General Education Liberal Learning - CWU Home...administrators, and faculty members who are engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Its mission is to reinforce the collective

General Education& Liberal Learning

PrinciplesofEffectivePractice

By Paul L. Gastonwith J. Elizabeth Clark, Ann S. Ferren, Peggy Maki, Terrel L. Rhodes, Karen Maitland Schilling, and Dwight Smith

AAC&Uistheleadingnationalassociationconcernedwiththequality,vital-ity,andpublicstandingofundergraduateliberaleducation.Itsmembersarecommittedtoextendingtheadvantagesofaliberaleducationtoallstudents,regardlessofacademicspecializationorintendedcareer.Foundedin1915,AAC&Unowcomprises1,200memberinstitutions--includingaccreditedpublicandprivatecollegesanduniversitiesofeverytypeandsize.

AAC&Ufunctionsasacatalystandfacilitator,forginglinksamongpresidents,administrators,andfacultymemberswhoareengagedininstitutionalandcurricularplanning.Itsmissionistoreinforcethecollectivecommitmenttoliberaleducationatboththenationalandlocallevelsandtohelpindividualinstitutionskeepthequalityofstudentlearningatthecoreoftheirworkastheyevolvetomeetneweconomicandsocialchallenges.

InformationaboutAAC&Umembership,programs,andpublicationscanbefoundatwww.aacu.org.

1818RStreet,NW|Washington,DC20009|202.387.3760|www.aacu.org

General Education& Liberal Learning

PrinciplesofEffectivePractice

By Paul L. Gastonwith J. Elizabeth Clark, Ann S. Ferren, Peggy Maki, Terrel L. Rhodes, Karen Maitland Schilling, and Dwight Smithh

1818RStreet,NWWashington,DC20009

Copyright2010bytheAssocationofAmericanCollegesandUniversities.Allrightsreserved.

ISBN978-0-911696-22-6

Table of Contents

Preface............................................................................................................................... .v

Acknowledgments............................................................................................................vii

Part One: General Education, Liberal Education Introduction.......................................................................................................................1 TerrelL.Rhodes

1.ImperativesforandDriversofChange........................................................................7

PaulL.Gaston

Part Two: General Education as Curricular Cornerstone

2.PrinciplesofStrongGeneralEducationPrograms....................................................17

PaulL.Gaston

Part Three: Effective Practices in General Education

3.Intentionality................................................................................................................25

AnnS.Ferren

4.AlignmentwiththeMajors..........................................................................................33

KarenMaitlandSchillingandDwightSmith

5.EffectivePedagogy.......................................................................................................39 J.ElizabethClark

6.Assessment...................................................................................................................45 PeggyMaki

Part Four: Sustaining General Education Programs

7.InstitutionalCommitment..........................................................................................51

PaulL.Gaston

References........................................................................................................................59

AbouttheAuthor.............................................................................................................63

Preface

Preface

Oneofthefamiliar“ArkansasTraveler”episodesdescribesatouristaskingafarmeracrossthefencewhetherhehaslivedonthefarmallhislife.Thefarmerresponds,“notyet.”ThathomelybutwiserejoindermaypointtotherecoveryinourtimeofaviewofeducationfirstarticulatedbySocrates,thateffectiveteachingintendsnotthe“fillingofavessel”butthe“kindlingofaflame.”Learningisthecallingofalifetimeandalegacypassedontofuturegenerations.

InAmericanhighereducation,wehaveformorethanacenturyassignedamajorportionofthisnobleincendiarymissiontowhatwecall“general”education.Wenowmakethatclaimwithincreasingconfidence.Programsinformedbyvagueassumptionsabouttheimportanceof“breadth”havegivenwaytoprogramsreflectingfarhigherandmoreclearlyexpressedaspirations.AttheCollegeofWilliam&Mary,theaimofgen-eraleducationis“tohelpstudentsdevelopcriticaljudgment,imagination,andmoralautonomy.”SouthernMethodistUniversityseekstoeducatestudents“asworthyhumanbeingsandascitizens,first,andasteachers,lawyers,ministers,researchscientists,busi-nessmen,engineers,andsoon,second.”OklahomaStateUniversityseekstoprovideitsstudentswith“generalknowledge,skillsandattitudesconducivetolifelonglearninginacomplexsociety.”AndLoyolaUniversityMaryland“challenges”itsstudents“todeveloptheirinterests,intellects,outlooks,beliefs,andvalues.”

