I'm Steve Hayward and I'm a professor in the
English Department here at Colorado College.
If you know one thing about Colorado College
it's that we run on a thing called the Block
Plan.
We take one class at a time.
People often ask us, "how does that change
our approach to teaching and learning.
I thought it'd be interesting to get together
some colleagues of mine to ask them how the
block plan changes what they do in the classroom.
Let's start with Professor Sawyer from Race
Ethnicity and Migration Studies.
[MICHAEL SAWYER] Thanks Steve, I think in
addition to being able to focus on one thing,
the size of the classroom really allows us
to dig into the material we're focusing on.
Take, for instance, I teach a class on the
thinking and working of Frantz Fanon.
During his career he produced four books so
it allows a small group of students over the
course of three and a half weeks to read all
those books in sequence and have really detailed
discussions about this complicated material.
Otherwise, you'd be distracted by other courses
so it allows to really have a type of focus
that's unique in education.
[HAYWARD] Professor Steckenbiller, from German
studies, what's language like on the block
plan?
[CHRISTIANE STECKENBILLER] I would say for
us it's mainly about community and immersion.
It's really amazing to see how much progress
students make in a really short period of
time.
Going from maybe not knowing any German at
all to then being able to have quite elaborate
conversations at the end of the block.
Then, a big thing for us too is to learn about
German history and culture in combination
with the language and actually go into Germany.
What you see behind me is Ludenberg in Northern
Germany just 30 minutes from Hamburg.
We have a fall semester program there and
because of the block plan, my colleagues and
I are actually able to go with students.
So, we take turns, we each go for a block.
Students go for two blocks of for four blocks.
They can really see for themselves what it's
like to live in Germany, experience the culture,
be immersed in the culture and engage in hands-on
experiential learning.
Which is possible because of the block plan.
That's really what we want students to do.
Of course, in addition to learning about current
topics that are related to their courses like
working with non-profits, working with refugees.
That's a really big advantage of the block
plan for us.
[HAYWARD] Professor Banagale from the Music
Department, what's music like on the block
plan?
[RYAN BANAGALE] Music on the block plan takes
all sorts of wonderful different forms.
We've got courses in music history, music
theory, digital music production, composition,
and everything in between.
The wonderful thing about music on the block
plan is that you can dive in, you can make,
you can create, you can learn and you can
share.
I think one of the wonderful new opportunities
taking place this year at Colorado College
is our alliance with the Fine Arts Center.
That's a new space for students to share out
their work to the community but also gain
additional professional experience in all
the different realms of the performing arts.
[HAYWARD] The block plan means different things
to different professors in different disciplines
but at the bottom it's the single radical
idea that students learn more effectively.
That art is made more effectively when it's
the one thing that you do.
When you do one thing at a time.
I think for me as somebody who teaches creative
writing at Colorado College that single difference
is a big difference.
In other colleges, in other universities,
students have to be very shrewd about balancing
their time.
They take five, six classes at once.
The thing that often gets the shortest attention
is the creative arts.
Particularly if the student is talented and
is able to just show up into a writing class
and whatever they put in is going to be pretty
good, or good enough.
Here, you have a block, a month to particularly
focus on your craft and that makes a huge
difference.
We can't wait to see you in the fall and thanks
all of you for being part of this.
Now, everybody wave goodbye to your virtual
backgrounds.
[ALL] Bye!
