Davis & Elkins College kicked off its inaugural First-Year Symposium Monday, unveiling a high-impact, learner-centered educational model – and focusing on a vital concept in American life: Democracy.
D&E’s Winter Term holds unique promise for initiating something so ambitious. A three-week ‘semester,’ Winter Term has always provided a means for focused, intensive study of a single subject. Through it, D&E asks students to think critically and creatively outside of the traditional classroom model. It promotes authentic, independent, small group learning with professors serving as guides or mentors rather than lecturers.
In past years, students have chosen from a wide variety of courses, ranging from studies at the Salzburg Seminar to filmmaking on campus. But this year, a team of faculty and staff is leading a new initiative designed to engage all first-year students in a single yet complex theme. Through team work, panel discussions, projects, and participation in a simulated legislative session, students are learning about the skills, practices and processes that enable citizens to make a difference through active participation in a variety of democratic processes.
It’s a new approach to D&E’s Winter Term that was unveiled during an orientation for students at Harper-McNeeley Auditorium Monday morning. Dr. Joseph Roidt, vice president for academic affairs, and co-facilitators Dr. Catherine Osborne, assistant professor of English, and Amy Jones, coordinator for academic support services, outlined the program, its goals and its participatory ethic.
Dr. Roidt explained that the idea for the Symposium emerged during the summer of 2011. D&E decided to embrace the challenge laid out in A Crucible Moment: College Learning and Democracy’s Future, the 2012 report from the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement. The report documents the “civic deficit” facing the United States and challenges colleges and universities to educate their students to serve more capably and knowledgeably as citizens. Davis & Elkins hopes that its own initiative will provide valuable information for other colleges and universities wishing to strengthen their commitment to civic learning and engagement.
Addressing students Monday, Dr. Roidt noted: “If we look around the world today, we see democracies doing a pretty good job of safeguarding certain rights and liberties. But there are challenges concerning how to build and nurture fledgling democracies around the globe. If people don’t know how to act as citizens, democracy weakens.”
The Symposium meshes nicely with curricular revisions already under way in conjunction with D&E’s participation in the national Degree Qualifications Profile project. This project, funded by the Lumina Foundation and supported—in part—by the Council of Independent Colleges, is designed to measure and articulate the meaning and value of various college degrees.
The Symposium focuses on three primary learning outcomes:
- Gaining familiarity with a range of issues related to democracy, including government functions, the history and philosophy of democracy, media and democracy, and multiple perspectives on democracy
- Strengthening citizenship abilities (such as working as a member of a team); exercising leadership; strengthening research skills; and strengthening written as well as oral and interpersonal communication skills
- Preparing for future civic engagement, both at D&E and in the world beyond.
“We want you to know something,” Roidt told students Monday, “but just as important as knowing, we want you to be able to do something.”
The students’ team building began with assignments to one of 22 small groups. Each team settled on a leadership structure and decided which members would attend educational and interactive sessions. Session topics include “How a Bill Becomes Law;” “Get in the Game: Becoming an MVP” which offers guidelines on how to get work accomplished by sharing responsibility, and “Democracy, Self-Interest, and the Common Good,” which explores how U.S. politicians appeal to voters’ self-interest. The teams met with faculty and staff facilitators again each evening to discuss what members discovered in the sessions.
The main requirement for each week is that students participate in sessions and produce a product demonstrating what they’ve learned. Week one’s product assignment is a poster project in which each team will develop a concept and argument about an issue related to democracy. The week will conclude Friday, when posters will be on display in Halliehurst Hall, and students will cast votes for the best work.
In week two, students will take on the role of lawmakers by creating and passing a bill in a simulated legislative session. They will also be presented with four small writing assignments designed to nurture critical thinking.
In week three, students will attend on-campus events marking Martin Luther King Jr. Day with the theme “Bringing Democracy Home.” An overnight trip to Charleston will follow and will include a tour of the state legislative buildings. The week will conclude with small-group discussions on the Symposium experience. Students will also submit a Symposium portfolio documenting their growth and learning.
The Symposium wraps up with an awards ceremony in Charleston that includes accolades for individuals and teams.
Prior to orientation, some students were unsure of what to expect from the symposium; but after receiving an outline of the program and meeting in groups, many said they had high hopes for the term.
“I was ready for a lot of work and no fun, but I think this is going to be a lot of work and a lot of fun,” says John Starkey of Moorefield.
“I thought this was going to be like my high school Civics class, but it’s not,” says Trevor Wratchford, also of Moorefield, who serves as a team leader. “I’m impressed.”
To follow D&E’s First-Year Symposium, use the Twitter hashtag #DEsymposium and follow D&E tweets @davisandelkins.
Related to the Presbyterian Church (USA), Davis & Elkins College is located in Elkins, 2 hours east of Charleston, 3 hours south of Pittsburgh and 4 hours west of Washington, DC. For more information, please visit the College website at www.dewv.edu or call 304-637-1243.
