Pilot curriculum ideals beneficial

Today, the faculty will meet to discuss Penn's pilot curriculum, assess the effect it has had on undergraduates and evaluate what aspects of it can be applied to the general curriculum. We believe that, while certain elements of its execution were flawed, overall the ideals behind the pilot curriculum are worth adapting to Penn's general curriculum.

Penn should be commended for experimenting with its curriculum in the first place. Empirically testing the undergraduate academic experience of a great university is not something that is done every day, and it was innovative of the University to do so.

The main advantage of the pilot was that it offered students more flexibility with their education by reducing the number of requirements. As Penn prides itself on its diverse student body, there is no reason why students should be forced into a one-size-fits-all general requirement. The current general requirement compromises by offering many courses with which to fill requirement sectors, but in general, the more freedom you give students in guiding the course of their undergraduate education, the happier and more productive they will be.

There is, however, one major aspect of the experiment that the University should not adapt: the idea of team-taught classes. Certain courses taught by professors in the same department may work in the general curriculum. But while the pilot's attempt to integrate a course across several disciplines is a noble one, in practice, it simply does not work.

In reality, they end up either as two or three mini courses jammed into one semester, or professors attend their colleagues' lectures seemingly at random. But there is rarely dialogue among the professors during the course of the class. While it may sound good in the board room, it simply doesn't work in the classroom.

It is also worth noting that, whatever conclusions the administration may draw from the experiences of students during these years, the true effects may not shine through for years to come. On a fundamental level, Penn has a role in preparing us for our lives and careers, and as such, it may be a long time before we find out what the pilot curriculum really did for students.

On this note, Penn should continue to keep an open mind about what and how it teaches undergraduates, and should never stop evaluating how effectively it is achieving its goals.

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