (Hansen,

M.T., n.d.). Institutions are charged to produce graduates imbued with these skills.

The call is for institutions to graduate T-shaped individuals. However, at large, institutions

of higher education are producing students with deep disciplinary knowledge without providing

the systems, or cross-disciplinary, knowledge that produces “adaptive innovators” (T-Summit

2016). Only an I-shaped individual emerges from the traditional model of discipline-specific

learning. The National Leadership Council for Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP)

(2007) issued a report outlining the outcomes for educational excellence necessary to meet the

realities of the twenty-first century (Appendix X). A re-envisioning of the traditional approach to

curricular and course formulation is necessary to advance student learning with an integrated

formula embeds core competencies throughout all courses. The T-shaped academic environment

is present in the course (e.g., mastery of a concept situated within a broader analysis such as

deconstruction, comparative review; inquiry, etc.), and in the curriculum (e.g., core learning

outcomes incorporated and defined through all academic programs such as (e.g., critical thinking,

problem solving, cultural understanding, communication, leadership, etc.). Ultimately, the T-

shaped individual obtains a comprehensive understanding of an academic discipline

complemented by one’s ability to transverse knowledge/skills.

Curriculum and Course Integration

The T-shaped curriculum is one that “goes very deep in one area, but sits on top of a

very strong liberal arts foundation . . ..” (Tucker, 2015, para15). Linkages are critical to students’

success as the skillset developed by T-shaped learners assists them in their career pursuits,

which according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, tend to include ten job changes within two

decades of graduation (Bahney, 2006). At UNC Charlotte, several academic initiatives are

advancing linkages within the curriculum. (i.e., First Year Writing, Communication Across the

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Curriculum). The authors propose expanding upon the work accomplished to explicitly adopt the

T-shaped model in our curriculum and course design.

PFS course design is poised to serve as a catalyst to establish cross-college,

interdisciplinary connections to maximize student learning and position UNC Charlotte graduates

for greater success. In addition to the highlighted linkages, additional opportunities exist through

the General Education Curriculum and its related learning outcomes and the Critical Thinking and

Communication program, among other academic initiatives. Two examples featuring the use of

the T-shaped curricular model in the College of Education and the College of Arts + Architecture

follow.

A1. First Year Writing (Stephanie)

First Year Writing (FYW) courses at UNC Charlotte serve as the foundation for writing

practice that continues as students progress through their studies. Just as importantly, FYW

courses introduce a variety of student learning outcomes that are core competencies throughout

the curriculum: rhetorical knowledge, critical reading, critical reflection, knowledge of conventions,

and composing processes. As such, FYW serves as a companion to Prospect for Success

(Prospect) in providing breadth of cross-disciplinary knowledge in the first year. FYW also has

connections to Prospect in that it is “inquiry-driven, process-based….and strives to help students

become adaptive writers” (University Writing Programs). Addressing similar goals in these two

first-year programs supports students’ ability to transfer knowledge and skills across their

educational experience. The goal of positioning Prospect for Success (Prospect) as a component

of students’ engagement in a T-shaped curriculum will require rich collaboration within Colleges

and departments and between departments and campus partners. Breadth in the first year

necessitates common goals and language among Prospect courses and their counterparts in

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First Year Writing and other introductory courses. Depth in the majors requires repeating and

building on that terminology and those pedagogies in a way that allows students to see the

connections between the foundation that has been laid and their increasingly sophisticated,

recursive practices in upper level courses. At all points, common vocabulary and shared

pedagogy help support transfer of skills for students. Though emphasis was given in Prospect

planning to developing shared language and common terminology, some variations and

uncertainty remain around the outcomes, their measures, and consistent implementation. Given

the connections between First Year Writing and Prospect on the horizontal (breadth) arm of the T,

there are opportunities to model Prospect collaborations and continued improvements and

implementations on existing initiatives in FYW. The library is uniquely positioned to support and

emphasize the connections between these initiatives. Given the emphasis on inquiry in FYW, and

