Labyrinth: Understanding the Baccalaureate
Framework through the Experience of Place
A Community Hour Activity
Designed by
Matt Kubik, Interior Design
and
Pat Ashton, Sociology, Peace & Conflict Studies
Goal: To enhance students’ understanding of the IPFW Baccalaureate Framework and to apply
LEAP Principles of Excellence through participation in a community hour activity.
Objectives:
Upon completing this community hour activity, students will be able to
Identify and describe the six components of the Baccalaureate Framework.
Explain how these foundational principles apply to their education.
Infer how these principles will inform their lifelong learning.
Experience the labyrinth as a place for reflection.
The Labyrinth
A labyrinth is an archetypal form in which we experience a journey through time and space.
Unlike a maze, which presents a confusing array of paths, turns, and tricky dead ends, a labyrinth
has only one path. There is only one way in and one way out. You cannot get lost in a labyrinth.
Whereas sorting out the choices in a maze is primarily a left-brain, analytical activity, a labyrinth
is more of a right-brain activity, providing space for reflection, intuition, and imagery. The goal
within a maze is to get through and get out as quickly and efficiently as possible. The goal in a
labyrinth is to savor the experience of the journey, and to be receptive to insights produced by
reflection.
The labyrinth is an ancient and near universal symbol. The seven-circuit, or classical labyrinth
(so called because there are seven circuits or pathways to the center) pictured on this page has
been found on artifacts dated to 3,500 years ago. The design appeared on the coins of ancient
Crete, and it has been found on every inhabited continent in prehistory, from Peru to Siberia,
India to Arizona, Africa to Scandinavia. We can’t be sure how they were used in prehistory, but
we know that in modern times labyrinths have been used as tools for reflection and meditation.
In the Middle Ages, labyrinths were built into floors of the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe.
Devout Christians walked them as a substitute for, or an extension of, a pilgrimage to the Holy
Land. Labyrinth patterns are also found in Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic art. In North America
labyrinth are woven by the Hopi into their basket patterns and appear in numerous petroglyphs.
Today labyrinths are found around the world, in both public and private spaces. There are
temporary versions in which the paths are outlined in chalk, string, rope, spray paint, gravel,
birdseed, etc. and permanent versions in which paths are marked by rocks, pavers, hedges, or
flowers. An example of a recent public labyrinth project can be found in Toronto, Canada. The
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goal of Toronto City of Labyrinths is to create a labyrinth within walking distance of every
Torontonian inside the city limits. To date, some 60 plus labyrinths have been created throughout
Toronto. (http://cityoflabyrinths.tyo.ca/)
The classical labyrinth combines a number of important geometric forms: the circle, the spiral,
the arch, and the right angle. It makes use of both symmetry and asymmetry. The labyrinth
marries the idea of a journey to the center with the notion of a return to the outside world.
The Labyrinth and the IPFW Baccalaureate Framework
The IPFW faculty has identified six foundations of baccalaureate education. All students who
earn a baccalaureate degree at this institution will have the following knowledge and skills:
Acquisition of Knowledge
Students will demonstrate breadth of knowledge across disciplines and depth of
knowledge in their chosen discipline. In order to do so, students must demonstrate the
requisite information- seeking skills and technological competencies.
Application of Knowledge
Students will demonstrate the ability to integrate and apply that knowledge, and, in so
doing, demonstrate the skills necessary for life-long learning.
Personal and Professional Values
Students will demonstrate the highest levels of personal integrity and professional ethics.
A Sense of Community
Students will demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to be productive and
responsible citizens and leaders in local, regional, national, and international
communities. In so doing, students will demonstrate a commitment to free and open
inquiry and mutual respect across multiple cultures and perspectives.
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Students will demonstrate facility and adaptability in their approach to problem solving.
In so doing, students will demonstrate critical-thinking abilities and familiarity with
quantitative and qualitative reasoning.
Communication
Students will demonstrate the written, oral, and multimedia skills necessary to
communicate effectively in diverse settings.
These foundations provide the framework for all baccalaureate degree programs. The
foundations are interdependent, with each one contributing to the integrative and holistic
education offered at IPFW.
By journeying through the labyrinth, students will reflect on the role of these components in both
their undergraduate education and afterwards in their lifelong learning.
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The Labyrinth and the LEAP Principles of Excellence
The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has been examining the aims
and outcomes of a 21st-century college education. Through the Liberal Education and America’s
Promise (LEAP) program, the organization aims to go beyond standard metrics of enrollment,
persistence, and graduation to define what college graduates need to know and do for success in
life, work, and citizenship. Their essential learning outcomes are very similar to IPFW’s
Baccalaureate Framework, encompassing knowledge of the social, physical, and natural worlds,
intellectual skills such as communication and critical thinking, personal and social responsibility,
and the ability to apply integrated knowledge to complex problems. In pursuit of these goals,
LEAP has adopted Principles of Excellence. These principles can easily be integrated with the
IPFW Baccalaureate Framework and implemented through this labyrinth exercise.
