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Part 2: [Growing, Connecting, Expanding] Future of PFS

Chapter 2, Parts A and B

Author names and email addresses:

Christina Sanchez: C.Sanchez@uncc.edu
Christine Robinson: CRobinson@uncc.edu
Erik Byker: ebyker@uncc.edu
Stephanie Otis: sotis@uncc.edu
Takiyah Amin: TakiyahAmin@uncc.edu

Draft date: February 12, 2016

Status Description: This is still in somewhat a rough draft phase. Needs some
development still at the beginning. And there are some transition that need to be added.

Part 2: [Growing, Connecting, Expanding] Future of PFS

I.

Benefits of Expansion: The T-Shaped Individual

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A.
Curriculum and Course Integration
1. First Year Writing (inquiry) (Stephanie)
2. CXC (Communication Across the Curriculum) (Takiyah)
B.
Successful Examples of College Initiatives
1. College of Education (Erik)
2. College of Arts + Architecture (Takiyah)

Benefits of Expansion: The T-shaped Individual [Christina]

The initial implementation of UNC Charlottes Prospect for Success (PFS) Quality
Enhancement Plan established a platform for engaged dialogue among a cohort of faculty
members from various disciplines who teach classes in which 80% of the first year students are
enrolled. Combined with the required first-year seminar experience, all entering first-year students
partake in an academic journey to address three learning outcomes: academic success, inquiry,
and self and cultural awareness. The institution is poised to build upon the inroads made from the
PFS initial implementation in order to strengthen the foundational building blocks of the program
and expand the framework to explicitly embrace the development of curricular and course design
based on the T-Shaped Individual.
The T-shaped individual (Brown, 1991) is commonly referenced as a metaphor indicating
the depth of ones skills within a particular area (vertical line of the T) and ones ability to apply
skills across a spectrum of fields (horizontal line of the T). The concept is commonly applied to
academic and business environments regarding types of employees and learners. In business, Tshaped individuals are deep problem solvers in their home discipline but also capable of
interacting with and understanding specialists from a wide range of disciplines and functional
areas (Daviding, 2008, para 3). T-shaped individuals drive innovation and creativity (Hansen,
M.T., n.d.). Institutions are charged to produce graduates imbued with these skills.
The call is for institutions to graduate T-shaped individuals. However, at large, institutions
of higher education are producing students with deep disciplinary knowledge without providing
the systems, or cross-disciplinary, knowledge that produces adaptive innovators (T-Summit

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2016). Only an I-shaped individual emerges from the traditional model of discipline-specific
learning. The National Leadership Council for Liberal Education and Americas Promise (LEAP)
(2007) issued a report outlining the outcomes for educational excellence necessary to meet the
realities of the twenty-first century (Appendix X). A re-envisioning of the traditional approach to
curricular and course formulation is necessary to advance student learning with an integrated
formula embeds core competencies throughout all courses. The T-shaped academic environment
is present in the course (e.g., mastery of a concept situated within a broader analysis such as
deconstruction, comparative review; inquiry, etc.), and in the curriculum through core learning
outcomes incorporated and defined through all academic programs such as critical thinking,
problem solving, cultural understanding, communication, leadership, etc. Ultimately, the T-shaped
individual obtains a comprehensive understanding of an academic discipline complemented by
ones ability to transverse knowledge/skills.

Curriculum and Course Integration

The T-shaped curriculum is one that goes very deep in one area, but sits on top of a
very strong liberal arts foundation .... (Tucker, 2015, para15). Linkages are critical to a students
success as the skillset developed by T-shaped learners assists them in their career pursuits,
which according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, tend to include ten job changes within two
decades of graduation (Bahney, 2006). At UNC Charlotte, several academic initiatives are
advancing linkages within the curriculum. (i.e., First Year Writing, Communication Across the
Curriculum). The authors propose expanding upon the work accomplished to explicitly adopt the
T-shaped model in our curriculum and course design.
PFS course design is poised to serve as a catalyst to establish cross-college,
interdisciplinary connections to maximize student learning and position UNC Charlotte graduates
for greater success. In addition to the highlighted linkages, additional opportunities exist through
the General Education Curriculum and its related learning outcomes and the Critical Thinking and
Communication program, among other academic initiatives. Two examples featuring the use of

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the T-shaped curricular model in the College of Education and the College of Arts + Architecture
follow.