looking forward to strengthening the links between Prospect, FYW, and critical thinking in the

general education curriculum, the model is particularly persuasive. With enthusiastic participation

from both sides, the library and FYW have a long history of close collaboration at UNCC, with

increasing innovation in recent years. Part of that shift has come from a change in focus from in-

person demonstrations for students to collaboration on course design and assignment planning

with FYW instructors. Partnerships between FYW and the library have sought to establish

connections and common ground in pedagogy and in the vocabulary we use to talk about student

outcomes. At the bottom of the inverse-T, FYW and instruction librarians work to get first–year

students to ask good questions. Both also emphasize the benefits of entertaining ambiguity, and

of privileging process and discovery over certainty and definitive answers. For the inquiry

outcome in particular, the relationship between the library and Prospect teams and courses could

work in a similarly successful way. The Prospect curriculum, First Year Writing, and library

instruction can all reinforce from different perspectives what questioning means, what it

accomplishes, and how students can engage with and apply these practices in different contexts.

All serve to support students’ continually evolving practice, laying the foundation for vertical

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(depth) activity in more sophisticated and specific contexts. Further connections, through

language and pedagogy, to other academic work (course-based and co-curricular) in the first-

year will add even greater strength to this foundation. Going forward, this breadth could support

the proposed addition of a new general education course in the second year to emphasize critical

thinking and transition to depth in the major. A common commitment to interdisciplinarity, a

history of collaboration, and shared pedagogies have contributed to the success of the library-

FYW partnership and its role in promoting successful, innovative inquiry work. Current and future

Prospect instructors and teams can look to First Year Writing, not just for common language and

goals around inquiry, but also for examples of interdisciplinary and collaborative planning, and

how both build towards Liberal Studies courses and Critical Thinking/Communication goals

across the curriculum.

A2. CXC (Communication Across the Curriculum) (Takiyah)

As a curricular initiative, Prospect for Success (PFS) is committed to engaging all UNC Charlotte

first-time, full-time undergraduate students in stimulating coursework that centers on a

commitment to success, inquiry and developing a robust cultural awareness. While all PFS

courses across departments are not the same, they are shaped by each campus unit to provide

opportunities for personal and professional growth that act as a foundation for students as they

continue pursuing their studies on our campus.

Similarly, the Communication Across the Curriculum program, known as CxC, is a curricular

initiative centered around ensuring that UNC Charlotte students develop robust and recognizable

proficiency in writing and speaking within the context of their chosen discipline. CxC departments

endeavor to come to consensus around communication norms in their fields, shape course 6

objectives to facilitate communication skill development, and implement best practices for

assessment. The goal is for CxC departments to develop a “communication enhanced curriculum

that includes oral and written communication outcomes and provides students with frequent

opportunities for writing and speaking across the curriculum.”

Both PFS and CxC are intended to improve approaches to learning and enhance necessary skills

for thriving beyond campus in an increasingly complex, global environment. The ability to write

and speak effectively is enhanced by one’s commitment to intentional engagement, sustained

curiosity and awareness of both self and others. PFS courses might benefit uniquely from

engaging with the CxC program to ensure that while their entering freshman students are

benefitting from assignments tied to the three interconnected goals of commitment to success,

inquiry and cultural awareness, the students are simultaneously involved in a range of both

writing and speaking activities within their PFS course. These writing and speaking activities

could be thoughtfully developed as a means by which students demonstrate not only increased

proficiency in communication but also the student learning outcomes of any specific PFS course.

Taken together, embracing the goals of a communication enhanced curriculum within the context

of PFS courses will help us ensure that students “write to learn and learn to write” and that they

“think more critically and creatively, engage more deeply in their learning, and are better able to

transfer what they have learned from course to course, and from context to context. Students

might then emerge from their PFS courses better equipped to take with them a set of

communication skills as well as ways of approaching learning that they can apply across the

remainder of the courses they take at UNC Charlotte.

