New Teaching Method Gets the Old College Try

Take a traditional liberal arts education and add cutting-edge teaching methods.

The equation equals a new program at Moorpark College that officials hope will make students feel more connected to their education.

“This is an experiment,” photography instructor John Grzywacz-Gray said. “It’s part of a growing revolution in education.”

The ultimate aim of the program--called the Liberal Studies Institute--is to keep students in school while making them feel part of a campus community.

Key changes in the classroom structure include:

* All students in the institute--this semester there are nearly 50--take the same three core classes, which meet two to four hours daily, four days a week.

* Three instructors are involved in all the teaching. For instance, the science instructor may lead a discussion on literature.

* Everything students will study this semester is focused around the theme “Ways of Seeing.” When students study the history of photography in the arts section, for instance, they will also write a paper for the literature class on the subject.

* Traditional lecturing methods have been tossed out in favor of class discussion, group projects, coordinated assignments and team teaching. In that way, instructors hope to show young learners different relationships among science, art and literature.

Light is the institute’s first study unit. Discussing themes of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” this week, about 40 students explored metaphorical light and enlightenment.

Some of the students, most of whom plan to become teachers, said they couldn’t understand the complicated ancient Greek prose, while others were surprised the Socratic dialogue dealt with such relevant issues as the meaning of life.

“Me and my friends sometimes sit around and ask each other questions,” Alex Rubalcava told his classmates. “It tripped me out because that’s what these guys are doing.”

Rubalcava, 20, had heard of Plato and Socrates but said he was glad to have a chance to read them. The Moorpark resident hasn’t always been so enthusiastic about learning.

Rubalcava said he once spent his afternoons spraying graffiti in the Conejo Valley. He now plans to become a teacher. The new type of learning is a method he hopes to someday use in his own classroom.

“I’ve never been a schoolkid,” he said. “But in this class, I’m willing to work hard. You can talk about race. You can talk about religion. Nothing is hidden. You can speak your mind.”

Frank discussions that are honest and thoughtful have also hooked Megan Brimhall, who is starting her second year at Moorpark College. The Calabasas resident also likes the lower student-to-teacher ratio and the diversity of what the institute will study.

“There’s so much to be learned,” Brimhall said. “I’ve never been so excited to come to school.”

That is what professors hoped would happen when they picked up the learning community model from a university in Washington. Student-centered learning that makes the material relevant, accessible and invigorating is the aim, said Victoria Bortolussi, dean of institutional advancement at Moorpark College.

“It’s about true learning,” Bortolussi said. “It’s revitalizing that innate desire to learn that’s been killed.”

Along with connecting academic disciplines, the institute’s focus is on future teachers. When the college expands the institute concept in coming semesters, media arts and health science will be included.

Faculty and administrators have spent months preparing for the program, Bortolussi said. Oxnard College is in the design stages of a similar program, which is slated to begin next fall.

“It makes us all learners,” Bortolussi said. “The faculty will learn as much as the students.”

Teaching with the other two instructors seemed intimidating initially, the three teachers admitted. Like most college professors, they are used to running their own classroom.

“I was scared [on the first day], more scared than usual,” Grzywacz-Gray said.

But a few days into it, all agree the institute is a welcome change. If the discussion begins to lag, another instructor can jump-start it. If one forgets to remind the class about an assignment, another can mention it.

Like their students, the professors are also finding themselves revitalized.

“There is an energy here that I haven’t seen before,” Grzywacz-Gray said.