Monday, 6/9/97 Graduates miss out on university’s widespread
changes EDUCATION: Curriculum modifications, demographic shifts
ring in new century
By J. Sharon Yee Daily Bruin Contributor On graduation day, the
members of this year’s senior class will accept their diplomas,
perhaps unaware of the dramatic educational changes at UCLA since
their arrival four or more years ago. A variety of changes in
educational policy, such as the incorporation of new computer
resources, are very visible to students. Yet other changes such as
new interdepartmental programs have been adopted more discreetly.
Some of these changes are academic: new information technologies,
the introduction of minors, and the introduction of core courses in
the sciences. And some changes are in the character of the student
body: a decrease in ethnic diversity and a growing number of
students living on campus. Perhaps the most widespread of changes
instigated in the last few years has been the introduction of the
Internet, e-mail and other computer technologies into the
curriculum. The College Library Instructional Computing Center,
which opened last fall, gives students access to a whole array of
services in addition to basic word processing programs, such as
e-mail and the World Wide Web. Lisa Kemp, manager of CLICC,
discussed one of the ways computer technology has affected student
education. "The standards have changed," she said. "Today, students
are expected to write at higher quality because there is no reason
why they can’t." "The quality of writing today should be worthy of
publishing," she added. Technologies such as spell-checking make it
harder for students to make basic mistakes that may have hindered
writing in the past, she commented. Because of the relatively easy
access people have to the Internet, students have to be careful and
critical in choosing what information they use, making sure that it
is legitimate, she added. Violeta Reed, a fifth-year materials
science and engineering student, echoed these sentiments. "There
was one project I was involved in where I could not get any
information from the library, and ended up finding all my research
on the Web," she said. "The only thing is, the info isn’t always
reliable." According to Reed, most of her professors prefer e-mail
over actual office hours, often post homework on the Web, and
encourage their students to use the Internet as a primary research
tool. The implementation of computer resources on campus is by far
"the best improvement in the engineering department and at UCLA as
a whole," she concluded. Many courses here now offers a Web page,
complete with general information about the course, examples of
test questions, homework postings and "virtual" office hours – a
place where students can read students’ questions and the
professors’ answers. "Computers have, in the last 10 years or so,
given the university the opportunity to revolutionize teaching,"
said Thomas Phelan, director of Social Sciences Computing. New labs
for the social sciences are currently being set up in the Public
Policy Building to meet the overwhelming demand, he said. Phelan
also discussed the potential impact of technology on classroom
instruction. "Nowadays, professors are lucky to have an overhead
projector in the classroom," he said, explaining how new
technologies will enable professors to project images from the
computer onto a screen. "There is nothing you can do to overcome a
dull professor, but seeing something visually may help to ease the
boredom," he said. Another trend is to integrate the faculty with
students. The university has, over the years, found other ways to
accomplish this, said Judith Smith, vice provost of the College of
Letters and Science. For example, residential life is seen as the
newest way of bringing the two groups together. The number of
students living in the dorms, especially in their first and second
years, has grown considerably over the years, Smith noted. "Six or
seven years ago, UCLA was still considered a commuter campus," she
said. "Now, we have a great opportunity to bring together two often
thought-to-be-separate areas – student life and student academics."
Prior to building Sunset Village, the newest addition to the
residential halls, "there were very few places to live on campus,"
Smith said. A new residence hall, scheduled to open in 1999, will
combine 1,200 more students with a large auditorium and lecture
hall. These two changes will help integrate and facilitate better
communication between faculty and students, Smith said. "Having
exchange between students and faculty, where faculty can come to
speak to students in an informal setting, brings the more human
side to faculty," she said. Smith emphasized the fact that bridging
the distance between students and professors is an "important
aspect in undergraduate education." Another significant change in
the character of the university is a growing decrease in diversity.
Starting this fall, the number of undergraduate applicants from
underrepresented groups (Latino, African American, native American
and Pacific Islander) dropped. That happened even before the
implementation of the regents’ orders eliminating affirmative
action in admissions and hiring. At the law school, where the
regents’ decision took effect this year, statistics for 1997
already reflect a drop in minorities accepted into the prestigious
program. Administrators have responded by expanding existing
outreach programs, and weighting socioeconomic factors more heavily
in the admissions process. The success of these measures has yet to
be determined. Change has also come in the area of academics.
Recently, the university has also tried to expand curricular
options. After many years of hard work and planning, the gay,
lesbian and bisexual, or GLB, minor has been approved for next
quarter, said James Schultz, professor of Germanic languages and
director of the GLB program. "In the past, reaction to issues
regarding sexuality and its relation to other disciplines may have
been hostile, but there does not seem to be much resistance now,"
he said. The program does not have its own faculty, but offers
courses from a wide variety of disciplines, such as English,
history, and sociology. Two of eight requirements include an
introductory course in GLB studies and a seminar involving
community service. The GLB minor is only one of 15 new minors to
have surfaced since their adoption in 1995. "Students who want to
do some specialization, but at the same time do not want to
complete an entire major in that field are now able to do so with a
minor," Smith said. An English minor was just recently implemented,
and will be available this fall. There are still many departments,
however, that don’t offer them, much to the regret of graduating
seniors who may have completed the course work. In addition to new
minors, the popularity of certain majors has also shifted. The most
popular majors today are biology, psychology and economics. Five
years ago, psychology was the top choice. "The common perception is
that life sciences are a good avenue to medicine," Smith said, in
explaining the shift from social sciences to life sciences. Much
effort has been taken by faculty to make students aware of other
options in the life sciences. Effective last year, students are
required to complete a new set of core classes. Students interested
in pursuing a science major are required to take a series of
general courses, such as Life Sciences 1 through 4, before moving
on to their specialized majors. According to Smith, the new core
classes "allow students who have a broad interest in science to
become generally well-educated before moving into their
specialities." But curricular reform is not only for the sciences.
General education requirements will be restructured for students
entering in 1999. The move to create a whole new set of
requirements began four years ago, initiated by faculty concerns.
The current GE classes are not fulfilling the needs of students,
Smith said. "Quite often, students will take what is convenient for
them without attention to whether the classes will give them an
in-depth understanding of the subject," Smith explained. Currently,
students are required to take 12 GE courses. The new GE proposal
requires students to take nine five-unit classes. Three of those
will focus around a broad theme, such as the environment or
democracy, said Edward Berenson, a history professor and GE
committee chair. The three-course cluster, taken consecutively
during the first year, "should expose students to see how different
disciplines approach the same general topic," he said. The proposed
new requirements "inject an element of sequentiality in general
education, something that will help students prepare to be
effective leaders and broaden their perspective," he added. The
other purpose of the cluster courses is to help students develop
the crucial learning skills, such as writing and quantitative
reasoning, that they need in their futures, Berenson said.
Attitudes of freshmen entering the university have changed over the
past few years as well. Each year, the Higher Education Research
Institute invites colleges and universities across the nation to
participate in the Freshman Survey. The survey, given at the
beginning of the year, asks a wide range of questions, from
personal, demographic information to general expectations about
college. Over the past few years, some changes in student attitudes
include: a rise in degree aspirations, in political apathy, and in
concern for the cost of higher education, said Linda Sax, HERI’s
associate director. "Because family income has not increased
relative to the increase in college tuition, students are finding
themselves having to work part-time, and take out loans at higher
percentages," she said. Responding to student concerns, the changes
in undergraduate education ultimately focus on improving the
success of college students. "The ability to apply knowledge in
different situations will help students respond to the changing
conditions of the work world," Berenson said. Previous Daily Bruin
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