One student is designated to take notes so his friends can cut class that day. The next week, it's another student's turn to share her notes; and so it goes. A fairly common practice on campuses nationwide. But not at the University of Montana-Western where faculty members realized there had to be a better way to structure classes if large numbers of students were routinely skipping class and copying notes instead.

So this year, some courses at the university, located in Dillon, are organized a different way--and early reports indicate that students and faculty alike think it's a better way. A group of 75 students (about one-third of the freshman class) are part of a pilot project called Experiment One, or X1. Modeled after a system in place for more than 25 years at Colorado College, students in X1 take only one course at a time, rather than the usual three to five. The X1 classes meet three hours a day for three and a half weeks. Each course ends on a Wednesday; the next one begins the following Monday.

"What drove this was an interest in being able to change how we teach classes," says project director Steve Mock, dean of the College of Arts and Science and a member of the AFT-affiliated Western Montana College Faculty. Specifically, he continues, that means more "experiential, hands-on learning by doing."

After receiving a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Mock and others spent last year planning for the change. Now that it's up and running, he says, "The student response is excellent. They really seem to like it."

One pleasant side effect is much better class attendance. Mock theorizes that students have fewer excuses or competing demands--like other courses--that might cause them to skip class.

The University of Montana-Western traditionally has prepared students to teach; about two-thirds of its students major in education. Mock hopes the X1 experience will expose these future teachers to new, more engaging, teaching methods. Even if they can't use this kind of innovative scheduling when they go on to teach in public schools, Mock says, "we're hoping that the ability to teach classes [by using more of] a project, hands-on approach will be beneficial."

The project will be evaluated more formally as the year progresses, and the university will then decide whether to phase it in campuswide. More information is available at http://www.umwestern.edu/X1.

[Barbara McKenna / AFT On Campus]

[December 30, 2002]