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Eberly Edge Course Development

The Eberly Edge Program was developed to enhance our freshmen’s and sophomores’ experience, giving them the ability to draw upon insights from various disciplines when answering questions for a lifetime.

Edge courses focus on making connections between Arts and Sciences disciplines, and prioritize critical thinking, analytical skills, problem solving and teamwork over a teacher-centered classroom.

Eberly Edge sections blend the teaching of academic content with the practice of essential skills that will serve students through their personal and professional lives. Eberly Edge students think critically about the world around them and the data they encounter; they express themselves efficiently and respectfully; they are aware of their environment and can thus interact with others; they are adept at bringing multiple perspectives when examining a question or solving a problem.

Characteristics of an Edge Course

Courses that support the Eberly Edge Program fall into three categories:

  1. Courses that are created specifically to meet the needs of the Eberly Edge
  2. Existing courses that have some sections designated as Eberly Edge sections and are reserved for Eberly majors.
  3. Existing courses required by a major, that fulfill one of the Eberly Edge goals (EDG Overlap)

Basic Course Information concepts.

  • All courses need to be taught primarily at the 100 level.
  • No pre-requisites
  • Sections of 60-70 students
  • Some courses are part of General Education Foundations
  • Course topics have a broad interest to all students rather than being major specific

Course Pedagogy

The pedagogy of the Eberly Edge courses or Eberly Edge sections of courses is what sets them apart. The program promotes active learning and student engagement over traditional lectures. Instructors are encouraged to combine mini-lectures with problem-solving activities. Courses assist students in gaining professional and technological skills.

For more information, see:

Assignments

Eberly Edge sections reinforce skills and themes developed in all Edges and should include assignments that allow students to practice them.  Each course should incorporate the following:

  • Writing assignments (in class or out of class) should refer to the PACT concepts. Points can be assigned for students who can identify specific concepts of PACT on any given assignment.
  • Data-based assignments requiring students to use a spreadsheet.
  • Short, self-reflecting opportunities (informally in class discussion or in more formal assignments) for students to identify the skills they are practicing while completing a particular activity or assignment in the course.

Writing

While for some courses, Eberly Edge sections are smaller than non-EDG sections (COMM 104, SUST 102, BIOL 105, etc.) others can be larger than their non-EDG counterpart, or larger than what is traditionally offered in the discipline.  Eberly Edge sections are also taught by experienced faculty who may normally be assigned to teaching juniors and seniors in the major or graduate students.  It is important to scale expectations and assignments in an Eberly Edge section to the audience taught: class size (60-70 students), level (freshmen and sophomores), field of study.

For more information, see:

Assessment

Eberly Edge courses are part of a specific assessment process every semester. Courses are assessed for student learning gains based on their Edge learning outcome. These efforts will be supported by the College and the Edge Committee. All Eberly Edge instructors are expected to contribute to the assessment of the program.

Early Alerts and Midsemester Reports

Since Eberly Edge courses are delivered to Freshmen and Sophomores, instructors participate in the early alert program at the two- and twelve-week points of the semester. As in all undergraduate courses, students in an Eberly Edge course receive a meaningful grade at the midterm date.

Course Policies

For students to be active and engaged in their classes, instructors strive to create a friendly environment where expectations and boundaries are clear without resorting to unenforceable threats (“3 absences and students will fail the course,” “there are no make-up exams in this class,” etc.)

For More Information

Submitting a Proposal

All courses need to be reviewed by the Eberly Edge committee.  Before submitting a proposal, instructors should consult with their department chair and the College Academic Affairs leadership about the need of the Eberly Edge program.

Existing Courses

A department has an existing course that they teach to all WVU undergraduate students but would like to be part of the Eberly Edge program.  If the course is selected, in consultation with the department, the College will create Eberly Edge sections reserved for Eberly majors. 

Identifying an existing course that would be a good Eberly Edge course:

  • The topic of the course is a good fit for one of the Eberly Edge categories and there is a need for additional courses in that Edge.
  • The course can be offered regularly in the number of sections needed, on a rotation agreed between the college and the department.
  • The course covers a broad topic that can be explored and appreciated without students needing pre-requisites to master the course topics.
  • The course can be scaled and the workload manageable for the instructor to have a class size of 60-70 students.
  • The course uses eCampus actively (assessment).

Is there a need for a course change through CIM?

The clear answer is “no!”

  • The course content and learning objectives do not need to be modified. Instead, one or two of the course learning objectives of the Eberly Edge category selected will be added to the approved earning objectives of the course.
  • However, the pedagogy, assignments and class design might need to be adapted to fit both the Eberly Edge goals of student engagement and class size.

Assessment

The department works with the Assistant Dean for Curriculum and Assessment to implement a course-level instrument that will help the college assess the Eberly Edge program.

