Return to Compass Features for May 6, 1997
This class requires no homework or papers, just sneakers, shorts, hat, sunglasses and a rain jacket. Professor George Thomas will provide the fishing rods. It's A Day on the Beach, it meets only one time, Saturday, Sept. 20, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and registration is still open.
Welcome to a relatively new type of learning experience at Penn, the SCUE Preceptorial, a not-for-credit small seminar intended to increase student-faculty interaction and promote learning for the sake of learning. SCUE (Student Committee on Undergraduate Education) offered the first preceptorials during the Spring 1996 semester. The SCUE leaders liked what they saw.
SCUE member Ari Silverman is one of the preceptorial organizers and is enthusiastic about the program. "I have heard that professors really enjoy the relaxed atmosphere in which they can teach interested students about a topic that they care about," he said. "Students love them because it is a break from the regular grind and they get to learn for learning's sake in an environment outside the classroom."
Silverman went on to say that the participants generally meet for one quarter length of a regular course, and that the sessions are neither graded nor recorded on students' transcripts. He said the classes cover a variety of topics, that attendance is required and that outside preparation may be requested, as noted in the class description.
But A Day On the Beach? Yes, and what a day. George Thomas teaches historic preservation and urban studies at the University, and in this day-long trip to the New Jersey shore, his students (class size limit is 10) will experience surf casting, netting and fly fishing. Through these activities, Thomas will help class participants learn the rudiments of the Atlantic Ocean's waterfront ecology.
The subjects run the gamut. Preceptorial veteran, English Professor Al Filreis, taught one of the first SCUE preceptorials, a mini-course on modern American poetry.
"The sessions were held in the Writers House--a very comfortable setting and just right for an informal 'class,'" Filreis said. "The students who started the class stayed in it through to the end; their participation was on a par with that of students enrolled in the regular semester-long version of this course. Of course I didn't give them significant reading to do at home nor writing assignments. But the quality of the discussions about the poetry was of a fairly high order. I was very pleased with it."
So was Bioethics Professor Arthur Caplan. "I thought my preceptorial was great," he said. "The students seemed interested and I got a chance to go over some emerging issues in bioethics with undergrads whom I normally do not teach. However, it was hard to get students to do all the reading they really need to do to facilitate a discussion in a non-credit mini-course."
And then there was this semester's "Food and Life" preceptorial, in which SCUE chairperson and Wharton senior Ben Nelson participated. "This course, taught by Psychology Professor Paul Rozin, was truly a remarkable experience," Nelson said. "We spent an entire weekend at the New Bolton Center and discussed everything you could imagine about food, cuisine and life, with Paul, guest lecturers and fellow students.
"It was one of the more remarkable experiences for me as a Penn student during my four years and I think my fellow preceptorialists would agree."
However, not all the preceptorials were equally successful. Michael Ryan is director of special collections for the Van Pelt Library, and he led a preceptorial this term in which the class was to visit some of Philadelphia's most important collections of historical books, manuscripts and prints. "The intent was to introduce students to places and material they would probably never see during their time at Penn," Ryan said. "In spite of many enthusiastic expressions of interest, turnout was low and finally not worth the imposition these visits created for our colleague institutions."
Despite this disappointment, Ryan said he liked the initiative and would be happy to continue to work with SCUE students to achieve something a bit more productive and useful.
Ari Silverman and his fellow SCUErs are trying to improve the preceptorial model, using feedback from a survey that participants have filled out. "We have learned a lot about the courses both from students and the professors and we have acted accordingly," he said. "But on the whole, people love them. There is a clear need for non-credited outlets for intellectual activity at the University, and SCUE hopes to provide just that."
Other preceptorials being offered next fall include Road Rules, taught by Larry Moneta, associate vice provost for University Life; and the Jesus Tradition, led by Robert Kraft, professor of religious studies. A description of these and the other fall preceptorials, and a registration form are on line at http://dolphin.upenn. edu/~scue/preceptorials
Return to Compass Features for May 6, 1997