A1. First Year Writing (Stephanie)

First Year Writing (FYW) courses at UNC Charlotte serve as the foundation for writing
practice that continues as students progress through their studies. Just as importantly, FYW
courses introduce a variety of student learning outcomes that are core competencies throughout
the curriculum: rhetorical knowledge, critical reading, critical reflection, conventional knowledge,
and composing processes. As such, FYW serves as a companion to Prospect for Success
(Prospect) in providing breadth of cross-disciplinary knowledge in the first year. FYW also has
connections to Prospect in that it is inquiry-driven, process-based.and strives to help students
become adaptive writers (University Writing Programs). Addressing similar goals in these two
first-year programs supports students ability to transfer knowledge and skills across their
educational experience. The goal of positioning Prospect for Success (Prospect) as a component
of students engagement in a T-shaped curriculum will require rich collaboration within colleges,
departments, between departments, and campus partners. Breadth in the first year necessitates
common goals and language among Prospect courses and their counterparts in First Year Writing
and other introductory courses. Depth in the majors requires repeating and building on that
terminology and those pedagogies in a way that allows students to see the connections between
the foundation that has been laid and their increasingly sophisticated, recursive practices in upper
level courses. At all points, common vocabulary and shared pedagogy help support transfer of
skills for students. Though emphasis was given in Prospect planning to developing shared
language and common terminology, some variations and uncertainty remain around the
outcomes, their measures, and consistent implementation. Given the connections between First
Year Writing and Prospect on the horizontal (breadth) arm of the T, there are opportunities to
model Prospect collaborations and continued improvements and implementations on existing
initiatives in FYW. The library is uniquely positioned to support and emphasize the connections
between these initiatives. Given the emphasis on inquiry in FYW, and looking forward to

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strengthening the links between Prospect, FYW, and critical thinking in the general education
curriculum, the model is particularly persuasive. With enthusiastic participation from both sides,
the library and FYW have a long history of close collaboration at UNCC, with increasing
innovation in recent years. Part of that shift has come from a change in focus, from in-person
demonstrations for students to collaboration on course design and assignment planning with
FYW instructors.
Partnerships between FYW and the library have sought to establish connections and
common ground in pedagogy and in the vocabulary we use to talk about student outcomes. At the
bottom of the inverse-T, FYW and instruction librarians work to get firstyear students to ask good
questions. Both also emphasize the benefits of entertaining ambiguity, and of privileging process
and discovery over certainty and definitive answers. For the inquiry outcome in particular, the
relationship between the library and Prospect teams and courses could work in a similarly
successful way. The Prospect curriculum, First Year Writing, and library instruction can all
reinforce from different perspectives what questioning means, what it accomplishes, and how
students can engage with and apply these practices in different contexts. All serve to support
students continually evolving practice, laying the foundation for vertical (depth) activity in more
sophisticated and specific contexts. Further connections, through language and pedagogy, to
other academic work (course-based and co-curricular) in the first-year will add even greater
strength to this foundation. Going forward, this breadth could support the proposed addition of a
new general education course in the second year to emphasize critical thinking and transition to
depth in the major. A common commitment to interdisciplinarity , a history of collaboration, and
shared pedagogies have contributed to the success of the library-FYW partnership and its role in
promoting successful, innovative inquiry work. Current and future Prospect instructors and teams
can look to First Year Writing, not just for common language and goals around inquiry, but also for
examples of interdisciplinary and collaborative planning, and how both build towards Liberal
Studies courses and Critical Thinking/Communication goals across the curriculum.

A2. CXC (Communication Across the Curriculum) (Takiyah)

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As a curricular initiative, Prospect for Success (PFS) is committed to engaging all UNC
Charlotte first-time, full-time undergraduate students in stimulating coursework that centers on a
commitment to success, inquiry and developing a robust cultural awareness. While all PFS
courses across departments are not the same, they are shaped by each campus unit to provide
opportunities for personal and professional growth that act as a foundation for students as they
continue pursuing their studies on our campus.
Similarly, the Communication Across the Curriculum program, known as CxC, is a
curricular initiative centered around ensuring that UNC Charlotte students develop robust and
recognizable proficiency in writing and speaking within the context of their chosen discipline. CxC
departments endeavor to come to consensus around communication norms in their fields, shape
course objectives to facilitate communication skill development and implement best practices for
assessment. The goal is for CxC departments to develop a communication enhanced curriculum
that includes oral and written communication outcomes and provides students with frequent
opportunities for writing and speaking across the curriculum.

