Instead, twice a week I am putting out lecture slides with voice-over (clumsily but determinedly recorded in a single take each, to provide an overview of the assigned chapter), give extensive individualized feedback on every student's homework post, and include detailed instructions and work sheets for projects - trying to make up for the informal questions and answers in class. And, to provide for some application opportunity, students chose a "Real World Connection" complex problem (climate change, access to health care, immigration, education reform) to explore how different disciplines interact with each other - and their Connection is revisited in every second homework assignment. So these are some images of my classroom:
Several times over the course of the semester, students use their phones or laptops to record themselves and others responding to specific questions, such as "how does your education apply to your current career?" (this one sets up a discussion about discipline-specific training, certification processes, and skills) and "how do you know what you know?" (discussing epistemology).
Every time I click on a video link, I see something revealing: a preschool classroom decorated with letters of the alphabet (and Bible verses...), a car illuminated by a dome light at the end of a shift, a plant break room with cleaning supplies and a snack machine, a living room littered with children's toys, an attic room in a family home, a dorm room. I get glimpses of students' lives as workers, family members, and students that the in-seat classes largely strip away. (Hello, 11 pm bathrobe attire!)
I see a tremendous amount of dedication to learning, an effort to build a bridge between personal and professional experience and classroom learning - this is, of course, much of what the Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies course seeks to facilitate (although the text book calls it "meta-cognition") - and, yes, I see just how wide the gap often is between the current position of the student and where this education, this college degree, is expected to carry the student.
The class has an interesting range of students enrolled: eight of the twenty-two are day students, young adults who mostly live on campus - they are just beginning their journey in Interdisciplinary Studies, and I am meeting with them once a week in-seat to make sure their foundations in the new major are strong. Another group are Bridge students - they are transferring credits to Coker from a tech school, and they need this class to fulfill a General Education requirement. My most confused, and often most engaged, group are the "Ladies of Marion" - returning students in the far rural reaches of South Carolina, who are completing course work toward their degree in Sociology or Business Management, and for whom the examples in the textbook, the extended writing expectations, and the theoretical underpinnings of interdisciplinarity are a challenge. How to bring all of them on board?
My range of what constitutes "college work" is expanding - I am reading posts with attention to what is there (as opposed to what is missing), and I try to enjoy the surprises. When I ask for an interview with a person who holds a two-year or four-year degree, and instead I am listening to a bright conversation about the experience of cosmetology school, I am open to that. I evaluate, again and again, what is a reasonable, relevant, and meaningful educational experience for each individual student.
The assignments I set up don't lend themselves to plagiarism, or to google research - and so the process of actually doing the work, even if the result does not reach the expectations, remains a valuable piece of the educational puzzle. Just having a go at the assignment yields something of value, for every participant. Does it lead to a passing grade? I don't know yet. Some of my students may be scrambling for those last points toward the end, and we will think of something - but clearly, we have all embarked on a journey of surprises.