Strongprogramsbeginwithimpressivegoals.Butthereisalsoevidencethatwhatgeneraleducationprogramsaccomplishforstudentsoftenfallsshortofinstitutionalaspirations.Respondingtoconcernsaboutthisgap,theacademyhasmovedtodefineexpectationsmoreclearlyandtoframestrategiesforassessingtheiraccomplishment.Thepublicationin1994oftheAssociationofAmericanCollegesandUniversities’Strong Foundations: Twelve Principles for Effective General Education Programs offeredaninflu-entialoverviewofthismovement.Thebookdescribedtwelveprinciplesthateffectivegeneraleducationprogramsembody,and,bysodoing,offeredarubricagainstwhichprogramsmightbemeasuredandthroughwhichprogramsmightbeimproved.

Whathashappenedsince1994promptsafreshperspective.Inlittlemorethanfifteenyears,aclearanddetailedstatementregardingliberallearningoutcomeshasemerged,andtheroleofgeneraleducationincontributingtosuchoutcomeshasbe-comemoreclearlyunderstood.Assessment,promptedinitiallybyexternalexpectations

v

vi General Education and Liberal Learning

ofgreateraccountability,hasbecomeakeytoolinprogrammaticimprovement.Anepochalparadigmshiftfromfocusingonwhatistaughttofocusingonwhatislearnedcanbeobservedincoursesyllabi,instatementsofdepartmentaloutcomes,inrevisedac-creditationstandards,incriteriafortheevaluationoffaculty,andintextbooks.Technol-ogyhaschallengedpracticeandsupportedimprovement.Andthenecessitythatallthedisciplinescontributetotheofferingofaliberaleducationtoallstudentshasbecomeanevermorewidelysharedassumption.

Supportedandpromptedbytheprogressonthesebroadfrontswithintheacademy,manyinstitutionshavesince1994takenupthechallengeofgeneraleducationreformand,toafargreaterextentthaninthepast,manyhavesucceededinachievinggenuineprogress.Asaresult,therehasdevelopedaninstructivecommunityofpraxiscomple-mentingandinmanyinstancesadvancingourunderstanding.

Insum,highereducationhasbecome—andcontinuestobecome—moreinten-tionalwithrespecttotheendsandmeansofgeneraleducationandmorestrategicinitspursuitofthoseendsthroughinnovativemeans.InthetraditionofStrong Foundations,thisfreshoverviewseeksbothtocelebratethatprogressand,insodoing,tofurtherit.

—PaulL.Gaston

Acknowledgments vii

Acknowledgments

General Education and Liberal Learningembodiesrobustcollaboration.Thecurrentattentiontogeneraleducationandtheroleitplaysinundergraduateeducationpro-videdthecatalystforthisnewvolume,butthecontributorssoughtalsotobuildontheearlierAAC&UProjectonStrongFoundationsinGeneralEducationandthesubsequentpublicationofStrong Foundations: Twelve Principles for Effective General Education Programs. Hencethedirectorofthatproject,JerryGaff,andthechiefsynthesizerofthatpublication,KarenMaitlandSchilling,agreedtoprovideguidanceforthisnewpublication.AnnFerren,whoservedontheoriginalproject’sadvisoryboard,alsoagreedtocontributetotheconti-nuityofthemesandprinciplesforeffectivegeneraleducationprograms.Twocommunitycollegeleaders,J.ElizabethClarkandDwightSmith,broughtmuch-neededinsightandexpertiseoneducationalaimsandoutcomesfromthesectorofhighereducationwherehalfofAmericanstudentsbegintheirpostsecondaryeducationandoftencompletemuchoftheirgeneraleducation.PeggyMaki,aninternationalassessmentconsultant,contrib-utedthenationalandinternationalperspectiveontheevidenceofstudentlearningthatisemerginginsupportoftheeffectiveprinciplesandpracticesdescribedinthispublication.AndBarbaraWrightofferedvaluableinsightsfromthearenaofregionalaccreditationassociations,whichhaveinsistedthatcampusespayattentiontolearningoutcomesandas-sessmentoflearningforallstudentsthroughgeneraleducationprogramsandmajors.