Both PFS and CxC are intended to improve the approaches to learning and enhance
necessary skills for thriving beyond campus in an increasingly complex, global environment. The
ability to write and speak effectively is enhanced by ones commitment to intentional engagement,
sustained curiosity and awareness of both self and others. PFS courses might benefit uniquely
from engaging with the CxC program to ensure that while their entering freshman students are
benefitting from assignments tied to the three interconnected goals of commitment to success,
inquiry and cultural awareness, the students are simultaneously involved in a range of both
writing and speaking activities within their PFS course. These writing and speaking activities
could be thoughtfully developed as a means by which students demonstrate not only increased
proficiency in communication but also the student learning outcomes of any specific PFS course.
Taken together, embracing the goals of a communication enhanced curriculum within the context
of PFS courses will help us ensure that students write to learn and learn to write and that they
think more critically and creatively, engage more deeply in their learning, and are better able to

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transfer what they have learned from course to course, and from context to context. Students
might then emerge from their PFS courses better equipped to take with them a set of
communication skills as well as ways of approaching learning that they can apply across the
remainder of the courses they take at UNC Charlotte.

B.Successful Examples of College Initiatives

The FYW and CXC programs are strong examples of how UNC Charlotte is committed to
developing it undergraduates into T-shaped individuals. Both models are in alignment with the
vision of PFS, which is to provide a high-quality and robust undergraduate education that
supports the intellectual development of students who are intentional, curious, and culturally
aware. The authors examine two case studies of PFS initiatives at UNC Charlotte. The case
studies illustrate how colleges at UNC Charlotte have designed PFS to be responsive to the
needs of their learners while at the same time maintaining the integrity of the PFS goals. The first
case study describes and reports on the Inquiry Project in the College of Education as an
example of developing T-shaped individuals who are prepared to teach. The second case study
examines how the College of Arts and Architecture blends the PFS goals of intentionality,
curiosity, and cultural awareness within it PFS coursework. Both case studies includes
recommendations for improving and further building on PFS foundation within their programs.

B1. College of Education t-shaped model (Erik)

The PFS course in UNC Charlottes College of Education (COED) provide a solid
introduction for first-year undergraduate student into what might be a future career in teaching.
One critical component of good teaching is to understand and value what it means to inquire. If
the purpose of PFS is to prepare undergraduates to develop into T-shape individuals, then the
COEDs PFS course is preparing undergraduate to be effective T-shape individuals who become
teachers committed to inquiry. This section of the e-Book describes and reports on the PFS

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Inquiry Project in the COED. In particular, the section examines the perceptions of the Inquiry
Project among former PFS students in the COED (n=136). The section concludes with a
discussion of the affordances and constraints of the project as well as future recommendations
for the evolution of the Inquiry Project.

Context
Many institutions of higher education--like UNC Charlotte--are increasingly providing
research opportunities and inquiry-based learning opportunities for their first-year undergraduate
students. The emphasis on research and inquiry was birthed almost two decades ago when the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching founded the Boyer Commission (1999),
which was tasked to formulate recommendations for improving undergraduate education. The
Boyer Commissions (1999) report unpacks their 10 recommendations through what they term as
Academic Bill of Rights (p. 12). The first two of the rights are specifically about inquiry and
research, they say that undergraduate students should have:
1.

