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November 01, 2005
Learning is an Action Word
It’s a time of change in Cleveland—be it leaves or the clocks. For those of you who measure time via sports; we are moving from baseball’s postseason to basketball’s regular season (I do have tickets to the Cavs’ home opener on the morrow).
For many high school seniors you are moving from the happy-go-lucky days of being the BMOC/BWOC to scrambling to finalize college applications.
Those of you on our mailing list know of some of the changes occurring at Case—from the Village at 115 to Case’s core curriculum experience of SAGES.
SAGES is our cornerstone experience for all incoming students—regardless of major. The curriculum spans your entire four year experience, providing a series of seminars (small, participatory classes) aimed to develop communication skills, critical thinking and analytical reasoning.
SAGES, for many of you, may be confusing at first glance. I thought reading a recently published paper might help you understand some of, in my mind, the philosophy behind the new approach.
Quickly, Chad Miller, a Ph. D. candidate at the University of Hawaii (and in the interest of full disclosure, a friend of mine) recently presented this paper (PDF shortened from 80+ pages to 5) at an international gathering in Oxford, England. The paper talks about Chad’s work with a high school class in Hawaii. He helped these students move from believing school had “no connection to their lives outside the classroom” and was “boring” to understanding that one’s education could be an active and engaging process. Part of Chad’s conclusion reads: “The students were able to use the tools practiced in the community as a way to examine their own lives, values, beliefs and experiences, which allowed them to create personal significance to the academic content.”
I think this is Case’s goal. It doesn’t matter if you are majoring in BME, History, Anthropology, Nursing, Accounting or Dance. No matter your endeavors—communication skills, critical thinking and analytical reasoning—will serve you well.
You need to take the time to read the article. It will help you understand some of the thought behind SAGES and the impact it can have on your life and career.
Posted by jbg15 at November 1, 2005 09:57 AM
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