AAC&U’sLauraDonnelly-Smithkeptthiscollaborativeeffortontrackandwasatten-tivetoahighpublicationstandard.Shemanagedtocoordinatetheworkofthecon-tributorsintheirfar-flunglocationsbothhereandinEurope,andultimatelycompletedtheeditingofthefinalmanuscript.DarbiBossman,AAC&U’sgraphicdesigner,ablydesignedthepublication.Ialsowishtothankthecampusesthatarehighlightedinthisvolumeforthecontinuingworkoftheirfacultyandstaffinestablishing,refining,andsustainingqualitygeneraleducationprogramsfortheirstudentsandinstitutions.With-outtheworkoftheseexemplars,andthemanyotherswecouldnotmentioninthesefewpages,generaleducationwouldnotmakeitsvibrantandcompellingcontributiontoundergraduateeducation.

PartOne:GeneralEducation,LiberalEducation 1

Part One: General Education, Liberal Education

Introductionterrel l. rhOdes

TheAssociationofAmericanCollegesandUniversities’seminalworkongeneraleducation,Strong Foundations: Twelve Principles for Effective General Education Programs, openedwiththefollowingobservation:

AbroadgeneraleducationforundergraduatestudentsisanidealthathasguidedAmericancollegesanduniversitiessincetheirinception.Theearliestcollegesofferedauniformclassicaleducation,andthattraditioncontinueduntilthelatenineteenthandearlytwentiethcenturies.Thegrowthofscience,theexpansionandsubdivisionofknowledge,thedevelopmentofacademicdisciplines,andtheneedforspecial-izedworkers—theseandotherfactorscrackedtheuniformityandgaverisetodepthofstudyinaspecializationasadifferentideal.Sincethen,theidealsofbreadthanddepth,together,havebeenregardedasthedefiningelementsofqualityinbaccalaure-ateeducation.(AssociationofAmericanColleges1994,i)Thatvolumewaswrittenatatimeofrenewedinterestingeneraleducationandits

importanceinpreparingstudentsforsuccess.ItgrewfromsuchearlierAssociationofAmericanColleges1worksas Integrity in the College Curriculum (1985)andA New Vitality in General Education (1988).ThegroupthatpreparedStrong Foundationswaschargedwithidentifyingcriticalfactorsforsustainingeffectivegeneraleducationprogramsregardlessofthetypeofhighereducationinstitutionprovidingtheprogram.Severalna-tionaleducationalleadersandasetofrepresentativesfromseventeendiversecampusescombinedtheirexperienceingeneraleducationreformandidentifiedtwelveprinciplesforsuccessfulgeneraleducationprograms.

MuchhashappenedduringthefifteenyearssinceStrong Foundationswaspublished.Thiscurrentvolumereinforcestheearlierprinciplesthatwereidentifiedaspromotingeffectivegeneraleducationprograms,butalsoincorporatesnewerpracticesthathaveemergedintheinterveningyears.General Education and Liberal Learning: Principles of Effective Practicecomesatatimewhengeneraleducationagainisreceivingrenewedattention.Generaleducationisalsounderattackascampusesstrugglewitheconomicstressandpolicydemandsformorestudentstobeeducatedmorequickly.Severalstates,

1 TheAssociationofAmericanCollegesbecametheAssociationofAmericanCollegesandUniversitiesin1995.

Terrel l. rhodes is vice president for quality, curriculum, and assessment at the Associa-tion of American Colleges and Universities.

