Arts One is an interdisciplinary, first year program in the Faculty of Arts at The University
of British Columbia which combines English, History, and Philosophy into one course
worth 60% of a full-time program. Since its inception in 1967, over 5000 students have
participated in Arts One; however, no formal evaluation from the student perspective has
been undertaken. The objective of this study was to investigate Arts One's impact on
students academically, socially, and with respect to their careers.
The study was divided into two parts. First, a mail questionnaire was sent to 500
individuals who participated in Arts One between 1967 and 1988. Of the two hundred
respondents, the majority recalled Arts One positively, with 90% indicating that they
would recommend the program. A number of questions emerged from the questionnaires
which were investigated in the second part of the study, personal interviews with 21
former Arts One participants. Together, the questionnaires and personal interviews
revealed that Arts One has been a success from the perspectives of the study participants.
Many had chosen Arts One for its small-sized classes, and most identified the seminars and
tutorials as the highlights of the program. In particular, many credited Arts One with
having taught them how to think, write, and be open to different perspectives.
Participants also recalled the benefits of being part of an intense learning community and
the friendships formed as a result. Some found the transition into second year difficult,
particularly because of the larger, lecture-style classes.
However, the strongest theme to emerge was the impact of the Arts One seminar
professor on the experience of his/her students. To a large extent, the success of Arts One
seems rooted more firmly in the faculty members involved in the program than in the
curriculum itself. In most cases, participants spoke highly of their Arts One seminar
professors, and many considered them to have been their mentors. However, some
individuals felt that their seminar professors were unsuited to teaching in Arts One and
negatively affected their experience. The study concludes with five recommendations, as
well as some suggestions for further research. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/3693 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Dumaresq, Cheryl E. |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 13208654 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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