Checklist:

New Courses Designed for the Eberly Edge

These courses are created and designed specifically for our majors to apply the skills outlined in the Eberly Edge program.  In this case, the instructor designing the course has the advantage of building the course modules with the Eberly Edge in mind, rather than retrofitting its goals and pedagogy.

If the course is approved, the department will submit a new course proposal and in consultation with the department, the College will create Eberly Edge sections reserved for Eberly majors.  The course can also be offered by the department in non-Eberly sections.

Designing a good Eberly Edge course:

  • The topic of the course is a good fit for one of the Eberly Edge categories and there is a need for additional courses in that Edge.
  • The course can be offered regularly in the number of sections needed, on a rotation agreed between the college and the department.
  • The course covers a broad topic that can be explored and appreciated without students needing pre-requisites to master the course topics.
  • The course can be scaled and the workload manageable for the instructor to have a class size of 60-70 students. 
  • The assignments are realistic in scope for the level of the students, their field of study and will capture students’ attention.
  • The workload for the instructor is designed to be manageable in a class size of 60-70 students.
  • The course uses eCampus actively (assessment).

Assessment

The department works with the Assistant Dean for Curriculum and Assessment to implement a course-level instrument that will help the college assess the Eberly Edge program.

Checklist:

  • Initial meeting with the Dean’s Office (typically involves department chair and faculty member if identified)
  • Carefully read information provided on this website
  • Select Eberly Edge and relevant Course Learning Objective(s)
  • Prepare syllabus
  • Fill out the  New Course Proposal form
  • After approval by Eberly Edge Committee, work on course proposal in CIM (consultation with the Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs is strongly encouraged to determine timeline and scheduling, need for flexible title and section attribute).

Major Courses that Overlap with the Eberly Edge

Based on the number of general electives available in each program, each major has between 3 to 9 credits of overlap between the Eberly Edge courses and the major courses.  Departments who are currently not using the maximum overlap or who would like to change the courses they use for their overlap should use this section of the website.  For many majors, this category includes  Eberly Edge 6: High Impact Experience.

Eberly Edge Requirements by Major

Last Updated for Catalog Year 2026-2027


Identifying a good overlap course with the Eberly Edge Program:

  • The course selected is a requirement for all majors, or it is a set of courses that is required (for example, “select one of three courses” all three courses have been approved for overlap). A course that is not a requirement or part of a fully vested requirement cannot be programmed as an overlap and is not deducted from the credit count.
  • Identify the best match of the 1 through 4 Edges by carefully reviewing the major learning objectives, the program’s curriculum map, as well as the Eberly Edge program and Course Learning Objectives.

If no course is a good match for an overlap, a unit can consider modifying an existing course through a course change to tie the course to the closest Eberly Edge.  The other possibility is not to have an overlap, which can make sense if the major has a large number of general electives.

  • Select a course learning objective from the appropriate Eberly Edge and examine assessments currently used in the course.  Could those assessments also be used to provide data to the Eberly Edge assessment program?  Will a new assessment tool need to be designed?

Assessment

The department works with the Assistant Dean for Curriculum and Assessment to implement a course-level instrument that will help the college assess the Eberly Edge program.

Checklist

High-Impact Experience  

The Eberly Edge High-Impact Experience (HIE) is meant to provide students with an applied experience within or outside of their major curriculum.  The Eberly Edge HIE offers opportunities for teamwork and development of skills that prepare students broadly for their professional lives.   The HIE should offer other elements related to the program outcomes of the college curriculum; they should not repeat an experience that students have had in several courses as part of their major curriculum. Every HIE experience should cover at least one of the following elements. 

  • The HIE affords students an opportunity to be placed in an authentic professional environment where they interact with professionals. The experience can occur in a students’ intended field or in a different one. (Internship, Externship, Research Experience)
  • The HIE takes place in a setting other than on campus so that students meet and learn with individuals beyond the campus boundaries. (Study abroad, Internship, Externship, service learning)
  • The HIE offers students the opportunity to begin investigating an issue or topic in the classroom but culminates with an implementation in a community. (Service learning or engagement project)

The work accomplished in the HIE goes beyond what is normally expected of students in the discipline and General Education Capstone Experience.

The university requires all students to complete a capstone as part of their graduation requirements.

While the Capstone Experience is designed to be a high impact experience (HIE) in the context of General Education, only some of the capstone courses are eligible to substitute for the HIE due to the requirements noted above.

Eberly Edge Program and a Research Experiences

Not all research experiences will qualify but those that meet the criteria outlined above can be identified as HIE.  More specifically, the Eberly Edge program endorses experiences that take students outside of their classroom environment and places them in a professional setting. 

The completion of an independent research paper, such as is often part of the capstone experience, does not constitute a HIE.  On the other hand, an independent research project where students must contact entities outside of WVU, perform site visits, interact with professional in their fields would be a HIE.