Interim Report on Current Activities
The Creative Inquiry Task Force has evaluated current experiential learning activities for all undergraduate programs that match the academic majors available to incoming students (2005-2006 Academic Announcements). There are 98 degree options, which do not include any of the “pre-major” programs like General Engineering.
The Task Force developed a set of minimum criteria for student activities to be considered as creative inquiry. In analyzing the current programs, the committee first restricted minimum criteria to include programs that required courses in undergraduate research, internships, capstone experiences, co-operative education, studio, practice teaching, or any other activity associated with a credit-bearing course with content aimed at hands-on learning. Based on the boundary conditions:
- 44 of the 98 degree options currently require some form of creative inquiry. This represents 50% of the student body in their sophomore, junior, or senior years.
- 28 degree options (27%) require 3 or 4 credit hours of creative inquiry coursework.
- 6 degree options (6%) require 1 or 2 credit hours of creative inquiry coursework.
- 20 degree options (17%) do not require courses that match the definition of creative inquiry at this time.
The Task Force is exploring various models to help more students become involved in creative inquiry. One model will be to encourage programs with some activity to expand their offerings and incorporate more experiential opportunities for their majors. The Task Force will assess the use of projects like the current pilot multidisciplinary creative inquiry groups as another model for moving forward to the goal of 100% participation. Other models will be discussed as potential opportunities for students, particularly those aimed at majors that currently have limited involvement in creative inquiry.