1. Aim High – and Make Excellence Inclusive
The labyrinth activity allows for teamwork that includes all members of the class. It
challenges students to go out of their comfort zone and engage in an alternative form
of learning.
2. Give Students a Compass
The labyrinth activity orients students to the Baccalaureate Framework and through
kinesthetic learning teaches them that the path to their goal is not always a straight
one, but rather a complex pattern of twists and turns.
3. Teach Students the Arts of Inquiry and Innovation
The labyrinth activity teaches students to interrogate their experience through a
nontraditional learning process.
4. Engage the Big Questions
Through this activity students are encouraged to think about the goals of their
education and the role of their education in their life experience.
5. Connect Knowledge with Choices and Action
Through this activity students develop a framework for thinking about their
educational choices in college and to connect their college knowledge and skills with
life choices.
6. Foster Civic, Intercultural, and Ethical Learning
Students will learn about the labyrinth as an intercultural form while they walk it and
contemplate civic and ethical goals.
7. Assess Students’ Ability to Apply Learning to Complex Problems
The post-activity assessments will measure students’ ability to apply the Baccalaureate
Framework to their personal learning goals and reflect upon the role of this knowledge
and these skills in their education and their lives.
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Advance Planning for the Labyrinth Activity
 At least one day prior to your community hour, check out the Labyrinth Kit from the
FYE office.
 Design and duplicate pre- and post-activity assessment documents for the number of
students in your community hour.
 With weather conditions in mind, select a location for your labyrinth activity and notify
students where to meet. If you will be outside, you may want to suggest that students
wear footwear that is comfortable for walking. (Depending on location and weather, they
may choose to walk the labyrinth in their bare feet.)
Accessing or Laying Out The Labyrinth
Each instructor has 4 choices about generating or finding a labyrinth to use in this exercise:
1. Incorporate the building of the labyrinth into the community hour and recruit your
students to build it with you. This is especially valuable if your community includes
themes about geometry, construction, teamwork, and/or communication. Directions for
an easy, relatively quick method of laying out a classical labyrinth are included in a
separate document and a project video. Materials are available from the FYE office.
2. Create the labyrinth yourself in advance of the community hour. Again, materials and
instructional video are available from the FYE office. You will need at least 1 other
person to help you lay out the labyrinth. FYE student workers may be available to help
you. Be sure to check with the FYE office well in advance.
3. If available, use an existing labyrinth on campus. At this juncture, there are no
permanent labyrinths (yet!) on campus, but as various learning communities create
labyrinths for this exercise, they may persist for 1 day to several weeks, depending upon
the method of construction, location, use, and ambient weather conditions.
4. If the weather requires you to be indoors, have your students draw labyrinths following
the seed pattern in the appendix. Alternatively, you can photocopy the labyrinth picture
in the appendix. Have the students – individually or in groups – write the elements of the
Baccalaureate Framework on their labyrinths. Then have them “walk” the labyrinth by
tracing the path, discussing the six elements of the Framework as they go.
Suggested locations for labyrinths are marked on a campus map included with the materials.
When you have a completed labyrinth, place the center sign and lay out the signs or stations for
each component of the Baccalaureate Framework according to the map in the appendix. Or have
groups of your students place the “flags” as they walk the labyrinth.
We don’t recommend that large numbers of students begin walking the labyrinth all at once.
While the full-size labyrinth we recommend here can accommodate a large number of students,
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try to space the students somewhat (e.g., in small groups) so that each individual student can
have a reflective experience.
The Core Exercise: Walking The Labyrinth and Exploring the IPFW
Baccalaureate Framework
Read the guidelines below to students prior to starting their walks or print copies of the
guidelines document found in the Appendix and pass it out to students.
Guidelines for walking the labyrinth
1. Complete the pre-assessment.
2. Be open to the experience. Before beginning, clear your mind of distractions and focus
on the present moment. Suggestion: close your eyes and just be aware of your breathing.
You will relax and focus as you notice the movement of air into and out of your lungs.
3. As you walk the labyrinth, try to screen out distractions and concentrate on your walk.
Be aware of your footsteps. You are on a journey.
4. Be respectful of the journey of others while they are in the labyrinth. Do not disturb or
distract them. As people pass one another, if the path is too crowded, those on the way
out should step aside and yield right of way to those on their journey into the center.
