The Liberal Studies Program (LSP) offers unique opportunities for both new and veteran instructors. This is especially true when teaching one of our specifically-coded LSP courses: Discover Chicago (LSP 110); Explore Chicago (LSP 111), Focal Point Seminar (LSP 112), Quantitative Reasoning (MAT 120), or Seminar on Race, Power, and Resistance (LSP 200). While these courses may overlap with an instructor’s original field of study, because of their distinct learning outcomes and writing expectations—all of which have to be met—and their often interdisciplinary and experiential nature, instructors may face pedagogical challenges. For this reason, the following resources have been made available:
the Teaching Commons website, and developmental meetings and workshops are offered by each of the LSP Advisory Committees.
Other LSP courses, such as those in the six learning domains, come from departments and programs across the university and are coded with their three-letter disciplinary course numbers. While teaching domain area courses may be no different from how you approach non-LSP courses, two potential areas of difference do exist: 1) Specific LSP learning outcomes and writing expectations must be met for the course to continue carrying LSP credit, and 2) Students enrolled in the course are often from other academic areas who are taking the class primarily because it happens to meet one of their LSP requirements. This mix of students can be challenging, especially as instructors strive to meet all the learning outcomes and writing expectations associated with the relevant LSP unit, while still delivering the course’s core subject matter. To more effectively teach these courses, and to learn, for example, about the best practices for prompting good writing assignments, instructors are encouraged to seek resources available on the LSP and Teaching Commons webpages, and to attend developmental workshops regularly offered by the various LSP Unit Advisory Committees.