The Cluster
Central to the theory and practice of adult education is the ideal of the synthesis of knowledge. The School of Accelerated Degree Programs seeks to achieve this goal through the construction of the cluster. Clusters are comprised of a faculty member and approximately 12 to 14 students who meet for four hours weekly during an evening or weekend. Each student is enrolled in three related subject areas, called cluster groups that are, in many cases, integrated into one seminar. Students pursuing a bachelor of science degree must enroll in a one hour lab in conjunction with the science cluster. The cluster provides students with an opportunity to explore basic subject areas beyond the confines of a single discipline.
These cluster group meetings provide a collegial environment in which students present their work and share their learning. A major objective of this format is the development of knowledge synthesis, so quarter students can expect their learning to be measured in a variety of ways: written and oral presentation, class discussion, research papers, group projects, and traditional testing. However, as is true of most higher-education programs, in the School of Accelerated Degree Programs it is up to each professor to determine how students are to be assessed and graded; therefore, tests and quizzes may be used to supplement papers and presentations as assessments of student mastery.
The cluster follows the quarter schedule and meets one evening a week for four hours, integrating related courses of study. Three semester hours of credit are awarded for successful completion of each course in the cluster for a total of nine semester hours per cluster. Students pursuing a bachelor of science degree must enroll in a one hour lab in conjunction with the science cluster for a total of ten semester hours. The cluster begins with a first assignment, which is available on PC Common. This assignment is due on the first day (evening) of class. Subsequent homework assignments are delineated in the syllabus, and, due to the accelerated nature of the quarter program, it is expected that a student will spend, at a minimum, twenty hours per week working on these out-of-class homework assignments. This time commitment may vary, however, depending upon the student’s level of expertise in a given cluster. A student in a management cluster, for example, who has worked several years in a middle management position, and who has completed a variety of corporate sponsored management courses, may, in fact, spend less time working on assignments for this cluster.
Due to the accelerated nature of the cluster (program), the rewriting of papers or the assigning of extra credit homework to improve a grade, or grades, is not permitted.