Those with a physical handicap that makes it more difficult to negotiate the labyrinth
should always have the right of way.
5. At each sign or station, begin to reflect on the particular listed component of the
Baccalaureate Framework. Reflect on that component until you reach the sign or station
where the next one is posted. On the way in to the center, you should reflect on the role
of each component in your college education. On the way out, you should reflect on the
role of each component in your lifelong education (career, community and civic
involvement, etc.).
6. When you have finished walking the labyrinth, reflect quietly on your experience. Be
respectful of those still walking the labyrinth.
7. Complete the post-assessment.
Optional Suggestions for Building and Walking The Labyrinth
Arrange the students in a continuous line from the entrance to the center of the labyrinth. The
person closest to the entrance announces the first component of the IPFW Baccalaureate
Framework. The next person says something about that component: a short description, a
synonym, a short explanation of why it is important, a metaphor for thinking about it, etc. The
next person says something different about that component, and so on along the line. When the
sign or station for the next component is reached, the person closest to it announces that
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component. Proceed as above for each subsequent component. When the center of the labyrinth
is reached, allow time for silent reflection. Then reverse the process, proceeding from the center
out to the entrance. This time focus on another dimension of each component – e.g., how each
student will use it in their career, its role in making them an educated citizen, etc. (e.g., have
them complete the sentence “I will....” or “I plan to....” in relation to a particular component.)
If doing this at night outdoors, each student could be given a candle. Light the one closest to the
entrance, and then have each student pass the flame on to the next student’s candle as they state
their contribution. When you move from the center to the exit, each student extinguishes their
candle in turn. Have the final student walk away from labyrinth before extinguishing their
candle, symbolizing taking the Baccalaureate Framework out into the world.
Assessment
Pre-activity assessments.
These can be administered at the beginning of the community hour, at a previous
community hour, or in a previous class period. To maximize the time available for walking
the labyrinth, we recommend that you administer the pre-assessment during a prior
community hour or class period.
Post-activity assessments.
At least one of these should be administered immediately after students have completed
their labyrinth walks. Additional assessments could, at the instructor’s option, be completed
during subsequent community hours or class periods.
All assessments of this activity should be shared with the FYE office. Instructors are encouraged
to incorporate additional assessments that are relevant to the goals of their particular learning
community. Further information on assessment goals, techniques, and procedures, as well as
descriptions of the techniques below may be found in Angelo and Cross, Classroom Assessment
Techniques, available in the Library and from CELT.
Assessment guidelines
Any assessment should incorporate critical reflection as a key component. As Clayton (2010)
notes, critical reflection generates, deepens, and documents learning. Specifically, Clayton
suggests that this critical reflection be accomplished through a model she designates as DEAL
– Describe, Examine, and Articulate Learning. Below are questions to guide reflection in
each area.
Describe
 What did I do? (i.e., how did I walk the labyrinth?)
 What did I feel or experience as I walked the labyrinth?
 How did I experience the others who were walking the labyrinth?
Examine
 What components of the Baccalaureate Framework do I remember?
 What can I explain about each component?
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Articulate Learning
 As it relates to my education, what did I learn about each component of the
Baccalaureate Framework?
 Why does/should this matter to me?
 As it relates to my lifelong learning, what did I learn about each component of the
Baccalaureate Framework?
 Why does/should this matter to me?
 In light of this learning what will I do?
Suggested assessment ideas
Here are some assessment techniques, derived from Angelo and Cross’ Classroom
Assessment Techniques (CATs).
Knowledge probe
Matching (list components and descriptions in separate columns and ask students to
match)
1-minute paper (for 1 minute, write everything you know about the Framework)
Electronic survey on Blackboard (true/false, multiple choice, or short answer
questions)
Focused listing
In 2-3 minutes, list each component of the framework and words or phrases associated
with each one.
Empty (or nearly empty) outline
Give the students a blank outline listing 6 components and ask them to fill it in with
names and descriptions.
Defining features matrix
Ask the students to fill in a matrix of the Framework components and how they apply
to their education and life.
Analytic memos
Write to self, advisor, friend, or potential employer about how the Framework applies
to their education and/or career.
One sentence summary
Following the framework Who does what to Whom, When, Where, How, and Why?
Have the students write one sentence about how the Baccalaureate Framework applies
to their education/life.
Concept maps
On a labyrinth template, have the students draw a concept map of how the principles
relate to them.
Applications cards
Give each student 6 index cards. Have them write one of the components of the
Framework on the front and an application of it on the back of each separate card.
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Videotape
Videotape the students creating and walking the labyrinth, then interview them on tape
afterwards about their understanding/application of the Framework.