2 General Education and Liberal Learning

includingNewYork,haveenteredintodiscussionsonencouragingmorehighschoolstudentstobegintakingcollegecoursesafterthetenthgrade,longbeforetheygraduatefromhighschool(Dillon2010).Othersareexploringwaystoreducethecredithoursrequiredforassociateandbaccalaureatedegreeprogramsbyreducingrequiredgeneraleducationcredits.

Atthesametime,wefindchiefacademicofficersreflectingtherenewedinterestinandattentiontogeneraleducationamongtheirfaculties.InarecentsurveyofAAC&Umemberinstitutions,56percentofchiefacademicofficersreportedthattheircampusesaredevotingmoreattentiontogeneraleducationthantheydidfiveyearsago.Only3per-centindicatedthattheyweredevotinglessattentiontogeneraleducationprograms(HartResearchAssociates2009,1).Andwhilefourinfivecampusescontinuetorelyuponthe“breadthanddepth”traditionforgeneraleducation,mostcampuseshavemodifiedthedistributionmodelwithmorerecentinnovations,suchaslearningcommunities,com-monintellectualexperiences,thematiccourses,upper-divisionrequirements,andunder-graduateresearch.Inaddition,seventy-eightpercentofinstitutionshaveacommonsetoflearningoutcomesinplace,andtwo-thirdsofcampuses,includingthosethatusemodi-fieddistributionmodels,reportthattheyhaveadopted“clearlearninggoals”fortheirgeneraleducationprograms(HartResearchAssociates2009,8–9).Ofthoseinstitutionswithcommonoutcomes,largepercentagesidentifyarangeofspecificareasofknowledgeandskillaspartoftheiroutcomelists(seefig.1).

Thenewerpedagogiesandpracticesbeingincorporatedintogeneraleducationprogramsacrossthecountrynotonlyreflectwhatfacultyandotheracademicprofes-

0 20 40 60 80 100

92%Humanities

91%

73%

87%

61%

49%

42%

Science

Social sciences

Global/world cultures

Mathematics

Technology

Diversity in U.S.

U.S. history

Languages

Sustainability

90%

87%

24%

0 20 40 60 80 100

99%Writing skills

95%

76%

88%

68%

66%

65%

Critical thinking

Quantitative reasoning

Oral communication

Intercultural skills

Civic engagement

Information literacy

Application of learning

Research skills

Integration of learning

91%

79%

63%

Ethical reasoning 75%

Areas of Knowledge Intellectual Skills/Ability

Figure 1: Areas of Knowledge/Intellectual Skill Addressed by Common Learning Outcomes

Proportionofinstitutionswithcampuswideoutcomessayingtheirsetofcommonlearninggoalsaddresseseachareaofknowledge.

Source:HartResearchAssociates2009.


sionalsreportasimportantfociforteachingandlearning,butalsorepresentanemerg-ingconsensusamongemployerswhoreportonwhattheyseekincollegegraduates.TheeducationaloutcomesthatinitiallywereviewedasinnovativemarkersofundergraduateeducationwhentheyappearedinGreater Expectations: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College (AssociationofAmericanCollegesandUniversities2002),andthenlaterintheexpandedargumentarticulatingtheessentiallearningoutcomesandPrinciplesofExcellenceinCollege Learning for the New Global Century (AssociationofAmericanCollegesandUniversities2007),havebecometheframeworkforlearninginalltypesoftwo-andfour-yearinstitutions.

Employersechothecallformoreemphasisoncollegelearningoutcomes.InarecentnationalsurveyconductedforAAC&U,employersindicatedthattwo-andfour-yearcollegesshouldbeplacingmoreemphasisonseveralkeylearningoutcomestoincreasegraduates’potentialtobesuccessful,contributingmembersoftoday’sglobalsociety(HartResearchAssociates2010).Thelearningaimsandoutcomesthatemployersperceivetobeinneedofincreasedfocusoncollegecampusesrangefromcommunica-tionskillstocriticalthinkingandcomplexproblemsolvingtoethicaldecisionmakingtoscientificliteracyandthereal-worldapplicationofknowledgeandskills.Oftheseventeenlearningoutcomestestedinthesurvey,amajorityofemployersthinkthatcollegesshouldplacemoreemphasisonfifteenofthem.Foreightoftheselearningoutcomes,fully70percentormoreofemployersthinkthatcollegesshouldplacemoreemphasisonthem.

