CCSC Passes New Frontiers Proposal

A report passed by the Columbia College Student Council last night outlined five problems and potential solutions for Frontiers of Science.

The report addressed the course's overwhelming breadth, the length of discussion sections, weekly individual assignments, reading materials, and its location in Miller Theater as subjects for review. The report omitted an earlier plank about grouping students into discussion sections according to their scientific background and interests.

"We're not telling the faculty what to do, but giving them suggestions based on what students think," said Jessica Becker, CC '10.

"The purpose of this report shouldn't be misconstrued," Alidad Damooei, CC '09 and academic affairs representative, said. "It's not like we change these five things and it's all fixed. We're not that stupid. It's more about opening up dialogue with faculty."

When the council's academic affairs committee was working on Frontiers reform in February, Damooei focused on the division of students as a chief aim of the report. He has since met with David Helfand, head of the Frontiers of Science program, and said he has come to agree with Helfand's philosophical and practical objections.

"We thought that doing that [splitting up students] would take away from the general idea of a core class which is to bring together students of different experiences," Damooei said.

Damooei said there was still a problem with "lumping students together" because of the differences in skill levels. Therefore, he said he felt that one of the most important suggestions in the report was creating a student focus group to influence the direction and content of the class. He cited a similar system, the Committee on the Core, which gives students a voice regarding the Core Curriculum but which doesn't cover Frontiers.

Currently, Frontiers faculty work to ensure that the material is comprehensible by having faculty members in one scientific field check the material presented by members in another field.

"I say, why not just have students do this?" Damooei said. "A professor still has technical knowledge, a scientific background, so his perspective is not most representative of students."

To fill up what council members called the unnecessarily-long two hour discussion sections, the report recommends using some of the time to give "a preview of the upcoming lecture." The report also proposes the hiring of an additional instructor for the help room and the addition of a textbook or course pack to bridge the "gap between the overly simple material" in Habits of Mind reader and the technical articles."

Of Miller Theater, where lectures are held, the report states that the bad lighting and desk-less seats are "more conducive to napping than rigorous focus," and advocates that lectures be moved to 407 International Affairs Building. Since that room only holds 300 students, the lectures could be split into two sections, the report says, which would also increase scheduling flexibility.