CCSC Prepares Frontiers Report

Members of the Columbia College Student Council have begun working on a report to address and provide solutions to what they say are problems with the Frontiers of Science course.

Alidad Damooei, CC '09 and academic affairs representative for CCSC, has assembled an Academic Affairs Committee of six first-year council members, whom he believed "would have more of a stake" in Frontiers. At the group's first drafting meeting on Feb. 7, they decided on seven major problems with the course, which they plan to tackle in the report due in two to four weeks.

One of the top concerns is the major differences between students' backgrounds going into the class. According to Damooei, some students felt "unchallenged" by the "simple" material in the class, as if instructors "think they're stupid," while students on the other end of the spectrum felt as though instructors "expect too much of them."

"It would be better if one could group students according to their background," Damooei said. The committee is working on finding a way to place students in discussion sections according to their math histories.

David Helfand, head of the Frontiers of Science program and professor of astronomy, took umbrage at the proposed reforms. "I simply reject the claim that 17-year-olds know more than faculty," he said.

While Damooei acknowledged that doing this would mean that students come out of the course with completely different experiences, he felt that it would nevertheless be a "better match."

"I think it highly improbable that that would happen," Helfand said, citing practical setbacks, such as the manner in which students would be grouped.

But Helfand's main concern with the proposed reforms was philosophical. He emphasized that the purpose of discussions is to stimulate "peer learning," which includes juxtaposing students of converse backgrounds.

As for students who struggle with this Core requirement, Helfand said: "It's disturbing when students come in with a 780 SAT and can't do ninth-grade math. But I don't blame the students because they certainly have the ability."

The other main goal of the council committee is to build more cohesiveness within the course.

"We want to try to create a better link between what's taught in lectures, sections, and weekly individual assignments," Damooei said.

In response, Helfand argued, "I think there's more of a connection than a superficial look would reveal."

As evidence, Helfand said that in the 2004-2005 school year, when Frontiers became a requirement, every section had one universal problem set per unit, but faculty quickly realized that was problematic and came up with several choices among the weekly individual assignments. Section leaders may also craft assignments that fit their individual classes.

Helfand also noted that Frontiers faculty meet weekly to improve the course. "We constantly talk about what's happening and what we're going to do," he said. He added that they "spend a lot of time meeting with students," and if CCSC is working on reforms, "it would be most efficient to talk to faculty sooner rather than later."

While the committee members plan to do just that, they began their efforts with an "outreach campaign," which asked first-years for suggestions about Frontiers.