Experimental courses are offered at Iowa State in almost every department for both graduate and undergraduate students.

Some of the more interesting experimental classes include “History of British Rock ‘n’ Roll,” “Civil Rights and the Black Power Movement Since 1954,” “Free Will, Fate and Responsibility” and “International Wildlife.”

Don Payne, associate professor of English, teaches experimental course English 313X, “Writing for the WWW. “

He said an experimental, or X, class is “a special designation for courses that are taught on a trial basis at least twice before they can be recommended to go into the catalog.”

Payne’s course is about learning how to design Web sites for particular audiences and purposes.

He said he plans to propose that his experimental course become a regular class.

“I think it’s been very successful so far,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of interest in the course this year. We added extra sections to accommodate the demand for it.”

Doug Lewis, associate professor of nutrition, teaches Food Science and Human Nutrition 106X, “Nutrition Science of Dietary Fat and Body Weight Management,” which he stressed “is definitely not a diet course.”

Lewis said he came up with the idea for the class while doing research.

“I found some papers that were really neat and thought that if people knew about this, they could apply it to their own lives,” he said.

There are positive and negative sides to experimental courses, Lewis said.

“I think it’s pretty good for faculty — you can try out new things,” he said. “[But] I think for students trying out courses, it can be risky. They can be really hard; they may not be terribly useful.”

However, Lewis said he believes the experimental course program is beneficial to students in the long run.

“[It] brings in new ideas and new concepts,” he said.

Lewis added that experimental classes do not have to meet the same requirements as regular courses.

“I have all kinds of students in there,” he said. “I kind of use different types of teaching methods than in other courses.”

Sine Anahita, teaching assistant in women’s studies, teaches Women’s Studies 203X, “Lesbian Cultures and Communities.”

She said the purpose of experimental classes is “to encourage diversity in course offerings.”

“I think it’s also important in this course … to do my own research and get students interested in lesbian issues and lesbian cultures,” she said.

Anahita thinks that experimental courses are “a great idea.”

“It lets the students explore subject material that would not be offered in the core courses,” she said.

Anahita said professors of experimental courses generally have a lot of enthusiasm.

“Instructors who teach these courses are really excited about the subject material,” she said.

Anahita agreed with Lewis that experimental classes “really might be a risk for the students.”

“I certainly think it’s a risk worth taking, though,” she said.