Philosophy 101
Philosophy 101: An Introduction to Western Philosophy
When: Since 2016
My Role: Adjunct Faculty, Instructional Designer, eLearning Developer, LMS administrator
Created For: Pima Community College
Modes of Instruction: Hybrid, in-person, live online.
Feedback
“Students rave about how much they have learned in Vincent Colaianni’s classes and several have mentioned that they now want to change their majors to philosophy because he has sparked their interest in the subject.
Students have also said that they learned a new way of thinking after taking a PHIL 101 class with Vincent. He also is very knowledgeable in regards to D2L and goes above and beyond for his students”
-Jennifer Wiley, Humanities Department Head, Pima Community College
About
I was first approached to teach Philosophy 101 in summer of 2016 and have been teaching 1 to 2 sections a year ever since in 8-week hybrid, and 14 week in-person and live online formats. The course is a historic overview of western philosophy and serves as either an elective or general education requirement for Pima Community College Students. Learning objectives include context specific philosophical topics as well as generalized skills like verbal communication, collaboration, and argumentative writing.
Curriculum Samples
Process
I design and redesign this course using the ADDIE model in an iterative process, improving the course each semester based on my experience and student feedback. Aside from the delivery format and departmental learning objectives the content of the course is entirely up to my discretion. In my initial offering of the course I worked with department leadership to complete a needs assessment for my potential students. My needs assessment taught me that for most of my students this is the first and only philosophy class they will take, that this is a required course for their majors, and that they have busy schedules and benefit from flexibility.
To accommodate my students I scaffold topics to a level appropriate to new philosophy students and focus on non-technical introductions to topics. Class discussions are deliberately open-ended to allow students to engage with the topic in the way that works best for them. To maximize my student’s time I use a ‘flipped-classroom’ model where students are introduced to material on their own time and engage in group discussions during the live portion of class. The outside of class material is largely curated from free resources online.
Since the initial offering of the class I have adapted lessons and content based on student achievement of learning outcomes and course surveys.
Technology
Philosophy 101 utilizes the following software:
Brightspace, PowerPoint
Theory
Philosophy 101 was created utilizing the following instructional design models and pedagogy:
ADDIE, Gagne’s Nine Events, HyFlex, Universal Design for Learning, Bloom’s Taxonomy.