Department Approval
College Dean Approval
Liberal Studies Committee Approval
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Senate Informed of LSC Action
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There is only one synthesis course -- LBST 499 Senior Synthesis. Professors may propose to offer discrete sections of LBST 499 by submitting a proposal to the Liberal Studies Committee. These sections will be considered professor(s) specific, and any change or addition of professor(s) must be approved by the Liberal Studies Committee.
1. Please consider carefully two documents (available from Liberal Studies Office or on the LS website) :
a. Criteria for the Synthesis Course, as approved by the University Senate, February 1989. (http://old.www.iup.edu/liberal/FORMS/SYNPACK.shtm#CRITERIA)
b. "A Model for Thinking About the Nature of Synthesis," prepared by an ad-hoc synthesis planning committee, Fall 1988. (http://old.www.iup.edu/liberal/FORMS/SYNPACK.shtm#MODEL)
2. Preliminary proposals. The Liberal Studies Committee is willing to react informally to oral inquiries or to brief, one or two page preliminary proposals prior to your investing substantial time in preparing a full syllabus. This is not required, but it is a way to see if you are "on the right track" and receive some suggestions while you're still getting started.
3. Preparing your proposal. Look carefully at the sample proposal in your synthesis packet (available from the LS Office, 110 Gordon Hall, 357-5715). It is not intended to suggest a "best" or "right" or "only" way to design a course. It is intended to define the form that the LSC asks you to follow when submitting a proposal.
When reviewing your proposal the LSC will be equally interested in the content and the pedagogical approach. The content should be intellectually challenging and significant; the pedagogical approach should nurture synthetic thinking. The committee encourages proposals that are inventive, creative, experimental, and that show a willingness to take risks. The committee will also expect the proposal to be carefully planned and to be consistent with the Senate's criteria. Your attention is called especially to the criteria relating to the inclusion of women and minorities, to the use of writing, and to the selection of reading that reflects more than one discipline. The use of "conventional textbooks" is strongly discouraged.
When you have finished, please double-check your proposal against the "Ten Questions Most Frequently Asked About Synthesis Proposals by the Liberal Studies Committee." [Do not include the sheet with the proposal.]
4. Prerequisites: Synthesis sections should be accessible to as many senior students as possible. Because students cannot enroll until they are in one of their last three semesters, you can assume that most, or nearly all, of their Liberal Studies knowledge area requirements are completed. If it is absolutely necessary for students to have chosen certain core LS courses rather than others--for instance, chemistry as their science option or economics as one of their social sciences, you may indicate this as a prerequisite. You should consider, however, that adding such a restriction may eliminate some students whose insights will be valuable precisely because they bring other perspectives from other LS courses or from their majors. As the Senate's criteria states: "Keep course prerequisites to a minimum." You are strongly advised against listing any upper-level courses as prerequisites.
5. Publicity sheet. Information about synthesis sections will appear in the Undergraduate Course Schedule on a semester-by-semester basis. This is your opportunity to present your topic as attractively and as accurately as possible to students who are choosing sections. You should avoid the use of jargon and obscure, technical language. Students will find it helpful to read your own explanation of the topic (how broadly or narrowly you define it, which disciplinary perspectives you will emphasize, and how you expect to approach it); they will also be interested in the types of assignments, classroom activities, and evaluation methods you plan to use.
6. Providing scheduling information. Whatever you state in the proposal is tentative and intended only to assist the director of Liberal Studies in general planning. Your semester schedule is prepared by your department chairperson in consultation with the college dean. It is helpful to note any anticipated conditions that you or your department foresee--for instance: only available in summers or alternate years or certain semesters, etc. Consult with your departmental chairperson or departmental committee as appropriate.
There is no prescribed pattern for your involvement in LBST 499. Some of you will likely choose to teach the same topic over and over; others may choose to submit new topics rather frequently. Some of you will probably teach LBST 499 fairly regularly; others will move in and out irregularly according to your other responsibilities. If you and your department desire, it is possible to schedule more than one section per semester.
