No path in life is straight and perfect. Not all answers are found in books or on the internet. The liberal arts education at Concordia College -Moorhead has allowed my shape of learning as “out of the box.” Various angles and approaches need to be taken when presented with a complex situation.
For all students grades create a very competitive and stressful environment. Grades are a very important part of any class because that is what is placed on the transcript. This class allowed for a non-stressful but well respected class. A majority of this class was participation, with two unique tests that challenged your thinking process and finally a project that took your own knowledge and present it in a form for others. Knowing that participation and willingness to learn allowed for less stress but with more want to become educated on these topics.
Articles that promoted learning
All the topics we had covered in Neurochemistry were more complex than I ever knew. We would start each week with an article that Dr. Mach had picked out. Each article was read by Monday along with a worksheet that asked for: main point in the article, a question to help explain a pathway or something super important that the article focused on, and finally, any questions you had. These papers all presented information that was new to all of us. Discussing the paper led to more questions than answers.
On Wednesday, we took all these questions and have posted our answers to the wiki page. Many times, I found that there was no new information. The question we had was said to be discovered but with an unknown function or was still being researched. We would either talk about our topic to the class or do this through “speed dating.” When conversing with classmates you started to see the connection between your topic and theirs.
Finally, on Friday all additional questions or comments that were talked about on Wednesday were discussed in groups. This day allowed for an open, no judgement discussion. Opinions were expressed and counter arguments peacefully.
Concordia’s five goals for liberal learning:
- Instill a love for learning
- Wednesday allowed students to address topics that they were interested in. The freedom of learning while being centered around the main topic allowed for me, as a student, to want to participate and research something that was of interest. Each Monday, I was left with the want to learn more about the topic to be able to put the picture together and be able to explain it to someone else. Many of these topics in the articles are presented in many individual’s lives that allowed for a better understanding of life.
- Develop foundational skills and transferable intellectual capacities
- A foundational skill that can be used in all situations is the ability to form an opinion, express it, and still be able to hear other’s points of views peacefully. Creating an effective form of communication through each variation of difficulty of science and to various groups was very helpful in the CAP project. Taking complex science information and being able to portray the important information to people with different backgrounds of knowledge was critical.
- Develop an understanding of disciplinary, interdisciplinary and intercultural perspectives and their connections
- Neurochemistry and Social Work came together to tackle a Community Action Project. This project allowed collaboration between two different fields that are very much interconnected. Autism, is the group I was placed in. In this group we held a workshop targeting individuals who are wanting to learn the complexity of the disease as well as a unique perspective from a mother. Both groups were able to bring their strengths that was later presented to various students who attended.
- Cultivate an examined cultural, ethical, physical and spiritual self-understanding
- Our gathering time on Friday’s allowed for everyone to self-reflect. Reflection on how each topic was related to the community and various cultures. After discussing each topic I was able to contribute personal experiences. Drug addiction has hit my family hard due to my cousin being a methamphetamine addict. Understanding how everything within me and the world around me connects to each other.
- Encourage responsible participation in the world ***BREW
- Not only did this class allow for a unique interaction with the public but it gave me information that I can use towards voting. Many things such as drug addiction, obesity, and endocannabinoids are a few topics that impacting the community. Knowing the complexity of marijuana and its affects on various pathways in the body allows for a more informed voting. Marijuana is just one topic that has made it big on the ballot and community. Obesity is seen in the community that may have to be voted on for improved/healthier school lunches. Drug addiction is a disease that multiple laws affect these people. These laws are made by politicians that need to understand more of the chemistry of this disease.
This is a class that has allowed me to think more about my habits and the way it influences the world I live in as well as myself. I loved my time in this class and wish more people had the opportunity to have such a great experience in college.
