• Introduction
• Definitions and Models
• The Five Models
• Currents and Causes
• Creating Learning Communities at GMU: Institutional Climate
• The Precursors
• Two Early LC Versions: BA/SIC and Core
• The Mason Topics Program
• New Century College: Coordinated Studies Model
• The Upper Levels
• Faculty Challenges: The Need for Faculty Development
• Outcomes and Benefits: Students
• Outcomes and Benefits: Faculty and the Scholarship of Pedagogy
• Conclusion
• Endnotes and References
• Printable Text of Article

© Copyright 2000 by Ashley Williams. The right to make additional exact copies, including this notice, for personal and classroom use, is hereby granted. All other forms of distribution and copying require permission of the author.

New Century College: Coordinated Studies Model

The most extensive and intricate LC program at George Mason University, New Century College, began in response to the State Council of Higher Education's call for curriculum for the 21st Century. Initially called "Zero-Based Curriculum" because interested faculty and administrators were willing to attempt to re-imagine baccalaureate education "from the ground up," this initiative became New Century College (NCC) and admitted its first cohort of freshmen in 1995. Today, New Century is home to several degree programs, each emphasizing active and/or experiential learning, and all courses in the Integrative Studies program are structured on the coordinated studies learning community model.

NCC Integrative Studies students who enter as freshmen enroll in Division I, general education, consisting of four integrated, interdisciplinary LCs, each lasting approximately seven weeks and carrying eight semester hours of credit. Each course is team-taught by faculty drawn from various disciplines who collaborate extensively in planning and in teaching. Fall semester courses are "Community of Learners" (integrating FYC, communication, information technology, and quantitative reasoning,) and "The Natural World" (natural science, quantitative reasoning, and communication). Spring semester courses are "The Social World" (social science, arts, and humanities) and "Self as Citizen" (social science, literature, and arts).

Each course is inquiry based, writing intensive, and incorporates Technology Across the Curriculum (TAC). Students meet in various sized groups, from study groups of 4-6 members to the entire cohort; however, the most important configuration is the seminar (approximately 22 students and an instructor, generally meeting 3-4 times per week). Students are expected to connect and integrate their experiences across these four courses in two major ways:

• by completing a year-long research project, "Transformation," in which they research the life of an individual in the context of issues raised by each course
• by creating a year-end portfolio of course materials, accompanied by self-evaluation and self-reflection and introduced by an integrative essay.

After the first year, students take a combination of upper division learning communities (typically taught by two or more faculty) and courses from other departments in the University. With the careful assistance of faculty advisors, Integrative Studies students craft interdisciplinary concentrations. Completion of 12 credits of experiential learning is required for graduation. A number of upper division LCs include experiential learning components; students may also fulfill this requirement through study abroad, service learning, independent research or internships. Candidates for graduation in Integrative Studies take a senior capstone course and construct extensive portfolios of their work in nine competency areas, accompanied by self-assessment, for faculty review. They also present senior expositions to an audience of faculty and peers. In 2000, New Century became a part of the College of Arts and Sciences.

The Mason Topics Program

The Upper Levels