Instructional Support Committee

Attending: Erin Hurley, Richard Fyffe, Cecilia Knight, David Romano, Jon Chenette, Roger Vetter, Monty Roper, Bill Francis, Shuchi Kapila

Minutes of 9 April approved.

Fast track approvals:

None

Report and discussion of EKI-related Philosophy/Physics course

Faculty guests from PHI and PHY, funded by the ISC for development of an innovative interdisciplinary course on “ Space, Time and Motion”, reported on the status of their project. The course will be offered for the first time in the fall of 2009. Course development has both scholarly and pedagogical value. The course will “recreate the experience of studying physics at the university level from two ‘time-slices’ and will end with a reflection on how the practice and teaching of science has changed over time and how the methods and content of science are affected by institutional and external cultural forces.” There will be a lab component, and students will read primary texts shedding light on the philosophy of science at each of the times considered. There will be no textbook. The course will be innovative and immersive. Course development requires archival research and meetings with leading figures in the movement toward contextual learning in physics. The course will be good for humanities students, immersing them in laboratory work, and for science students, shedding light on contextual factors that influence the practice of science. There will be two prerequisites: Calculus and Philosophy 111. The PHI faculty member views this project as her primary scholarly emphasis for the next decade, so some of the funding may come from the Committee for the Support of Faculty Scholarship. They hope to publish the lab manual and course packet so that others may emulate this approach.

Curricular Development proposals:

• ENG/REL: guest lecturer from University of Iowa for jointly taught seminar. $339 requested, Approved: $163.68 to remain within $75 honorarium guidelines.
• ENG: guest lecturer for fall 2008 "Traditions of Ethnic American Literature" course (English 232). ISC approved the maximum level allowed under guidelines for classroom visitors: $75 honorarium, $101 travel allowance (200 miles RT * $.505), $25 meals= $201 total out of $493.88 requested. ISC urged scheduling of a talk open to the public, which might make this eligible for Academic Speaker or Writers@Grinnell funding.

Listening Room

There had been a plan for significant renovations of the Burling Library Listening Room this summer, but that is on hold. We need to discuss seriously whether emphasizing such a space is the right approach for delivering media materials for instruction in the future. Before renovating, the libraries would like advice from the ISC and other interested parties. One approach might be to have a small committee consisting of two ISC members and two non-ISC faculty members looking at and advising about the options while a separate student group does the same. The current room lacks space for faculty review of materials before check out. Many faculty members might prefer to review and prepare materials from the comfort of their offices. Students might prefer accessing media materials from their dorm rooms or their laptops around campus. We need to look closely at the technical and legal possibilities and limits. This will be a topic for the ISC to take up next year.

Respectfully submitted,
Terri Phipps