B.Successful Examples of College Initiatives7

The FYW and CXC programs are strong examples of how UNC Charlotte is committed to

developing it undergraduates into T-shaped individuals. Both models are in alignment with the

vision of PFS, which is to provide a high-quality and robust undergraduate education that

supports the intellectual development of students who are intentional, curious, and culturally

aware. The authors examine two case studies of PFS initiatives at UNC Charlotte. The case

studies illustrate how colleges at UNC Charlotte have designed PFS to be responsive to the

needs of their learners while at the same time maintaining the integrity of the PFS goals. The first

case study describes and reports on the Inquiry Project in the College of Education as an

example of developing T-shaped individuals who are prepared to teach. The second case study

examines how the College of Arts and Architecture blends the PFS goals of intentionality,

curiosity, and cultural awareness within it PFS coursework. Both case studies includes

recommendations for improving and further building on PFS foundation within their programs.

B1. College of Education t-shaped model (Erik)

The PFS course in UNC Charlotte’s College of Education (COED) provides a solid

introduction for first-year undergraduate student into what might be a future career in teaching.

One critical component of good teaching is to understand and value what it means to inquire. If

the purpose of PFS is to prepare undergraduates to develop into T-shape individuals, then the

COED’s PFS course is preparing undergraduate to be effective T-shape individuals who become

teachers committed to inquiry. This section of the e-Book describes and reports on the PFS

Inquiry Project in the COED. In particular, the section examines the perceptions of the Inquiry

Project among former PFS students in the COED (n=136). The section concludes with a

discussion of the affordances and constraints of the project as well as future recommendations

for the evolution of the Inquiry Project.

Context

Many institutions of higher education--like UNC Charlotte--are increasingly providing

research opportunities and inquiry-based learning opportunities for their first-year undergraduate

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students. The emphasis on research and inquiry was birthed almost two decades ago when the

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching founded the Boyer Commission (1999),

which was tasked to formulate recommendations for improving undergraduate education. The

Boyer Commission’s (1999) report unpacks their 10 recommendations through what they term as

s “Academic Bill of Rights” (p. 12). The first two of the rights are specifically about inquiry and

research, they say that undergraduate students should have:

1. Opportunities to learn through inquiry rather than simple transmission of

knowledge.

2. Training in the skills necessary for oral and written communication at a level that

will serve the student both within the university and in postgraduate professional

and personal life. (p. 12)

Many first-year undergraduates find the transition to university academic culture difficult and

challenging. To support these students, universities are adopting pedagogies--like inquiry-based

learning--that immerse students in higher-order thinking and communication activities. Inquiry-

based learning (IBL) is a student centered pedagogy that fosters the development of logical

thinking and coherent writing through inquiry. IBL is about the rigorous construction of knowledge

and ideas rather than just the passive transmission of knowledge that is typified by traditional

lecture pedagogy. The PFS Inquiry Project is an example of inquiry based learning.

The Inquiry Project aligns closest to the PFS goal of curiosity. The following objectives

are part of the Inquiry Project in the COED: 1) develop and refine a research question; 2) locate

and analyze resources; and 3) draw conclusions, insights and ideas. For the actual Inquiry

Project assignment, the COED PFS students choose their inquiry topics. They then develop a

research question and outline a research plan for answering their question. University wide

systems--like the Atkin’s librarians--provide additional support for the Inquiry Project. The

university librarians, for instance,host “how-to” workshops for PFS students demonstrating the

ways to locate, identify, and select salient, peer-reviewed literature. PFS students are also

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provided with information about resources like the First Year Writing (FYW) program. The

COED’s PFS professors, graduate assistants, and undergraduate teaching assistants work with

the COED PFS students in formulating and refining their research questions. The COED PFS

students’ Inquiry Projects are further honed through opportunities to make classroom visits to

area schools in order to observe what life is like in the classroom. At semester’s end the COED

PFS students present their inquiry projects in written and verbal formats.