7. Signatures. Your signature requests the LSC to verify that your topic and approach meet the Senate criteria for Senior Synthesis and to authorize your teaching the topic in this manner as part of the LBST 499 offerings. The signatures of your chairperson and dean acknowledge their awareness of your proposal and their willingness to make a good faith effort to accommodate LBST 499 into your teaching schedule; their signatures do not, however, guarantee that they can schedule you in any given semester because there are other equally important demands on your department's resources (as well as on your own). LSC approval is enabling, not coercive. To avoid misunderstandings, it is wise to keep your department, chairperson, and dean fully informed about your intentions.
8. Deadlines. To allow your chairperson sufficient time to include LBST 499 in your schedule, you will need to have your proposal approved during the semester one year prior to the one in which you first intend to teach the course. That is, Fall 2003 sections must be approved during Fall 2002, Spring 2004 during the Spring 2003, and so forth. In many departments and colleges, the practice is for departmental and/or college curriculum committees to review synthesis proposals; if this is the case, you will need to allow adequate time for this to occur.
LSC#______
Action/Date______
COVER SHEET: Proposal for Section of LBST 499 Senior Synthesis
SECTION TITLE
PROFESSOR(S)
PHONE ___________________________ EMAIL _______________________________________
PREREQUISITES (Please see instructions)
SCHEDULING INFORMATION. When is the earliest semester/summer session that you will be ready to teach the section. Do you anticipate offering this topic repeatedly? If so, how frequently? (Please see instructions)
SIGNATURES:
Professor(s)
Department Chairperson(s)
College Dean(s)
Director of Liberal Studies
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PLEASE ATTACH THE FOLLOWING COMPONENTS TO THE COVER SHEET
I. "Synthesis Summary"--one or two pages explaining your proposal, including (1) your topic, especially its scope and significance; (2) the disciplines (like biology, economics, aesthetics) whose perspectives you will use; (3) the contributions each discipline will make in terms of point of view, theory, and methodology; (4) your pedagogical methods, including the strategies and activities you will employ to enable students to think synthetically.
II. Syllabus presented in UWUCC format: (1) Course objectives; (2) Detailed course outline; (3) Evaluation methods; (4) Required reading; (5) Special resource requirements, if any; and (6) Bibliography you used in preparing this proposal. Your syllabus must indicate how you will "address the concerns of women and minorities whenever possible."
III. Publicity Form, to be submitted for publication in the semester-by-semester Undergraduate Course Schedule.
Please Number All Pages.
Provide one copy to Liberal Studies Committee.Before You Submit: Have you double-checked your proposal against the "Ten Questions Most Frequently Asked by the Liberal Studies Committee"?
For Publication in the Undergraduate Course Schedule.
Topic Title:
Prerequisites:
Professor:
Description (limit 100 words):
Typical Readings* (provide author and short title):
*NOTE: The Undergraduate Schedule carries the following explanation: "The mention of 'typical readings' is intended as information about the type of reading likely to be included in the course. Actual reading assignments may vary and may include additional or substitute readings or may permit students to select among listed readings."
SYNTHESIS CHECK LIST:
Ten Questions Most Frequently Asked About Synthesis Proposals by the LS Committee
1. Does your course view its topic from the perspectives and approaches of two or more discrete disciplines (or areas of knowledge)? Does it do so in a fresh, creative way that will engage the interest of students? Does it raise issues that are challenging and important?
2. Have you thought about ways to involve students from a variety of majors? Have you thought about ways to use/build upon their experiences, talents, and prior learning?
3. Does one of your course objectives explicitly address the development of synthetic thinking?
4. Does your course outline show explicitly that you have reserved time at the beginning of the semester to discuss with students the nature of synthesis--for instance, what kinds of synthetic thinking you plan to have them do, why it is important or valuable, etc.?
5. Have you addressed the concerns of women and minorities whenever possible? Have you made this evident in your syllabus or synthesis summary?
