{"id":63771,"date":"2010-11-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-freshmen-tackling-grand-challenges\/"},"modified":"2010-11-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-11-15T00:00:00","slug":"uri-freshmen-tackling-grand-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2010\/11\/uri-freshmen-tackling-grand-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 freshmen tackling Grand Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tNew courses prompt students to think about global issues<\/p>\n


\nKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 November 15, 2010 — Freshmen at the 溏心vlog免费B站 have been examining complex global issues from the first day of classes this year as part of a new series of courses called Grand Challenges. <\/p>\n


\nThe 28 interdisciplinary Grand Challenges courses have small enrollments and are taught by full-time faculty members. The classes focus on global challenges such as poverty, diversity, hunger and climate change, and they have intriguing titles like \u201cMedia and Race Relations,\u201d \u201cThe Weight is Over,\u201d \u201cThe Future of Families,\u201d \u201cHeavy Metal,\u201d and \u201cEarth Gone Mad?\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\u201cWe are paying particular attention to the first-year experience,\u201d said Jayne Richmond, dean of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s University College. \u201cFreshmen come with a lot of self doubt and fear in the academic arena, and providing them with both challenge and support is enormously important. They need some help with knowing how to be a college student, and these classes provide that while also getting them to think about contemporary global issues.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nMost Grand Challenges courses are paired with a writing or communications course, so the discussion and assignments in the paired course incorporate the content covered in the Grand Challenges course.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cThat aspect has been particularly well received,\u201d said Richmond. \u201cSome of the students have said, \u2018I love that what I\u2019m learning about in one class is being reflected in the other.\u2019 It\u2019s a wonderful way to really understand the topics we are covering.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe courses were developed as a result of a request by 溏心vlog免费B站 Provost Donald DeHayes to create innovations in general education classes. The initiative was spearheaded by Rachel DiCioccio, associate professor of communications studies, and Vice Provost Laura Beauvais, with invaluable assistance from Vice Provost Dean Libutti. It was established by the 溏心vlog免费B站 General Education Task Force to enrich the first year experience by giving students an opportunity to learn through an interdisciplinary lens.<\/p>\n


\nWhile the classes have forced students to think in different ways, they have also been a challenge for faculty members, many of whom had never taught freshmen before. Each of the faculty instructors became Grand Challenges Fellows and agreed to participate in a series of workshops last spring, the first of which focused on strategies for teaching freshmen. Other workshops covered co-teaching and establishing learning outcomes across classes.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI’ve been struck with the intelligence and energy of my students,\u201d said President Emeritus Robert L. Carothers, who is teaching a leadership course. \u201cI haven’t been in the classroom for more than 30 years, but I’m just dazzled by these kids.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAdded Kathleen Gorman, director of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Feinstein Center for a Hunger-Free America: \u201cI think what is most exciting about the Grand Challenges can be summed up in the words of one of my students who at first wasn\u2019t sure about the course, but recently commented \u2018now I realize, it\u2019s all about challenging me, as a person, to think and work harder, and it feels good.\u201d <\/p>\n


\nThe University has issued a request for proposals seeking suggestions from faculty members for the development of new Grand Challenges courses for the fall of 2011.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New courses prompt students to think about global issues KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 November 15, 2010 — Freshmen at the 溏心vlog免费B站 have been examining complex global issues from the first day of classes this year as part of a new series of courses called Grand Challenges. The 28 interdisciplinary Grand Challenges […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63771\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}