Conceptual Framework

Inquiry is a critical component of good teaching. Inquiry reflects the constructivist process

of creating meaning. Good teachers understand that true learning happens when the learners are

guided by their own questions and curiosities in order to construct meaning about the world. John

Dewey (1933) in his classic text How We Think, explained the process of inquiry like this, “If you

have doubts about how learning happens, engage in sustained inquiry: study, ponder, consider alternative

possibilities and arrive at your belief grounded in evidence” (p.142). The field of education values

inquiry both as a personal competency and as a pedagogy to guide learners. Thus, the COED

Inquiry Project helps future teacher candidates embrace their own inquiries about teaching while

at the same time introduces the process of inquiry as a power pedagogical strategy for learning.

The inquiry process is best understood when it is grounded in a conceptual framework.

One helpful conceptual frame is Marlene Scardamalia and Carl Bereiter’s (2006) Knowledge

Building Theory, which is the constructivist belief that people create meaning from their learning

tasks. The COED PFS inquiry project reflects the process of knowledge building by tapping into

students curiosity and guiding students into their development of lifelong learning skills related to

research and drawing conclusions. Scardamalia and Bereiter (2006) developed Knowledge

Building Theory from their research on how young learners construct meaning and build

knowledge in school classrooms. Knowledge Building Theory offers a lens to the process of

inquiry and has three important features. First, knowledge building is grounded in inquiry-type

questions about problems or issues. The inquiry-type questions should be authentic, challenging,

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and push a learner’s existing knowledge. Second, knowledge building is supported by artifact

creation.. Artifacts provide the evidence for further advancing existing knowledge. According to

the Scardamalia and Bereiter (2006), knowledge building artifacts have an epistemic quality

whereby the artifact creation leads to additional questions, which leads to the construction of

more knowledge. Epistemic artifacts—according to Knowledge Building Theory—have a multiplier

effect and accelerate the pace of knowledge creation. Third, knowledge building includes

community. There is collective quality to knowledge building and knowledge is a public good for

the community to share. In sum, the process of inquiry includes: 1) inquiry driven questions, 2)

epistemic artifacts, and 3) a community (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2006).

Method

What is the impact of the Inquiry Project among UNC Charlotte students who have

completed PFS in the COED? This larger research question drives the methodology of this case

study of PFS in the COED. Three sub-questions follow from this larger research question:

1) What are the perceptions of the COED’s PFS Inquiry Project among students who

participated in the COED’s PFS program?

2) How do the former COED PFS students define the process of inquiry?

3) To what degree, if any, have the COED PFS students applied what they learned from

their Inquiry Project to other course work and/or to clinical teaching work in schools?

The participant sample for this study are former PFS students in the COED (n=136). The

research questions are examined by looking at three sources of data: the inquiry projects,

interviews, and a survey. The study’s data were collected from former PFS students who

completed one of COED PFS programs from Fall 2012 through Fall 2015.

Findings

Perceptions. The study’s participants had positive perceptions of the Inquiry Project.

Over two-thirds of the participants responded affirmatively to the survey statement: The Inquiry

Project in the Prospect for Success course has been beneficial to me throughout my degree

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program. Almost 84 percent of the participants either agreed or strongly agreed that the have

used inquiry skills in other university classes since completing the Prospect for Success course.

More that 80 percent of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that because of the Prospect

for Success course they know how to conduct an inquiry based research project. In response to

the statement, “I am inquirer,” almost 86 percent selected agree or strongly agree. About 94

percent of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that the they were able to apply the

research skill they learned from the Inquiry Project to other classes. Qualitatively, the participants

also had positive perceptions about the impact of the the Inquiry Project. Here are some of the

comments that participants shared about what they remembered from the Inquiry Project:

● I remember the giant brown paper bag I made and the creativity I was able to put into it. I

remember the fact that STEM schools are beneficial to students now and for their future. I

remember pushing myself to make my own lesson plan and finding lots of creative ideas

all over the internet.