6. Do the assigned readings come from at least two different disciplines? Have you avoided conventional textbooks which make it less likely that students will have to do their own synthesizing? (If genre and/or disciplinary perspectives of your readings are not self-evident from the title, have you provided a brief annotation for the committee's benefit?)
7. Can a reader of your proposal see how the class activities and assignments allow students to do their own synthesizing, to make connections for themselves rather than only accepting previously devised solutions.
8. Does the language that you use in your syllabus consistently signal to students that this is a synthesis course? Does it avoid sending mixed messages about your expectations?
Note: Synthesis courses typically want students to use integrated interdisciplinary modes of thinking with which they have limited experience. In these circumstances, colleagues who have already taught LBST 499 caution against relying on familiar language; it can inadvertently mislead students by calling up earlier models which, however legitimate in their own right, are not what you expect or want. For instance, if you want a written piece to emphasize significant integration, it might be better to call it a "synthetic essay" than a "term paper" (which may imply only description).
9. Does the evaluation section in the syllabus state clearly how each item is weighted in determining the final grade? Are the various evaluation methods appropriate to the synthetic nature of the course?
10. Does the publicity paragraph describe the course so it will catch the attention of students from a wide variety of majors? Does it explain clearly and fairly what is going to happen in the course?
Teaching the Synthesis Course
1. Take time during the first week to talk about the goals of the course. What do you mean by synthesis? Why is it important for educated citizens? What makes this course different from other courses in the Liberal Studies package? Professors who teach synthesis courses elsewhere emphasize how important it is for students to understand and share your goals for the course, and common sense, as well as educational research, confirms this. We suggest that you include this explicitly in your course outline so that it isn't forgotten.
2. Don't try to do too much. This is probably a mistake we made ourselves when we wrote our "sample" course, so we know how great the temptation is! Most of you will choose topics with endless ramifications but, of course, confront a finite semester. So the trick will be to design a course that allows time for reflection and thought rather than one that becomes a breathless rush to the finish line. (One of us remembers a professor who was fond of saying, "If you're not ready to make choices, you're not ready to teach." That seems especially good advice in this case.)
3. Remember your audience. You're trying to help undergraduates become educated citizens who can read and think intelligently about the issues of the day. This isn't a graduate seminar. Perhaps a more useful model might emerge by considering how you would approach a discussion for returning IUP graduates on alumni weekend; your students might not yet have the same level of life experience, but they will share the diversity of backgrounds and the need to use non-technical language.
4. Think about ways in which you can help students to become independent learners. Because LBST 499 is one of the students' last courses, it makes sense to think of it as a transition to a world where professors (thankfully?) aren't around to provide all the answers. This doesn't mean there is no need for your guidance--if we are right, students will need more experience in synthetic thinking. But it does suggest that this course might work better if it were less professor centered than usual.
5. Look for ways to use the expertise that students bring from their majors. For instance, if the class is to read an article on protest songs, why not let a music major plan and lead the discussion. The student may not pick out the same points you would, but isn't that what we're saying?--different disciplines notice different things, and it's in the mixing that synthesis begins.
6. Don't make the proposal a more difficult task than it is. An acceptable proposal has to be complete enough to convince the LSC that you have a sound plan. It does not have to be so detailed that you are ready to walk into the classroom the next day. You can present a course outline that identifies weeks or other blocks of time rather than a day-by-day schedule. You can indicate that you intend to use selections from a certain author or category of authors without having chosen the exact passages or assembled the handouts.
Format for Requesting a Synthesis Section
Part I. Request for the Approval of a Synthesis Section
This form (see previous page or Appendix B) lists all of the components of a proposal for a section of LBST 499 Synthesis.
Part II. Publicity Form for Synthesis Section
(See previous pages or Appendix B)
PLEASE NUMBER ALL PAGES
Procedures for Approval of a Synthesis Section
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Department Approval |
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College Dean Approval |
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Liberal Studies Committee Approval |
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UWUCC Informed of LSC Action |
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Senate Informed of LSC Action |
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