Ball State University will issue a new mandatory University Core Curriculum in Fall 2010, but students may opt into the new system this year.
After researching literature and practices of other universities, Ball State has decided to place more emphasis on analysis and critical thinking, Associate Provost Marilyn Buck said.
"The pedagogy is to add more real world experiences," she said.
Classroom content will be restructured, with emphasis on seven key areas. Each course will now include at least one designation from an acronym called the WISER+. Some possible areas of emphasis include writing, international awareness and service learning.
Most of the subject matter will be the same, but the way it is presented will change. Buck said that anyone who opts into the new core curriculum should not have to retake courses, because the WISER+ requirements can be satisfied with courses a student has already taken.
"The UCC subcommittee is working to implement it in a way that makes sense to the faculty and benefits the students," Buck said.
She said that due to the university's limited budget, it does not foresee hiring more teachers to implement the new curriculum.
For those who take part in the new system, scheduling will become more complicated.
Mike Haynes, director of academic advising, said that students who started on the original core curriculum will not be asked to switch to the new one.
"It's not fully developed yet," Haynes said. "It has some form; structure is there. But courses have not been built yet."
From an adviser's point of view, Haynes said he understands the difficulty this new system presents.
"It has more features to explain," he said. "There are more goals, and they're abstract in a sense. There are many more courses to choose from, and the DAPR will be much longer and more complicated."
But with this new system, core curriculum standards can be achieved more within a student's major, Haynes said.
Buck said some students have compared the current core curriculum to being in high school, taking the standard courses needed to graduate. The new UCC was created partly in response to these views.
"Ball State is going to make a core curriculum that is unique to the university and will stimulate critical thinking," Buck said.
To gauge effectiveness, Buck said assessments will be submitted to the UCC subcommittee.
Freshman and upperclassmen may opt into the new UCC this school year, but Haynes said that current students will not be asked to switch to the new core curriculum next fall unless they choose to.
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