● Choosing and narrowing down my question, researching various sources, creating an

annotated bibliography, and creating a project to display my findings.

● The Inquiry Project was like a seed for me in that it it established the foundation as an

education major to be able to see my potential as a future teacher.

● The project was like getting training wheels off of your bike, because you learn how to

conduct research (like learning how to ride a bike) then you can apply those skills to your

education (like riding without training wheels.)

Defining Inquiry. While the participants had positive perceptions of the Inquiry Project,

their definitions for inquiry were muddled. The participants identified the inquiry process as

involving several components, including the development of research habits like going to the

library, searching databases to find resources, writing, and presenting research conclusions. The

inquiry process habits were addressed in the participants’ responses in focus group interviews

and on the survey. Figure 2 provides a graphic of the participants’ perception of what the inquiry

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process included. The figure includes broken lines and arrows. The broken lines are indicators for

the lack of sequential connection in the participants’ responses related to the skills they identified.

For example, the participants did not refer to the inquiry process as a list of sequenced skills.

Rather, they discussed each skill separately, but in the context of a larger inquiry process. The

arrows on the figure represent how the course professors discussed the inquiry process

sequence in the assignment description and in other inquiry-based learning documents.

Participants did refer to the collaborative aspect of writing and presenting so there is a curved line

that reflects their perceptions this way.

Figure 1. The participants’ perception of the inquiry process.

Discussion

Engaging in Inquiry, but not the Process

While the COED students are able to identify what is inquiry, they are muddled about

the inquiry process. Out of the findings of this study, emerged a conceptual inquiry-based

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learning model called the Inquiry Processing Cycle, which represents the inquiry process as a

cycle of learning. It is a model that helps to convey the inquiry process both in a descriptive and a

graphic form (see Figure 1). Curiosity is at the core of the Inquiry Processing Cycle. Curiosity is

at the core of how inquiry is birthed in the ideas, issues, or problems that spark the knowledge

construction of learners (Dewey, 1944; Root-Bernstein & Root-Bernstein, 2012). Curiosity and

inquiry need not be solitary activities. The Inquiry Processing Cycle depicts how collaboration is

a key component in encouraging and fostering inquiry. Collaborating with others is a way to

cultivate more ideas, develop deeper questions, and create artifacts that represent products of an

inquiry.

Curiosity and collaboration are the mechanisms for an inquiry’s momentum. Girded by

these mechanisms, the following six actions make up the Inquiry Processing Cycle: 1) research

questions; 2) investigate resources; 3) draft conclusions; 4) create writing; 5) present artifact; and

6) reflect on applications. The chapter will move to a short description of each action in the Inquiry

Processing Cycle.

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Figure 1. Graphic representation of the Inquiry Processing Cycle.

Action Components of the Inquiry Processing Cycle

1. Research Questions: Questioning is the way to hone in on one’s curiosity. In the

Inquiry Processing Cycle, questioning is the starting action component of the model.

Developing strong questions is an active process of research and refinement.

Scardamalia and Bereiter (2006) assert that strong questions are developed and

redeveloped to “elicit real ideas” (p.117). As Figure 1 shows, questioning involves

research in the verb sense of that word rather than research as just a noun or adjective.

To research a question is to identify if one’s question has enough definition that a person

can begin to inquire about it. Thus, refining is also part of the process of researching a

question. Refining means that the learner narrows in on the topic and idea of the

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question. The question refinement process is an investment in time, but it is an essential

part of the construction of knowledge through inquiry-based learning.

2. Investigate Resources: Investigate resources is another component of the Inquiry

Processing Cycle. This component is related to researching and refining questions as

learners begin to narrow down the topic of their inquiry. Yet, to investigate resources also

includes the process of identifying reliable and credible sources. Investigate resources

means going to the library to find books and journal articles related to the inquiry

question. It goes beyond just finding resources to address the inquiry question,

investigate resources means interrogating the resources. This is especially important with

digital resources, like websites and databases, in order to distinguish whether the

resource is accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Questions that learners should ask to

determine if a source is credible include:

○ Who is the author and does she or he cite their sources?