Opportunities to learn through inquiry rather than simple

transmission of knowledge.
2.
Training in the skills necessary for oral and written
communication at a level that will serve the student both within the university and in
postgraduate professional and personal life. (p. 12)
Many first-year undergraduates find the transition to university academic culture difficult
and challenging. To support these students, universities are adopting pedagogies--like inquirybased learning--that immerse students in higher-order thinking and communication activities.
Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is a student centered pedagogy that fosters the development of
logical thinking and coherent writing through inquiry. IBL is about the rigorous construction of
knowledge and ideas rather than just the passive transmission of knowledge that is typified by
traditional lecture pedagogy. The PFS Inquiry Project is an example of inquiry based learning.
The Inquiry Project aligns closest to the PFS goal of curiosity. The following objectives
are part of the Inquiry Project in the COED: 1) develop and refine a research question; 2) locate

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and analyze resources; and 3) draw conclusions, insights and ideas. For the actual Inquiry
Project assignment, the COED PFS students choose their inquiry topics. They then develop a
research question and outline a research plan for answering their question. University wide
systems--like the Atkins librarians--provide additional support for the Inquiry Project. The
university librarians, for instance, host how-to workshops for PFS students demonstrating the
ways to locate, identify, and select salient, peer-reviewed literature. PFS students are also
provided with information about resources like the First Year Writing (FYW) program. The COEDs
PFS professors, graduate assistants, and undergraduate teaching assistants work with the COED
PFS students in formulating and refining their research questions. The COED PFS students
Inquiry Projects are further honed through opportunities to make classroom visits to area schools
in order to observe what life is like in the classroom. At the end of the semester, the COED PFS
students present their inquiry projects in written and verbal formats.

Conceptual Framework
Inquiry is a critical component of good teaching, as inquiry reflects the constructivist
process of creating meaning. Good teachers understand that true learning happens when the
learners are guided by their own questions and curiosities in order to construct meaning about the
world. John Dewey (1933) in his classic text How We Think, explained the process of inquiry like
this, If you have doubts about how learning happens, engage in sustained inquiry: study, ponder,
consider alternative possibilities and arrive at your belief grounded in evidence (p.142). The field
of education values inquiry both as a personal competency and as a pedagogy to guide learners.
Thus, the COED Inquiry Project helps future teacher candidates embrace their own inquiries
about teaching while at the same time introducing the process of inquiry as a power pedagogical
strategy for learning.
The inquiry process is best understood when it is grounded in a conceptual framework.
One helpful conceptual frame is Marlene Scardamalia and Carl Bereiters (2006) Knowledge
Building Theory, which is the constructivist belief that people create meaning from their learning
tasks. The COED PFS inquiry project reflects the process of knowledge building by tapping into

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students curiosity and guiding students into their development of lifelong learning skills related to
research and drawing conclusions. Scardamalia and Bereiter (2006) developed Knowledge
Building Theory from their research on how young learners construct meaning and build
knowledge in school classrooms. Knowledge Building Theory offers a lens to the process of
inquiry and has three important features. First, knowledge building is grounded in inquiry-type
questions about problems or issues. The inquiry-type questions should be authentic, challenging,
and push a learners existing knowledge. Second, knowledge building is supported by artifact
creation.. Artifacts provide the evidence for further advancing existing knowledge. According to
the Scardamalia and Bereiter (2006), knowledge building artifacts have an epistemic quality
whereby the artifact creation leads to additional questions, which leads to the construction of
more knowledge. Epistemic artifactsaccording to Knowledge Building Theoryhave a multiplier
effect and accelerate the pace of knowledge creation. Third, knowledge building includes
community. There is collective quality to knowledge building and knowledge is a public good for
the community to share. In sum, the process of inquiry includes: 1) inquiry driven questions, 2)
epistemic artifacts, and 3) a community (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2006).

Method
What is the impact of the Inquiry Project among UNC Charlotte students who have
completed PFS in the COED? This larger research question drives the methodology of this case
study of PFS in the COED. Three sub-questions follow from this larger research question:
1) What are the perceptions of the COEDs PFS Inquiry Project among students who
participated in the COEDs PFS program?
2) How do the former COED PFS students define the process of inquiry?
3) To what degree, if any, have the COED PFS students applied what they learned
from their Inquiry Project to other course work and/or to clinical teaching work in
schools?

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The participant sample for this study are former PFS students in the COED (n=136). The
research questions are examined by looking at three sources of data: inquiry projects, interviews,
and surveys. The studys data were collected from former PFS students who completed one of
COED PFS programs from Fall 2012 through Fall 2015.

