Division I plan
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In fall 2006, the Division I plan was submitted for consideration to the Educational Policy Committee by the Re-Radicalization of Hampshire College. It is notable because Hampshire College is an experimenting which was the first of its kind in the country and has had significant impact on the direction of higher education in the United States. This proposal hopes to breach the gap between more traditional structure of higher education (distribution requirements, major, senior thesis) and the radical notions of learning that were characteristic of Hampshire when it opened in 1970.
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[edit] A Proposal for a New Division I Program
[edit] Introduction
It has always been a tenet of Hampshire College that the best learning occurs outside of the classroom, and this Division I program supports that belief. It emphasizes the key quality of a good scholar, one who does not simply find answers, but rather asks questions that deepen one’s understanding of a subject. Many scholars agree that a person cannot do good research without a good question. This program will prepare students to be successful scholars by helping them develop inquiry early in their college careers. It will give purpose to the advising system during the first year because students and advisors will work together to develop something that is academically relevant and motivates the student.
[edit] Overview of the Proposal
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- Division I centers around five higher-level questions
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- One question relevant to the philosophy of each school
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- A quantitative or scientific question
- An expressive/artistic question
- A question having to do with cognition
- A social/political/historical question
- A philosophical question
- Students develop questions from the time of admittance and throughout Division I, similar to how Division II contracts evolve throughout the process of Division II
- The advisor works with students to develop these questions and explore answers or create more specific, complex questions
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- An added aspect of the tutorial would be a “question workshop”, where students help one another develop their questions
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- Promotes the value of student collaboration
- Students complete at least one independent study by the end of Division I
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- Can be mentored independent studies
- Do not need to be confined to the semester calendar
- Division I is comprised of eight evaluated activities
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- Work must be completed within each school of thought
- At least one of these activities must be an independent study
- Division I is more similar in structure and evaluation to Divisions II and III, which allows for a more fluid transition between the Divisions and a more cohesive undergraduate experience
- Fulfills the mission of Hampshire by providing opportunities for independent work, close collaboration between students and faculty, well-directed guidance by advisors, and a learning environment with a strong emphasis on inquiry and alternative learning methods
[edit] The Mission of Hampshire College
Hampshire College was created to be an institution that offers an alternative, student-initiated learning environment. Its mission statement professes that the college is dedicated to “self-initiated, individual programs of study negotiated with faculty mentors…students' active participation in original research…[and] promot[ing] inquiry-based learning and teaching”. In 2002, a new Division I program was implemented that was widely viewed to be detrimental to this vision. In the spring of 2004, the Re-Radicalization of Hampshire College was formed by numerous students, faculty, staff, administrators, and alumni to voice concerns about the greater ramifications of removing independent work from the Division I program. Since its inception, the group has organized to develop a viable alternative that allows Hampshire to stay true to its unique mission statement.
[edit] The New Division I Plan
This proposed Division I program centers around the belief that good learning is not about knowing all the right answers, but rather knowing how to ask good questions. To develop better modes of inquiry, Division I will center around five “questions”, which are relevant to each of the five schools of thought. These will take the form of a quantitative or scientific question, an expressive/artistic question, a question having to do with cognition, a social/political/historical question, and a philosophical question. The questions will begin to be developed over the course of the summer preceding enrollment at Hampshire and throughout the Division I process.
Students will need to have exposure (a class, individual independent study, small group independent study, or other learning activity) to each of the five schools, which will help them discover answers to their questions or better, more specific questions. The point is not to discover the “right answer”, but for students to use these questions as a basis to explore the schools of thought and develop the ability to be critical thinkers.
Division I will be complete when students have sufficiently approached, struggled with, and potentially answered these questions or come up with more specific, advanced questions which may help guide the way to Division II. A portion of this exploration will take the form of independent work, which students will design and complete at some point during Division I.
[edit] The Logistics
Once admitted to Hampshire, students will receive an informational packet about Hampshire and its structure. In this packet, they will be offered guidance on the questions that they will be expected to develop, with examples of good questions and the general categories the questions should fall into so that they encompass the five schools. In the second informational packet, students will be asked to submit a rough set of questions along with their course selections. These will be given to their advisor so that they can get a sense of their advisees before they arrive. This is not dissimilar to the letters that incoming students are currently asked to write to their advisors.
Similar to the current system, students will still take tutorials in the first semester, which will be taught by a professor who will act as their advisor for Division I. The purpose of a tutorial is not only to teach on specific subject matter, but also to give students the tools they need to be successful in the Hampshire system, such as strong reading and writing skills and the ability to complete basic research. In this proposed Division I system, advisors may also choose to make some portion of these tutorials into a “question workshop”, where students can work together to achieve higher levels of inquiry. Encouraging student collaboration in this way will help reinforce the kind of academic interaction and cooperation that students already naturally engage in outside of the classroom. By formalizing this discourse, these kinds of interactions may be more academically productive.
Outside of the tutorials, advisors will work with their advisees individually to polish and refine their questions. The questions can develop out of existing class work, individual independent studies, small group independent studies, mentored independent studies, or any of a variety of methods that can be negotiated on an individualized basis. Questions will evolve throughout Division I, similar to how Division II and Division III contracts change throughout the process.
The completion of independent studies will be a key component of the Division I program. Independent work can take place at any point during Division I and does not need be limited by the semester system (for example, a student could design an independent study in October, and then work on it from November to February) . Partner or small group independent studies will also be encouraged. Students will complete independent work with the assistance of professors and/or Division III students, who can act as mentors, readers, or editors, depending on the nature of the independent study and the needs of the students and professors. Upon completion, students will receive evaluations which will be a part of their academic transcripts. In this program, first year students will be strongly encouraged to remain on campus during January Term in order to work on their independent projects or take courses relevant to completing Division I.
Students will pass Division I when they and their advisors determine that they have achieved an appropriate level of inquiry, which will be reflected upon in the Division I retrospective. This can be characterized by the development of good questions and the thorough exploration of each of these questions though relevant coursework, independent work, and higher-level thinking. Students will also present their advisors with a portfolio of the work they completed in Division I.
By the end of Division I, students will have the ability to design and carry out an independent study (which is an incredibly useful skill to gain early in their Hampshire careers), think critically, learn through inquiry, take charge of their own education, and reflect meaningfully on their learning experiences.
[edit] Benefits of the Program
The first and most obvious benefit of this program is the contribution it will make to furthering the mission of Hampshire. Beyond this, it will provide a structure to bring Division I together, as there have been concerns that students in Division I lack direction and purpose beyond fulfilling simple distribution requirements. Furthermore, by the end of Division I, students will be versed in the process of conducting an independent study, which will be immensely useful as they progress through Division II and especially in Division III. These independent studies may also reduce faculty workload, since professors can offer fewer 100-level courses and instead focus energy towards sponsoring students’ independent work. Finally, it will allow for a more fluid transition to Division II by giving them a stronger foundation for their upper-level academic inquiries.
This proposal is the product of collaboration between Division I, II, and III students, Hampshire College alumni, and some very dedicated members of the staff.
Please direct any questions or concerns to Theresa Anderson (tma04 (at) hampshire (dot) edu) or Erik Benau (emb03 (at) hampshire (dot) edu), chairs of the Division I Proposal Committee of Re-Rad.
Special Thanks to Donald Jackson, Lionel Claris, Josiah Litant, Tucker Slosberg, and Thomas Hull.