○ When was the resource published? How current is the source?

○ What is the author’s purpose for writing?

○ Is the author and resource affiliated with a valid and reputable institution?

The final part of investigating resources is to closely read and examine what the

resources have to say about the inquiry question. In this way, the investigate resources

action of the Inquiry Processing Cycle is akin to data collection.

3. Draft Conclusions: After the resources are collected, interrogated, and examined, the

next action component is to draft conclusions. To draft conclusions means that the learner

moves to synthesizing and summarizing the findings from the resources that were

investigated. Drafting conclusion also involves a critical analysis of the findings. The

process of drafting means that preliminary conclusions are drawn from the resources. The

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conclusions provide a rough sketch of the discoveries that the learner made from

investigating resources.

4. Create Writing: Another action component of the Inquiry Processing Cycle is to

create writing. The draft conclusions and create writing are closely linked together and

are the two components that often require the largest investment of time when it comes

to inquiry. They are also the two components that reflect the collaborative process of

inquiry as the learner mulls over and shares with others. To create writing does not

necessarily mean writing a traditional research paper. There are a variety of ways to

create a product that explains the findings and conclusions from an inquiry. Yet, almost

all these products incorporate writing in some way. Writing is thinking on paper. It is a

creative endeavor, which captures what a learner gained or discovered as the learner

engaged with the inquiry question.

5. Present Artifact: Once the writing is finished and encapsulated into an artifact, there

should be a space for the learner to present the artifact of inquiry. Presenting the artifact

is an important action component of the Inquiry Processing Cycle. It is another form of

communicating—often in a verbal way—what the learner has discovered and constructed

related to the original inquiry question. Present artifact is also a space in which a learner

has the opportunity to answer questions about his or her inquiry journey. Thus, it is best

that the present artifact action component include an audience of some sort.

6. Reflect on Applications: The Inquiry Processing Cycle would not be complete without

a space for reflection. Reflect on applications is the last action component of the cycle,

but it does not mean the inquiry process stops after the learner reflection. Rather,

reflection can often help to inform future inquiry questions. In the field of education, it is

important that applications are linked to the reflection. Learners, who are preparing to

become teacher, benefit from engaging in reflection that applies to the future teaching

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practice. The evolving nature of inquiry based learned is often frustrating to young

learners because it keeps leading to more questions (Junisbai, 2014). Reflecting on

applications can help to mediate that frustration as learners identify the applicability of

their inquiry journey as well as discover further pursuits of inquiry related to their initial

question.

Recommendations. The Inquiry Project is a promising assignment to aid in the

development of T-Shape individual. The Inquiry Processing Cycle is an instructive model for

teaching about the inquiry process. The model captures the action components that make up

inquiry process. Likewise, it also shows how curiosity and collaboration are at the core of the

cycle. It is recommended that educators use this cycle when discuss the contours of the inquiry

process with their students.

Anothe recommendations for the future include a stronger integration between the

Cultural Awareness project and Inquiry Project. Here is what PFS instructors said to that point:

● “think by spending some class time discussing cultural diversity and the implications

that many individuals from various backgrounds encounter. By helping them build

their background knowledge, then you could engage them in class/small group

dialogues of how their area of interest would be impacted/implemented in a

classroom of diverse learners. (e.g., If your research topic was focused on

collaborating with families then engage in dialog based on how would that vary with

diverse parents). I feel there would be a greater impact by having more class

discussions around cultural diversity than just having students write about it. We just

need to help build background knowledge to help them feel more comfortable in

engaging in these academic discussions.”

● I also think it would be helpful to walk students through the process of "inquiry" on a

more step-by-step process. Coming out of high school, I feel they have the "lets pick

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a topic so we can get the project completed as quickly as possible" rather than taking

the time to engage in the process of inquiry.”