Theareasinwhichemployersfeelthatcollegesmostneedtoincreasetheirfocusin-clude(1)writtenandoralcommunication,(2)criticalthinkingandanalyticalreasoning,(3)theapplicationofknowledgeandskillsinreal-worldsettings,(4)complexproblemsolvingandanalysis,(5)ethicaldecisionmaking,(6)teamworkskills,(7)innovationandcreativity,and(8)conceptsanddevelopmentsinscienceandtechnology(HartResearchAssociates2010,9).

Thedemandforbetter-preparedgraduateswithbroaderandhigher-levelskillsandabilitiesisnotdirectedsolelytotheeliteliberalartscollegesortopresearchuniversities.AnthonyCarnevaleatGeorgetownUniversity’sCenterforEducationandtheWorkforcesaidthat,“irrespectiveofcollegemajororinstitutionalselectivity,whatmatterstocareersuccessisstudents’developmentofabroadsetofcross-cuttingcapacities…”(CarnevaleandHumphreys2010).Eventhoughemployees’realearningshavedeclinedinthepastfewyears,theearningsadvantageofacollegedegreepersistsbasicallyunchangedwhencomparedtoindividualswithahighschooldiplomaorwithnosecondaryeducationcredential.Futurejobgrowthpromisestoincreasethistrend,sincemoreofthenewjobsprojectedforthecomingdecadeswillrequirepostsecondarylevelsofknowledgeandabilities.Carnevalefindsthatthemoreskillsandabilitiesthatarerequiredbythejob—reflectingthetypesoflearningoutcomesassociatedwitheffectivegeneraleducationpro-grams—thehighertheaverageearnings.Acrosstheboard,jobcategorynotwithstanding,thehigherthelevelofliberallearningrequiredbyajob,thehighertheearnings(CenterforEducationandtheWorkforce2009).

Atthesametime,policymakersinthiscountryareexploringwaystoacceleratecompletionofcollegedegreesbyshorteningthetimeandcreditsrequiredforcomple-


tion.TheyarepayingattentiontotheBolognaProcessinEuropeandoftenreferenc-ingthethree-yearbaccalaureateprovidedinsomeothercountries.YetmanycountriesaroundtheworldareincreasinglylookingattheAmericanmodelofgeneraleducation(Gaston2010).Inmostoftheworld,postsecondaryeducationalsystemshavehistoricallyfocusedonthemajorwithnogeneraleducationcomponent,thusallowingstudentstocompleteabaccalaureatedegreeinthreeyears.Theglobalequivalentofgeneraleduca-tionwasconsideredsomethingtobeaccomplishedpriortopostsecondaryeducation.Inaddition,internationaltestsofstudentknowledge—liketheProgrammeforInterna-tionalStudentAssessmentexams—arepointedtoasevidencefortheEuropeanap-proach,becausetheresultshavecontinuedtorankEuropeanandAsianstudentsaheadofAmericanstudents.

AtthesametimethatmanyintheUnitedStatesareencouraginghighereducationtoemulateexistingEuropeanmodels,numerousinternationaleducatorsexpresstheopinionthatAmericangraduatesseemtobemoreinnovativethantheirownstudents,moreabletotransferknowledgeacrossdisciplinaryandconceptualboundaries,andmoreadeptatapplyingtheirknowledgetounscriptedproblemsandsituations.Eachyear,theAAC&UofficeandAAC&UmembercampusesarevisitedbydelegationsfromplacesliketheNetherlands,Japan,Taiwan,HongKong,andBulgaria,allofwhomwanttolearnmoreabouttheAmericansystemofhighereducation.Inparticular,theyexpresstheirbeliefthatthecombinationofgeneraleducationwiththemajoristheunderlying“secret”oftheinnovationandcreativitythattheyseeingraduatesofAmeri-cancollegesanduniversities—notjustinAmericanstudents,butintheirownstudentswhostudyintheUnitedStatesandreturntotheirhomecountries.ItisfascinatingthatjustassomepolicymakersandeducatorsinthiscountryareexploringwaystoreducegeneraleducationbecausetheywishtomimicthesuccessofEuropeaneducation,orbecauseofcostsavings,muchoftherestoftheworldisexploringhowtoincorporategeneraleducationintoitshighereducationsystems.Indeed,JapanandHongKongre-centlyhaveadoptedgeneraleducationoutcomesandrequirementsfortheirbaccalaure-atesystems.ChinaissendingleadershipteamsfromitstoptieruniversitiestotheUnitedStatestolearnhowtoincorporategeneraleducationand“liberalarts”emphasesinitsownuniversitycurricula.