Findings
Perceptions. The studys participants had positive perceptions of the Inquiry Project.
Over two-thirds of the participants responded affirmatively to the survey statement: The Inquiry
Project in the Prospect for Success course has been beneficial to me throughout my degree
program. Almost 84 percent of the participants either agreed or strongly agreed that the have
used inquiry skills in other university classes since completing the Prospect for Success course.
More that 80 percent of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that because of the Prospect
for Success course they know how to conduct an inquiry based research project. In response to
the statement, I am inquirer, almost 86 percent selected agree or strongly agree. About 94
percent of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that they were able to apply the research
skill they learned from the Inquiry Project to other classes. Qualitatively, the participants also had
positive perceptions about the impact of the Inquiry Project. Here are some of the comments that
participants shared about what they remembered from the Inquiry Project:
I remember the giant brown paper bag I made and the creativity I was able to put
into it. I remember the fact that STEM schools are beneficial to students now and for
their future. I remember pushing myself to make my own lesson plan and finding lots of
creative ideas all over the internet.
Choosing and narrowing down my question, researching various sources,
creating an annotated bibliography, and creating a project to display my findings.
The Inquiry Project was like a seed for me in that it it established the foundation
as an education major to be able to see my potential as a future teacher.
The project was like getting training wheels off of your bike, because you learn
how to conduct research (like learning how to ride a bike) then you can apply those skills
to your education (like riding without training wheels.)

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Defining Inquiry. While the participants had positive perceptions of the Inquiry Project,
their definitions for inquiry were muddled. The participants identified the inquiry process as
involving several components, including the development of research habits like going to the
library, searching databases to find resources, writing, and presenting research conclusions. The
inquiry process habits were addressed in the participants responses in focus group interviews
and on the survey. Figure 2 provides a graphic of the participants perception of what the inquiry
process included. The figure includes broken lines and arrows. The broken lines are indicators for
the lack of sequential connection in the participants responses related to the skills they identified.
For example, the participants did not refer to the inquiry process as a list of sequenced skills.
Rather, they discussed each skill separately, but in the context of a larger inquiry process. The
arrows on the figure represent how the course professors discussed the inquiry process
sequence in the assignment description and in other inquiry-based learning documents.
Participants did refer to the collaborative aspect of writing and presenting so there is a curved line
that reflects their perceptions this way.

Figure 1. The participants perception of the inquiry process.

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Discussion
Engaging in Inquiry, but not the Process
While the COED students are able to identify what is inquiry, they are muddled about
the inquiry process. Out of the findings of this study, emerged a conceptual inquiry-based learning
model called the Inquiry Processing Cycle, which represents the inquiry process as a cycle of
learning. It is a model that helps to convey the inquiry process both in a descriptive and a graphic
form (see Figure 1). Curiosity is at the core of the Inquiry Processing Cycle, as well as how
inquiry is birthed in the ideas, issues, or problems that spark the knowledge construction of
learners (Dewey, 1944; Root-Bernstein & Root-Bernstein, 2012). Curiosity and inquiry do not
need to be solitary activities. The Inquiry Processing Cycle depicts how collaboration is a key
component in encouraging and fostering inquiry, given that collaborating with others is a way to
cultivate more ideas, develop deeper questions, and create artifacts that represent products of an
inquiry.
Curiosity and collaboration are the mechanisms for an inquirys momentum. Girded by
these mechanisms, the following six actions make up the Inquiry Processing Cycle:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

Research questions,
Investigate resources,
draft conclusions,
create writing,
present artifact,
Reflect on applications.

The chapter will move to a short description of each action in the Inquiry Processing Cycle.

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Figure 1. Graphic representation of the Inquiry Processing Cycle.