● I would like to see more rigor be brought to the research process. Students located

resources through the library website, but didn't seem to really engage with them.

Another thought is maybe to present students with, say, five large themes from the

course, have them pick a theme that interests them, and then develop a research

question that falls under that theme.

● If we adopted the theme idea, then one or more themes could invoke the idea of

cultural diversity. A perhaps less creative way to do it might be to say that their

research question has to address diversity in some way, shape, or form.

In conclusion, while the Inquiry Project has promising outcomes among the PFS students in COED, it

can alway be tinkered with in order to improve it. A stronger integration of cultural awareness and more

explicit instruction related to the Inquiry Processing Cycle are two natural pathways toward such

improvement.

B2. College of Arts + Architecture….(possible) use of language and skills  through upper level

courses (Takiyah)

Beyond the PFS curriculum, faculty have an opportunity to continuing supporting students in

applying the three interconnected goals of commitment to success, inquiry and cultural

awareness within their courses. Faculty might choose, as an intentional and best practice, to

continue using the goals in developing course objectives overall or for specific courses activities

and assignments. Additionally, making frequent reference to the PFS goals and experience will

remind students of the goals as central to the ways in which they are encouraged to approach

their studies at UNC Charlotte. Faculty might choose to reference goal setting (an aspect of

commitment to success) as a critical part of developing the steps of completing a research project

while also encouraging students to explore issues of interest and concern in their work. Further

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still, faculty can frame course assignments and projects as opportunities for developing greater

awareness of both self and other, embedding critical reflection at the beginning and end of an

assignment to allow students time to think through how completing the work deepened their

knowledge. The critical, or most essential point is that in order for PFS to shape the

undergraduate experience, frequent references to the three core goals must be made throughout

any given curriculum -- otherwise, students are introduced to the frameworks in the first year with

no explicit opportunity to continue developing in these areas for the duration of their studies.

Faculty who are not teaching in the PFS curriculum, then, have a responsibility to learn about the

program, work to embed these ideas into their courses and are encouraged to, at a bare

minimum, make frequent use of the PFS terminology. The emphasis here is not to radically

change student learning objectives or individual course outcomes but rather to encourage

students to begin thinking across the content and skills-development opportunities offered by their

courses as informed by the goals of PFS.

In the College of Arts + Architecture, the department of dance embeds the PFS goals

within the DANC 1201 - Foundations in Dance course. This cornerstone course was deemed as

most appropriate by department faculty for introducing the core ideas of PFS to incoming

students. Examples of PFS assignments from the department can be found in Appendix A. After

working with these assignments for some time, some lessons have been gleaned that may be of

use:

● It’s critical to consider how the goals of PFS are introduced to students. Rather

then being referred to as a separate task or add-on, including PFS in the syllabus

and demonstrating in that document which assignments are tied to PFS goals

gives students a pathway by which to understand the importance of course -

related activities

● Framing the goals in a manner that makes them accessible to students is

especially important. While students may generally have an understanding of

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commitment to success as a goal-setting and work related endeavor, the other

goals may need additional time to clarify and discuss. Notably, the dance

department has embraced an understanding of cultural awareness that asks

students to consider their own relationship to and responsibility within the larger

community -- of the college, the department, the campus and as members of

society. Cultural awareness then is not shorthand for diversity as much as it

encourages students to reflect on their own perspectives and relationships with a

larger whole and to consider how they might contribute meaningfully to society

through their chosen academic discipline. Similarly, framing inquiry as an open-

ended, unfolding process that leads to more questions helps students embrace

this goal as one that is about process as opposed to final product. Inquiry allows

students to learn about the process of research, refine their ability to shape

research questions and explore questions and phenomena that they have

perhaps taken for granted. Inquiry becomes a mindset and a willingness for deep

and meaningful exploration as opposed to merely the completion of steps or

procedure.

(assignment examples: See Appendix A

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