Theconversationabouttheeffectivenessofgeneraleducationpartlyrevolvesaroundtheevidencesupportingthevalueofgeneraleducationlearning.Thetwelfthprincipleidentifiedin Strong Foundations—effectiveassessmentoflearningoutcomes—hasbecomeoneofthedrivingforcesinevaluatingandimprovingstudentachievementandinmoreeffectivelycommunicatingfindingstobothcampusandexternalaudiences.Faculty,accreditors,policymakers,andstudentsaredemandingtoseeevidenceofstudentlearning.Thegoodnewsisthatevidenceofstudentlearningisbeginningtobeaccumulatedandcommunicated.

OneofthemostwidelyrecognizedstudiesonstudentoutcomesandtheimpactofpedagogiesandpracticesonstudentlearningistheNationalSurveyofStudentEngage-ment(NSSE),originatedbyGeorgeKuhandnowdirectedbyAlexanderC.McCormick.ThelargenumberofinstitutionsusingtheNSSEandthenumberofyearsthatresponse

PartOne:GeneralEducation,LiberalEducation

5

datahavebeencollectedhaveallowedcorrelationstobemadeamongthepracticesandpedagogiesusedinthecurriculaandthereportedgainsonmeasuresofstudentsuccess.Inbrief,studentswhohaveparticipateinwhatAAC&Uhascalled“high-impactpractices”(HIPs)—includingundergraduateresearch,first-yearexperiences,learningcommuni-ties,internshipsandcommunity-basedlearningexperiences,studyabroad,andcapstonecourses—exhibithigherratesofretentionandearnhighergradepointaveragesthanstu-dentswhoreportlessornoparticipationinHIPs.Inparticular,studentswhoreportearlyandmultipleparticipationinHIPsaremoreengagedintheirlearning—especiallythestudentswhocometocollegeleastpreparedforpostsecondaryeducation(Kuh2008).

BlaichandWise(2009)attheWabashCollegeCenterofInquiryfoundintheirnationalstudyofthefirstcollegeyearthatsomeofthesesamepractices—i.e.,learningcommunities,appliedlearning,andteamprojects—makeadifferenceinstudents’learn-ingoutcomes,butthatfewstudentshavetheopportunityintheirfirstyearofcollegetoparticipateinorexperiencethesepractices.Eventhoughthestudyfoundlittlegrowthamongcollegefreshmenonmanyoftheessentiallearningoutcomes,theevidencesug-geststhatwhenstudentsdoexperiencethepractices,thereisgrowthandlearningasaresult.

