Simon Fraser University - case study

Let’s talk: Simon Fraser University’s undergraduate semester in dialogue program

No lectures are allowed in the Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue program.

Marks are scarce too. Students are informed at the program’s start they’ll receive no grades until the end of the semester.

What they get instead is “intense feedback,” plenty of discussion, writing, re-writing, group and individual projects and, if successful, that precious “A-ha!” moment that changes a student’s life.

“Our program doesn’t propose overthrowing the entire university system,” says Mark Winston, academic director and fellow at SFU’s Centre for Dialogue. Dr. Winston created Semester in Dialogue in 2002 after reaching a mid-career realization that, although he was a pretty good lecturer, his students were not engaging with the material.

“What we’re missing are the catalytic moments through which students discover who they want to be in the world,” says Dr. Winston, also a bee expert, who believes just about any program can benefit from replacing 10 per cent of its traditionally-taught curriculum with an experiential component.

Semester in Dialogue sets the scene for those transformative moments by inspiring and encouraging students’ civic engagement with contemporary challenges. Each semester is based around a theme such as urban planning and sustainability, energy, or healthcare. Using an interdisciplinary and experiential approach, the program treats dialogue, among students, with guest speakers – called “thought leaders” – and in regular public forums organized by students, as a primary learning tool. “Dialogue” sessions are scheduled frequently during the week.

The program is small – 20 students in their third or fourth year are accepted in each of the three semesters the program runs during the year – and counts as three simultaneous courses in the fall and winter; two during the spring semester. Rather than being based with any one department, the program reports directly to SFU’s vice-president, academic, which has given it the independence needed to develop the program to the fullest.

Students are expected to come to dialogues already well-read in the discussion topic. There are regular field trips in the Vancouver area, weekly one-on-one mentoring meetings with faculty, and a final project of a 3,000-word manuscript or equivalent, suitable for public presentation, among many other written assignments (including writing an op-ed piece for a daily newspaper).

Former Dialogue student Deanna Rogers saw her course project – designing and implementing a community “zero waste model,” minimizing what gets thrown away, whether through garbage or recycling – turn into a summer job after a local government agency funded her to run the model in her neighbourhood.

She says the program, “taught me a lot about communication skills, facilitation, how to work with a group. I feel like it taught me how to learn again.”

The program has helped inspire CityStudio, involving SFU with five other Vancouver postsecondary institutions, and getting students to work directly on Vancouver’s sustainability issues alongside city officials, experts and community members. CityStudio will launch in the fall of 2011.

For more information: go to website of the Undergraduate semester in dialogue program.