Changes the DEN wants to see
Editorial board
Issue date: 4/30/07 Section: Opinions
The 2006-2007 academic year brought changes to the way things are done at Eastern.
The Banner system implemented a bi-monthly payroll system and a new way to register for classes.
We at The Daily Eastern News hope to see that the university continues to implement new changes and procedures next year and in the future.
Two of the changes we would like to see dealt with are the Electronic Writing Portfolio requirement and the senior seminar portion of general education classes.
While EWP requirements ensure students are enrolling in writing intensive classes, they do not guarantee that these students are learning to write the way they will need to in the future.
Every different field of study has its own style of writing. Writing a journalistic news article differs from an English term paper, which in turn, differs from a business strategy.
Rather than requiring all students to submit writing samples from basic English classes and any other writing intensive classes, students should be required to take a writing proficiency examination in their field of study.
This type of examination would demonstrate to the faculty and staff of each department that their students will be prepared for their futures after finishing the program.
The other change we at The DEN would like to see is the elimination of the senior seminar requirement.
In its place, each major should create a capstone course for students to reemphasize everything they should have learned throughout their four or more years of college.
Under the current senior seminar requirement, students enroll in a senior-level course outside of their major. While this course introduces students to concepts beyond their field of study and broadens their horizons, it does not do anything to better prepare students for the future.
Some departments on campus currently do use a capstone course, and this seems to work out well for these departments.
The Banner system implemented a bi-monthly payroll system and a new way to register for classes.
We at The Daily Eastern News hope to see that the university continues to implement new changes and procedures next year and in the future.
Two of the changes we would like to see dealt with are the Electronic Writing Portfolio requirement and the senior seminar portion of general education classes.
While EWP requirements ensure students are enrolling in writing intensive classes, they do not guarantee that these students are learning to write the way they will need to in the future.
Every different field of study has its own style of writing. Writing a journalistic news article differs from an English term paper, which in turn, differs from a business strategy.
Rather than requiring all students to submit writing samples from basic English classes and any other writing intensive classes, students should be required to take a writing proficiency examination in their field of study.
This type of examination would demonstrate to the faculty and staff of each department that their students will be prepared for their futures after finishing the program.
The other change we at The DEN would like to see is the elimination of the senior seminar requirement.
In its place, each major should create a capstone course for students to reemphasize everything they should have learned throughout their four or more years of college.
Under the current senior seminar requirement, students enroll in a senior-level course outside of their major. While this course introduces students to concepts beyond their field of study and broadens their horizons, it does not do anything to better prepare students for the future.
Some departments on campus currently do use a capstone course, and this seems to work out well for these departments.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Mark
posted 4/30/07 @ 7:44 PM CST
Good article...this is the type of fact based editorials I enjoyed reading for the past 4 years here at Eastern...it's too bad my respect for the opinions portrayed in editorials has been drastically affected by past articles which I don't need to reference. (Continued…)
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