Thesefindingssupporttheneedtoincorporatethetypesofpracticesandprinciplesassociatedwitheffectivegeneraleducationprogramsidentifiedinthisvolumeintoanycampus’sprogrammaticstructure.Incorporationofthesepracticesandprinciplesintoacampus’sentirecurriculumandcocurriculumwouldappeartosupportenhancedstudentlearning.Indeed,theoften-heardassumptionthatmostofthebroadlearningaimsandoutcomesstudentsneedtoattainarethesolepurviewofgeneraleducationisrapidlydisappearing.Theessentiallearningourstudentsneedmustbepervasiveingeneraleducation,butthesamesetofskillsandabilitiesmustbemoredeeplyembeddedthroughoutthecurriculumandcocurriculum,becomingmoresophisticated,complex,andchallengingasstudentsmovethroughmajorprogrammaticstudy.Theunderlyingapproachtogeneraleducationlearningreflectedintheinoculationmodelofthelastcentury—ifstudentsneedtowrite,takeawritingcourse;ifstudentsneedethicalreason-ing,takeaphilosophycourse;ifstudentsneedglobalunderstanding,takeacoursewithaninternationalfocus—isnolongeradequate.Theresearchoncognitivedevelopment,deeplearning,andmasterysupportsthevalueofintentionalapproachestolearningthatareiterative,recurring,incremental,andprogressivelymorechallengingasstudentsmovethroughtheireducationalcareers.Therearebenefitstoapproachesthatprovidestudentswithmultipleopportunitiestoapplytheirlearningtonew,unscriptedproblems,andthatarescaffoldedinwaysthatallowstudentstodeveloptheirskillsandabilitiesinintentionalways.

Particularlyingeneraleducation,modernundergraduateeducationnecessitatesnewwaystothinkaboutandorganizeourapproachestoteachingandlearning.Nolongerdonearlyallstudentsbegintheirundergraduateeducationimmediatelyfollowinggradua-tionfromhighschool.Nolongerdostudentsattendasinglecollegefromtheirfirsttosenioryears.Themajorityattendmorethanonepostsecondaryinstitutionduringtheircollegecareers.Manyattendmultipleinstitutionsatthesametimewhentheyliveina

The underlying ap-proach to general

education learning reflected in the

inoculation model of the last century is no

longer adequate.


regionwheremultipleinstitutionsarewithincloseproximity.Astechnologyallowsforonlinecoursesandprograms,studentslivinganywhereoftencanavailthemselvesofcoursesfromcollegesanduniversitiesaroundtheglobewhileattendingalocalinstitu-tionatthesametime.

Becausegeneraleducationprogramstypicallycontainthecoursesthataremostlikelytobeofferedbyallinstitutionsoronline,thechallengebecomesoneoforganizingundergraduateliberallearninginamannerthatrecognizesstudentattendancepatternsandallowsforlearningtobeengagedandfacilitatedacrossthemultitudeofcoursenames,numbers,andlocationsrepresentingthearrayofmethodsbywhichstudentsenroll.Campusesacrossthecountryarerespondingwiththeadoptionoflearningoutcomes,exemplifiedbyAAC&U’sLiberalEducationandAmerica’sPromise(LEAP)initiative,andthearticulationofsharedexpectationsforwhatstudentlearningshouldlooklikefortheseoutcomesasstudentsprogressthroughtheircareers(Rhodes2010).AAC&U’sValidAssessmentofLearninginUndergraduateEducation(VALUE)projecthasworkedwithcampusesnationwidetodevelopfifteenrubrics,eachfocusingononelearningoutcome,thatcanbeadaptedtomeetinstitutionalassessmentneeds.Thefocusforjudgingstudentlearningisshiftingfromthesimplelistingofcoursesandcreditsonatranscripttorecording,reporting,anddemonstratinglearningthroughtheworkourstudentsdointheirclassesandrelatedactivities—oftenorganizedwithinelectronicport-foliosthatcanbecarriedfromcampustocampusthroughoutastudent’scareer.Inthisway,learningcanberecognizedwhereveritoccurs,regardlessoftheformalboundariesthatmayseparatethelocusforlearning.

Thecurrentvolume, General Education and Liberal Learning,picksupontheworkofStrong Foundations ontheprinciplesofeffectivegeneraleducationprograms,incor-poratestheresearchandexpertisedevelopedduringtheinterveningfifteenyears,andrenewsthecommitmenttotheintentionalinstitutionalpractices,pedagogies,andprin-ciplesthatareassociatedwitheffectivegeneraleducationinthetwenty-firstcentury.Thecontributorshavecreatedaboldandvibrantframeworkwithinwhichindividualsandcampusescanexaminetheircurrentgeneraleducationprogramsandenvisionnewwaystoachieveenhancedstudentlearningthroughtheorganizationandimplementationofthismostimportantandfoundationalcomponentofundergraduateliberallearning:generaleducation.