Individual or group
Each of the above assessments can be conducted as individual activities or in groups –
pairs, small groups of 3-5 students, or large groups (e.g., the entire class).
Meta-analysis as assessment
As a deeper form of assessment, ask the students, individually or in groups to analyze
their assessment results. Students could sort and/or evaluate the responses of the class
as a whole, or they could examine the results of their assessments and reflect on the
questions:


What did we learn?
About what do we want to learn more?
Resources
Angelo, Thomas A. and K. Patricia Cross, 1993. Classroom Assessment Techniques, 2nd ed.
Jossey-Bass. Available from CELT or the Library.
Clayton, Patti. 2010. “Generating, Deepening, and Documenting Learning: The Power of
Critical Reflection.” Available from CELT.
Labyrinthos http://www.labyrinthos.net/ A resource center for all things relating to labyrinths –
history, photos, a bibliography, an academic journal on labyrinths, and links to other sites.
Labyrinth Locator. http://labyrinthlocator.com/ Sponsored by Veriditas and The Labyrinth
Society, you can use this site to locate labyrinths anywhere in the world. (There may be
labyrinths in your local community!)
Appendix to this Document
Components of the FYE labyrinth kit
Guidelines for walking the labyrinth
Sample post-activity assessment
How to draw a labyrinth
Picture of a labyrinth, suitable for photocopying
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The FYE Labyrinth Kit
(1) campus map showing possible outdoor locations to lay out a labyrinth
(1) PowerPoint Presentation: Historical Overview and Geometry of the Labyrinth
(1) set of laminated instructions and (1) instructional video: How to lay out a 7-circuit labyrinth,
including where to place the posters for each component of the Baccalaureate Framework
(1) center pole (red)
(4) corner poles (white)
(1) hammer
(1) tape measure
(1) carpenter’s square
(1) 17’ blue rope
(1) 50’ knotted white layout rope with attached ring
(4-5) cans of white spray paint
(3) marking wands to hold and apply the spray paint
(1) box of paper booties to protect shoes while spray painting
(6) 2-sided laminated posters with elements of the IPFW Baccalaureate Framework
(1) poster for the center spot
Bookmarks detailing the IPFW Baccalaureate Framework (enough for each student)
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The Core Exercise: Walking The Labyrinth and Exploring the IPFW
Baccalaureate Framework
Guidelines for walking the labyrinth
1. Complete the pre-assessment.
2. Be open to the experience. Before beginning, clear your mind of distractions and focus
on the present moment. Suggestion: close your eyes and just be aware of your breathing.
You will relax and focus as you notice the movement of air into and out of your lungs.
3. As you walk the labyrinth, try to screen out distractions and concentrate on your walk.
Be aware of your footsteps. You are on a journey.
4. Be respectful of the journey of others while they are in the labyrinth. Do not disturb or
distract them. As people pass one another, if the path is too crowded, those on the way
out should step aside and yield right of way to those on their journey into the center.
Those with a physical handicap that makes it more difficult to negotiate the labyrinth
should always have the right of way.
5. At each sign or station, begin to reflect on the particular listed component of the
Baccalaureate Framework. Reflect on that component until you reach the sign or station
where the next one is posted. On the way in to the center, you should reflect on the role
of each component in your college education. On the way out, you should reflect on the
role of each component in your lifelong education (career, community and civic
involvement, etc.).
6. When you have finished walking the labyrinth, reflect quietly on your experience. Be
respectful of those still walking the labyrinth.
7. Complete the post-assessment.
Sample Assessment
On the next two pages you will find a sample post-activity assessment. Feel free to customize it
to meet your pedagogical goals.
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The Labyrinth and the IPFW Baccalaureate Framework
Post-Activity Assessment
Did you walk the labyrinth during the Community Hour? (circle one)
Yes
No
Did you walk the labyrinth on your own in the last week? (circle one)
Yes
No
Directions: Strictly from memory, fill in each component of the Baccalaureate Framework. Use
your own words if you can’t remember the “official” words. Below each component, briefly
explain
 What the component means to you
 As you see it, how does this component relate to your education?
 Why does/should this matter to you?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
[OVER PLEASE]
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Explain how walking the labyrinth did or did not help you understand the Baccalaureate
Framework.
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How to draw a labyrinth
Begin with the basic seed pattern. It starts with a cross, four half squares, and four points where
the missing corner of each square would be. Draw an arc from the top of the cross to the
adjacent half square to the right. Then draw increasingly larger arcs connecting the end of the
next geometric object to the left to the next available geometric object to the right. Here is an
illustration.
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A labyrinth to finger trace
You can “walk” this labyrinth by tracing the path with your finger or an object such
as a pen or pencil, marker, crayon, or stick.
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