Defiance College - Oraculum Yearbook (Defiance, OH)

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inter Term In January of 1969, The Defiance College-operating under a 41124 academic calendar-conducted its second Winter Term or Interim Term. The general format of Winter Term 1969 did not alter in any significant way the approach employed last year since there are still three types of program available during January. First, Winter Term Independent Study continued to be extremely popular with the students. This year, approximately 140 students worked closely with faculty members to develop their own tailor-made programs. Each proposal was approved first by the supervising professor, then by the chairman of the department in which the student will be working and finally by the Winter Term Committee. Unlike Winter Term 1968, which usually restricted independent study to juniors and seniors, stu- dents from all four classes may now submit proposals for independent work. The second part of the Winter Term consisted of faculty-designed proposals which were available to the students on a group basis. Winter Term studies, however, are not like regular courses found in the regu- lar college catalog. They are special studies designed to capitalize on the flexibility which is a real part of the Winter Term. Some of the studies employ formats which would be awkward in a regular semester. For instance, some studies require taking the students away from campus for an extended period in order to conduct a successful investi- gationg other studies are experimentaliprograms Where new concepts or approaches are being tested-the Hperiod for innovation, still other studies deal with special facets of larger subjects, facets which warrant special and detailed attention even though such attention cannot be given when the facet is simply a part of a larger course. A list of faculty-designed studies is published in the spring, with the students deciding which studies they would like to enter. In all cases, a faculty member and a student may carry a 1-unit load during January. Finally, there is'the Freshman Program, which is strongly student- centered and student-generated. During the fall, the freshmen met several times during their orientation class to discuss what they would like to

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do during the Winter Term. lnitially, a general meeting was used to explain the concept of the Winter Term, after which the students were asked for suggestions. Once the original suggestions were collected into groups, six large section meetings were used to bring together those stu- dents who were interested in the same general area. ln these section meetings, the students gave some form to the suggested topics which they thought were best suited to a Winter Term. Finally, a list of specific freshman-created topics was published, and a third meeting was arranged with each student attending the meeting of greatest interest to him. During this meeting, the students continued developing the possible ideas related to the topic, dealing with such matters as sub-themes, re- sources, format, possible field trips, etc. When the freshmen registered in mid November each specified three choices. The final list of Fresh- man studies was selected through student interest. After this final list of studies was established, faculty members were invited to join groups of interest to them. The faculty member serves as a resource person during January, giving suggestions when it is appropriate. But the main responsibility for a suc- cessful Freshman program rests squarely on the shoulders of the Fresh- man Class. ln order to help encourage success, two modifications were made over last year. First, the program of student-generated studies no longer includes sophomores. It is believed there will be stronger group cohesion if the Freshmen work without the sophomores. Second, this year the participants in the student-generated part of the Winter Term were free to move from one group to another. Last year the groups were kept intact, this year the student moved to a topic of greatest interest. lt has sometimes been charged that the content of the Freshman Program seems strange in a College setting, but we are convinced the program has real merit. One must understand, however, that it stresses goals different from those sought in the regular semesters. Instead of emphasizing content, the Freshman Program is directed toward process-it is hoped that through their freshman Winter Term experience the students will begin to understand what is required to organize an academic study around any given topic. Once the students comprehend the process of organization and realize the procedures one can use in order to collect and analyze data, they will be in a much better position to take an active part in their own education-not only through independent work, but also within regular classes.