The Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences aims to provide students with a 21st-century liberal education that is foundational to a rich life full of intellectual challenges and learning opportunities. Below are resources and links meant to further the curriculum and instructional practices in the college.
Program Learning Objectives: The faculty in each department of the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences have given thought to the skills and knowledge students acquire as a result of their programs of study. This page shows the learning objectives for Dornsife undergraduate programs.
Capstone Courses: Dornsife departments have developed capstone courses that are meant as a culminating experience for students in the respective majors. This page shows the capstone courses for Dornsife undergraduate programs.
USC Dornsife is committed to providing a strong writing foundation for all undergraduate students. Since writing is a cognitive tool essential for intellectual thinking and communicating, it is imperative that college-educated students develop this skill for their time at USC and beyond.
The Dornsife Writing Program: The Writing Program prepares USC students to write successfully in their academic and professional careers through writing classes, workshops, and individual and group conferences.
The Dornsife Writing Center: The Writing Center is an excellent service for USC students, faculty, and staff. Services include one-on-one feedback, workshops, and online resources.
Experiential and Applied Learning at Dornsife
Principles for Creating Online Applied and Experiential Learning Experiences
1. Inspire Engagement – Engage students in activities that are hands-on (learn by doing) collaborative (joint projects) and reflective (analyzing and synthesizing information)
2. Encourage Ambition – Encourage students to challenge themselves to take initiative, pose questions, explore and investigate, problem-solve, make decisions and be accountable for results.
3. Build Community Partnerships – Consider how off-campus partners can offer opportunities to augment and enrich your online ExL course; i.e., invite local professionals/practitioners to visit your Zoom class and offer ‘real world’ experiences to classroom discussions and/or offer your students access to their organization via online tools.
4. Foster Creativity – Offer students the opportunity to use such tools as online journals/E-portfolios, or artistic expression, conduct interviews, written analysis/report to demonstrate their knowledge of course materials.
5. Have On-Going Communication – Frequent “check-ins” will help build rapport and a sense of community among students, as well as help identify, and address potential problems early.
6. Be Flexible and Positive – Remember that your students initially enrolled in a course where international/domestic travel, and the experience of meeting new people, seeing new sites, and exploring a new culture were intricately woven into class content. Remind students that while the course is online and obviously cannot exactly replicate these experiences, the internet and technology platforms such as Google Earth, and Google Maps can offer opportunities for learning, exploration and observation.