From Mary Raschko, associate dean for faculty development:
The Center for Teaching and Learning supports professors working together, and with students, to create new and more equitable educational experiences at Whitman. This semester, Pedagogical Inquiry Grants support the following curricular projects:
Brain, Behavior and Cognition: Professor Nancy Day (Psychology) and professors Ginger Withers and Chris Wallace (Biology) explored curricular structures that would allow students to study brain and behavior relationships from multiple perspectives. Their work reviewing relevant programs across the country and examining possibilities at Whitman provided a foundation for a proposed new program in Brain, Behavior, and Cognition. The biology-psychology combined major is being reviewed by the curriculum committee and should come to the faculty for discussion soon.
Calculus with Pre-Calculus: Professors Barry Balof, Douglas Hundley, Matthew Petersen, and Albert Schueller (Mathematics) developed a new co-requisite calculus course, Math 124, to increase access to the college-level math courses needed for many STEM majors. Taught for the first time in Fall 2022, the course strengthens students’ skills with algebra, trigonometry, and pre-calculus, at the same time that they complete Calculus I.
Writing at Whitman: Professor Lydia McDermott (Rhetoric, Writing, and Public Discourse) is developing materials to help faculty across the college teach writing effectively for all students. McDermott is working with RWPD major and disability rights advocate Sueli Gwiazdowski '24 to create assignment templates based on their research into best practices for accessibility in writing instruction. The project both supports writing instruction in the First Year Seminars and helps prepare faculty to teach new Writing Across Contexts courses within their disciplines.
Applications for Spring Pedagogical Inquiry Grants are due Monday, Oct. 31.
