One of the best methods for cultivating a student's ability to challenge texts, to explore alternative interpretations, and to overcome the static view of texts as fixed and immutable is through collaborative writing and publishing. Discussion, Critical Analysis, and Encounters with Texts . Knowledge is an iterative process based on a community of active inquirers with access to a shared, evolving body of information. In a collaborative setting, students as inquirers play an active, participatory role in choosing questions and posing problems, while the faculty member helps the class by articulating potentially productive paths of investigation. Many faculty request that students turn in their assignments electronically for grading and annotation.
Faculty make information available for students on network servers.
Students have assignments to use curriculum-specific software such as Mathematica and SPSS, installed either in laboratory computers or available through the campus network. Currently, this type of instruction is inconsistent. Because a structured orientation is lacking, the range of training and exposure varies from class to class. Some faculty include such an orientation, others do not. The network literacy module will emphasize basic navigation skills with an eye towards students gaining mastery in the analytic and scholarly process by which knowledge is produced.