The symposium featured presentations geared toward developing classroom and theoretical approaches to facilitate the transition and enhance critical thinking and information literacy in the first-year classes. “FOI was an important commitment for this institution,” explained Associate Dean Jonathan Rosenthal. “I believe that the transition team captured its key academic components in a year-long sequence of courses that is unique in the state if not the nation. The work undertaken at the symposium is indicative of the ongoing efforts to improve General Education and the first-year experience for our students.”
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Dr. Steve Hunt and Dr. Cheri Simonds, co-directors of the Communication Basic Course
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The Foundations of Inquiry Transition Team has been working diligently to ensure the knowledge and skills fostered by FOI, especially critical thinking and information literacy, remain features of the first-year experience courses. The team consists of two representatives for each of the areas instrumental in the transition: Claire Lamonica, Associate Director of Writing Programs, and Janice Neuleib, Professor and Director of Writing Programs, from English; Steve Hunt, Associate Professor and Co-Director of Basic Course, and Cheri Simonds, Associate Professor and Co-Director of Basic Course, from Communication; Chad Kahl, Assistant Professor and Coordinator for Library Instruction and Information Literacy, and Jennifer Hootman, Instructional Assistant Professor and Instructional Services Librarian, from the Milner Library; and Lorie Heggie, Assistant Professor of Linguistics and French, and Kenton Machina, Professor of Philosophy, from FOI. “Everyone who has worked on general education transition issues is excited about the possibilities that lie ahead. We know it's going to be challenging to implement all of the changes we've been working on, but the rewards of an improved general education program are well worth it,” said Hunt.
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Graduate students at a panel discussion
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“The changes we've designed are substantial,” Hunt explained. “COM 110 and ENG 101 have been radically reworked into a year long sequence with common readings, vocabulary, and assignments. Both of these classes now include significant instruction in critical thinking and information literacy. At this point, we are planning for six contact points with Milner library in students' first year at ISU. All of these experiences will be linked through a common portfolio that requires students to critically reflect on their learning in COM 110 and ENG 101.” Heggie added, “Probably the most exciting change that is being proposed for the first year concerns the integration of library skills and research logs over the entire first year. We know that the library component in Foundations of Inquiry was the most consistently appreciated element of the FOI curriculum, and now we have developed and expanded this study into an official part of the English 101 and Communication 110 programs in a coordinated way. Across the board, students should become more sophisticated in their research strategies and abilities to cite and reference their resources.”
The symposium was organized by English graduate students Lori Ostergaard and Susan Spangler; Communication graduate students Jeffrey Kuznekoff, Anna F. Carmon, and Kevin Meyer; and Education Administration and Foundations graduate student Brian Aitken. Presentations by faculty and graduate students in Communication and English attempted to bridge the disciplines to enhance first-year general education. English graduate students Shelley DeBlasis and Teresa Grettano led “'Fair and Balanced’: Tools to Participate in Media Culture,” a workshop devoted to teaching composition and communication through media studies. Joseph Zompetti, Assistant Professor of Communication, presented "Beyond Invention: Using Topoi to Improve Critical Thinking Skills." Communication Lecturer Jodi Hallsten, English graduate student Brad Smith, and Aitken discussed peer interaction and group work in First-Year Experience classes.
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Associate Dean Jonathan Rosenthal leading the "Après-Lunch Conversation"
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Associate Dean Rosenthal led the “Après-Lunch Conversation,” an open forum with the FOI Transition Team. The general theme of the talk was benefits of the collaboration. "We benefited greatly from working side by side with our campus colleagues," Hootman and Kahl said. "We think our inclusion from the start of this collaboration with fellow faculty members has resulted in more comprehensive curricular discussions." They went on to discuss how library instruction during the First-Year Experience will now be able to focus more on the evaluation of sources and the rhetorical situation.
“Clearly this year’s Symposium is an important step in creating the kind of interdepartmental interaction and cooperation that we hope to embody in this year-long sequence of courses,” said Lamonica. “Both programs firmly believe that seeing the ways in which rhetoric, critical thinking, and information literacy can be used to inform the generation of and the consumption of written and spoken texts will help prepare our students not only for the work of the university, but also for their lives as well-educated and engaged citizens of a democracy.”