General Education Task Force

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General Education Task Force

• Open Forum
• December 7, 2006

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Proposed Gen. Ed Model

• Components
• First Year Seminar
• Freshman Writing
• Clusters
• Sophomore Writing Seminar
• Capstone Requirement
• Wellness
• Foundations or Other Needed Elements

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Proposed Gen. Ed Model

• Components Foundations/Other Elements
• Possible Courses
• Quantitative Reasoning
• Oral Communication
• Critical Inquiry
• Possible Modules and Vertically Integrated
  Elements
• Information Literacy
• Technology Literacy

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Proposed Gen. Ed Model

• Notes
• Clusters All students would take a coordinated
  theme in each of 4 clusters. The 4 clusters
  would remain constant.
• Sophomore Seminar This would be a dedicated
  writing course, like Writing about X, that
  would introduce students to writing in the
  discipline and across the curriculum.
• Capstone Requirement The capstone requirement
  would most likely be in the discipline.

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Thematic seminar focused on critical


Similar to our current ENG 1000
thinking writing intro to gen ed goals
connection with faculty University
First Year Seminar 3 hours
First Year Writing 3 hours
PE/Wellness 2 hours
Foundations Other Components Information
Literacy Technology Literacy Quantitative
Methods Concepts Critical Inquiry Oral
Communication
Integrated, interdisciplinary thematic
courses Team teaching, learning communities,
sequential courses, writing consultants linked
with multiple courses, discussion sections paired
with lecture series, etc.
Writing intensive, critical thinking course
Sophomore Writing Seminar 3 hours
Capstone Course 3 hours



Course within the major but
addresses gen ed outcomes DRAFT (hours
counted in the major) 12-07-06
TOTAL GEN ED HOURS
40-45
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Foundations Assumptions

• First Year Seminar
• Thematic seminar focused on critical thinking
  writing intro to gen ed goals connection with
  faculty university.
• First Year Writing
• Similar to ENG 1000
• Linked to First Year Seminar
• Wellness/PE
• Other Foundational Areas We have discussed
  several other areas (quantitative methods
  concepts, information literacy, technology
  literacy, critical inquiry, and oral
  communication), but the task force has not yet
  come to any consensus about how or where these
  items would fit into the model.

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Clusters Assumptions

• The clusters cover traditional meta-disciplinary
  areas (Historical, Aesthetic, and
  Natural/Physical Sciences) and a signature
  component of our general education program.
• The four clusters would remain constant.
• All students would take a coordinated theme in
  each of the four clusters.
• Each cluster would comprise a 6- 9 hour block.

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Themes Assumptions

• Themes and curricular structure of the themes
  developed by faculty
• Themes have a three to four year renewable life
  span
• The three to four year approach would allow for
  experimentation and responsiveness to changing
  world issues.
• A theme could include coursework taken in a
  single semester or taken over multiple semesters.
  
• Courses in themes could be large, small,
  multi-section, etc.
• Those decisions would be made by the faculty
  designing the theme.

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Faculty Assumptions

• Possible faculty appointments to gen ed for three
  to four years.
• This would allow faculty members to teach a theme
  multiple times and would aid departmental
  planning and advisor training.
• The FTEs would follow the faculty member.
• Many faculty development opportunities would be
  developed to assist faculty in creating themes
  and assessment procedures.

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Administrative Assumptions

• A General Education College would be developed
  for administration of general education.
• Faculty will remain in their respective colleges.
• Each cluster will have an interdisciplinary
  oversight committee.
• The faculty oversight committees would
• Insure quality control
• Monitor which outcomes are being met
• Verify that themes are interdisciplinary and that
  important skills are incorporated
• Help good ideas find collaborative opportunities.
  

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Other Assumptions

• A limited number of hours (6-8?) from courses
  taken in the clusters may satisfy major
  requirements.

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Sophomore Writing Capstone

• The sophomore writing course may or may not be
  linked to a cluster.
• The Capstone would be in the discipline, but it
  would carry responsibility for meeting selected
  advanced general education outcomes.

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Sample Cluster Themes

• Cluster Nat Phys Sciences Perspectives
• Theme Global Change
• Structure Course team-taught by a biologist,
  chemist, and geologist that includes an
  experiential component in which students would
  apply concepts

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Sample Cluster Themes

• Cluster Historical Social Perspectives
• Theme African Society
• Structure Two linked courses with a shared
  writing consultant who helps design and direct
  integrative writing assignments
• HIS History of Africa from 1850
• PR African Thought

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Sample Cluster Themes

• Cluster Local to Global Communities
• Theme Poverty in the Americas
• Structure Two courses chosen from a menu and
  taught concurrently with a linked Sophomore
  Writing Seminar
• SPN Hispanic Literature in the US
• PS Politics of Developing Western Nations
• AS Poverty in Appalachia
• GHY Economic Geography in the Americas

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Sample Cluster Themes

• Cluster Aesthetic Perspectives
• Theme Approaches to Narrative
• Structure Discussion sections taught by two
  faculty in conjunction with a lecture series
  featuring six-ten different speakers
• Lecture topics
• The novel
• Autobiographic writing
• Ethnographic narrative
• Narrative in film
• Theatrical performance

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First Year Seminar

• Thematic / Inquiry Based Seminars
• Should be Taught by Full Time Faculty
• The Faculty Proposes Course Content, Theme to be
  Achieved by the Outcomes

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Capstone Requirement

• The capstone experience represents the
  culmination of the university educational
  experience by linking the content and methods of
  the major with the goals of general education.
• Capstone experiences provide evidence of how well
  a student integrates and applies principles,
  concepts, and abilities.

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Capstone Requirement

• Senior level
• Conceived designed within the academic
  department. The appropriate capstone experience
  will differ from discipline to discipline.
• Provide evidence of student achievement at the
  highest levels of at least three general
  education goals

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Capstone Requirement

• Different assessment methods will be used
  depending on the type of capstone
• Implementation will be progressive

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Proposed General Education Model

• Comments and Questions...