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Research-based learning -- endorsed by the Boyer Commission in Reinventing Undergraduate Education: A Blueprint for America's Research Universities -- has the potential to invigorate undergraduate education. Successful implementation requires attention be directed toward developing students' abilities to thrive in this type of environment, supporting instructors' exploration of new teaching approaches in the classroom and online, and providing institutional resources to transform course curriculum while supporting the collaborations needed for sustainability.

The University of California, Berkeley is committed to leveraging its research strength to enliven undergraduate learning by engaging undergraduates in research-based activities. Institutional support for this initiative has been provided at many levels along with a shared commitment from administrators, faculty, librarians, educational technologists and other pedagogical experts to

  • redesign courses and assignments;
  • re-energize large enrollment and core courses;
  • enable students to develop information and critical thinking skills both within and outside of the classroom.
Key components of the Berkeley plan include
  • building a community of faculty dedicated to exploring new approaches for research-based learning;
  • developing a library reconceived as a center for learning and instructional expertise; and
  • creating opportunities for academic support units to work collaboratively to provide consultative support to faculty that can inform course design and implementation.
 
Project Manager: Pat Davitt Maughan | Project Director: Elizabeth Dupuis

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License. Last updated 03/24/2008. Server manager: contact