Action Components of the Inquiry Processing Cycle

1. Research Questions: Questioning is the way to hone in on ones curiosity. In the
Inquiry Processing Cycle, questioning is the starting action component of the model.
Developing strong questions is an active process of research and refinement.
Scardamalia and Bereiter (2006) assert that strong questions are developed and
redeveloped to elicit real ideas (p.117). As Figure 2 shows, questioning involves
research in the verb sense of that word rather than research as just a noun or adjective.
To research a question is to identify if ones question has enough definition that a person
can begin to inquire about it. Thus, refining is also part of the process of researching a
question. Refining means that the learner narrows in on the topic and idea of the

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question. The question refinement process is an investment in time, but it is an essential

part of the construction of knowledge through inquiry-based learning.
2. Investigate Resources: Investigate resources is another component of the Inquiry
Processing Cycle. This component is related to researching and refining questions as
learners begin to narrow down the topic of their inquiry. Yet, to investigate resources also
includes the process of identifying reliable and credible sources. Investigate resources
means going to the library to find books and journal articles related to the inquiry
question. It goes beyond just finding resources to address the inquiry question,
investigate resources means interrogating the resources. This is especially important with
digital resources, like websites and databases, in order to distinguish whether the
resource is accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Questions that learners should ask to

determine if a source is credible include:

Who is the author and does she or he cite their sources?
When was the resource published? How current is the source?
What is the authors purpose for writing?
Is the author and resource affiliated with a valid and reputable institution?
The final part of investigating resources is to closely read and examine what the
resources have to say about the inquiry question. In this way, the investigate resources
action of the Inquiry Processing Cycle is akin to data collection.
3. Draft Conclusions: After the resources are collected, interrogated, and examined, the
next action component is to draft conclusions. To draft conclusions means that the
learner moves to synthesizing and summarizing the findings from the resources that were
investigated. Drafting conclusion also involves a critical analysis of the findings. The
process of drafting means that preliminary conclusions are drawn from the resources.
The conclusions provide a rough sketch of the discoveries that the learner made from
investigating resources.
4. Create Writing: Another action component of the Inquiry Processing Cycle is to
create writing. The draft conclusions and create writing are closely linked together and
are the two components that often require the largest investment of time when it comes
to inquiry. They are also the two components that reflect the collaborative process of

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inquiry as the learner mulls over and shares with others. To create writing does not
necessarily mean writing a traditional research paper. There are a variety of ways to
create a product that explains the findings and conclusions from an inquiry. Yet, almost all
these products incorporate writing in some way. Writing is thinking on paper. It is a
creative endeavor, which captures what a learner gained or discovered as the learner
engaged with the inquiry question.
5. Present Artifact: Once the writing is finished and encapsulated into an artifact, there
should be a space for the learner to present the artifact of inquiry. Presenting the artifact
is an important action component of the Inquiry Processing Cycle. It is another form of
communicatingoften in a verbal waywhat the learner has discovered and constructed
related to the original inquiry question. Present artifact is also a space in which a learner
has the opportunity to answer questions about his or her inquiry journey. Thus, it is best
that the present artifact action component include an audience of some sort.
6. Reflect on Applications: The Inquiry Processing Cycle would not be complete without
a space for reflection. Reflect on applications is the last action component of the cycle,
but it does not mean the inquiry process stops after the learner reflection. Rather,
reflection can often help to inform future inquiry questions. In the field of education, it is
important that applications are linked to the reflection. Learners, who are preparing to
become teacher, benefit from engaging in reflection that applies to the future teaching
practice. The evolving nature of inquiry based learned is often frustrating to young
learners because it keeps leading to more questions (Junisbai, 2014). Reflecting on
applications can help to mediate that frustration as learners identify the applicability of
their inquiry journey as well as discover further pursuits of inquiry related to their initial
question.
Recommendations. The Inquiry Project is a promising assignment to aid in the
development of T-Shape individual. The Inquiry Processing Cycle is an instructive model for
teaching about the inquiry process. The model captures the action components that make up
inquiry process. Likewise, it also shows how curiosity and collaboration are at the core of the

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cycle. It is recommended that educators use this cycle when discuss the contours of the inquiry
process with their students.
Anothe recommendations for the future include a stronger integration between the
Cultural Awareness project and Inquiry Project. Here is what PFS instructors said to that point:

think by spending some class time discussing cultural diversity and the

implications that many individuals from various backgrounds encounter. By helping them build
their background knowledge, then you could engage them in class/small group dialogues of
how their area of interest would be impacted/implemented in a classroom of diverse learners.
(e.g., If your research topic was focused on collaborating with families then engage in dialog
based on how would that vary with diverse parents). I feel there would be a greater impact by
having more class discussions around cultural diversity than just having students write about
it. We just need to help build background knowledge to help them feel more comfortable in
engaging in these academic discussions.
I also think it would be helpful to walk students through the process of
"inquiry" on a more step-by-step process. Coming out of high school, I feel they have the "lets
pick a topic so we can get the project completed as quickly as possible" rather than taking the
time to engage in the process of inquiry.
I would like to see more rigor be brought to the research process. Students
located resources through the library website, but didn't seem to really engage with them.
Another thought is maybe to present students with, say, five large themes from the course,
have them pick a theme that interests them, and then develop a research question that falls
under that theme.
If we adopted the theme idea, then one or more themes could invoke the
idea of cultural diversity. A perhaps less creative way to do it might be to say that their
research question has to address diversity in some way, shape, or form.
In conclusion, while the Inquiry Project has promising outcomes among the PFS students in COED, it
can alway be tinkered with in order to improve it. A stronger integration of cultural awareness and more
explicit instruction related to the Inquiry Processing Cycle are two natural pathways toward such
improvement.

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B2. College of Arts + Architecture.(possible) use of language and skills through upper level
courses (Takiyah)

Beyond the PFS curriculum, faculty have an opportunity to continuing supporting students in
applying the three interconnected goals of commitment to success, inquiry and cultural
awareness within their courses. Faculty might choose, as an intentional and best practice, to
continue using the goals in developing course objectives overall or for specific courses activities
and assignments. Additionally, making frequent reference to the PFS goals and experience will
remind students of the goals as central to the ways in which they are encouraged to approach
their studies at UNC Charlotte. Faculty might choose to reference goal setting (an aspect of
commitment to success) as a critical part of developing the steps of completing a research project
while also encouraging students to explore issues of interest and concern in their work. Further
still, faculty can frame course assignments and projects as opportunities for developing greater
awareness of both self and other, embedding critical reflection at the beginning and end of an
assignment to allow students time to think through how completing the work deepened their
knowledge. The critical, or most essential point is that in order for PFS to shape the
undergraduate experience, frequent references to the three core goals must be made throughout
any given curriculum -- otherwise, students are introduced to the frameworks in the first year with
no explicit opportunity to continue developing in these areas for the duration of their studies.
Faculty who are not teaching in the PFS curriculum, then, have a responsibility to learn about the
program, work to embed these ideas into their courses and are encouraged to, at a bare
minimum, make frequent use of the PFS terminology. The emphasis here is not to radically
change student learning objectives or individual course outcomes but rather to encourage
students to begin thinking across the content and skills-development opportunities offered by their
courses as informed by the goals of PFS.
In the College of Arts + Architecture, the department of dance embeds the PFS goals
within the DANC 1201 - Foundations in Dance course. This cornerstone course was deemed as
most appropriate by department faculty for introducing the core ideas of PFS to incoming

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Consolidated Draft

students. Examples of PFS assignments from the department can be found in Appendix A. After
working with these assignments for some time, some lessons have been gleaned that may be of
use:

Its critical to consider how the goals of PFS are introduced to students. Rather then being
referred to as a separate task or add-on, including PFS in the syllabus and demonstrating in that
document which assignments are tied to PFS goals gives students a pathway by which to

understand the importance of course -related activities

Framing the goals in a manner that makes them accessible to students is especially important.
While students may generally have an understanding of commitment to success as a goal-setting
and work related endeavor, the other goals may need additional time to clarify and discuss.
Notably, the dance department has embraced an understanding of cultural awareness that asks
students to consider their own relationship to and responsibility within the larger community -- of
the college, the department, the campus and as members of society. Cultural awareness then is
not shorthand for diversity as much as it encourages students to reflect on their own perspectives
and relationships with a larger whole and to consider how they might contribute meaningfully to
society through their chosen academic discipline. Similarly, framing inquiry as an open-ended,
unfolding process that leads to more questions helps students embrace this goal as one that is
about process as opposed to final product. Inquiry allows students to learn about the process of
research, refine their ability to shape research questions and explore questions and phenomena
that they have perhaps taken for granted. Inquiry becomes a mindset and a willingness for deep
and meaningful exploration as opposed to merely the completion of steps or procedure.

(assignment examples: See Appendix A

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