Chapter11

Imperatives for and Drivers of ChangePaul l. GastOn

Although an institution’s general education program cannot by itself ensure that students receive all the outcomes of a liberal education, a commitment to liberal education requires the support that only an effective general education program can offer.

Whatthewell-educatedcollegegraduateshouldknowandbeabletododevelopswithinseveralenvironments.Oneisthecurriculum,whichshouldincludeastronggen-eraleducationoffering,studyinthemajorthatreinforcestheaimsofgeneraleducation,andajudiciousselectionofelectives.Anotheristhecocurriculum.Theopportunitiesfoundthereforcommunityengagement,studentwork,andcampusleadershipcanofferapowerfulcontribution.Beyondthecurriculumaltogether,campuslifeandrecreation,studenthousing,andsociallifemayenhancetheoveralleducationalexperience.AformerpresidentofJamesMadisonUniversityonceobservedthatevencampusmain-tenanceandlandscapingshouldconveyarespectforscholarship(R.E.Carrier,pers.comm.).WhetherintheIvyLeague,communitycolleges,publiccomprehensiveuniver-sities,orprivateliberalartscolleges,liberaleducationatitsmostsubstantivereflectsaspectrumoflearningandexperience.

Thisoverviewofgeneraleducationandliberallearningfocusesonbutonepartofthematrixthatleadstoacollegeeducation—butitisacriticalpart.Byacknowledg-ingtheliberaleducationgoalsofhighereducationandexaminingcarefullythewaysinwhicheffectivegeneraleducationcanfurthersuchgoals,wecanclarifyprinciplesthatmayassistcollegesanduniversitiesinstrengtheninggeneraleducationandthusassuringmoreeffectiveliberaleducation.

Assuggestedintheintroduction,thefirstpromptforthispublicationliesina1994publicationbytheAssociationofAmericanColleges,Strong Foundations,acogentandsubstantiveplatformforconceiving,planning,andimplementingmoreef-fectivegeneraleducationprograms.Theslimvolumedrawsonbothinformedreflec-tionandawarenessofexemplarypracticeinpresenting“twelveprinciplesforeffectivegeneraleducationprograms”(AAC1994).Thepublicationprovedbothprescientandinfluential.Manyoftheprinciplesitsetforthremainrelevantandcompelling

7


today,andtheyareevidentoncampuseswherethereisimprovementinprogramsofgeneraleducation.

ThesecondpromptwasGreaterExpectations,amajorinitiativetheAssociationofAmericanCollegesandUniversitiesconductedbetween2000and2006,whicharticulat-edtheaimsandpurposesofatwenty-firstcenturyliberaleducation,identifiedinnova-tivemodelsthatimprovecampuspracticesandlearningforallundergraduatestudents,andadvocatedforacomprehensiveapproachtoreform.TheworkoftheGreaterExpec-tationsinitiativelaidthefoundationforAAC&U’scurrentinitiative,LiberalEducationandAmerica’sPromise(LEAP).In2007,theLEAPnationalreport,College Learning for the New Global Century,waspublished.TheLEAPreportprovidesthethirdprompt:aclearlystructuredstatementoutliningtheessentiallearningoutcomesofacollegeeducation(seefig.2).Manycollegesanduniversitieshavefoundinthisstatementaconvenientpointofdeparturefordiscussionsregardingthebaccalaureateandthevitalcontributionofgeneraleducationinofferingallstudentsthebenefitsofaliberaleduca-tion.Incorporatingmanyyearsofdeliberationanddrawingonawiderangeofauthori-tiesandgoodpractices,theessentiallearningoutcomesrepresentnothinglessthanthefirstwidelyacceptedstatementwithintheacademyofwhatstudentsshouldknowandbeabletodowhentheygraduatefromabaccalaureateprogramembodyingeffectivegeneraleducation(AAC&U2007,12).

Thethreepromptsforthisoverviewarecloselyrelated.WritinginStrong Founda-tions,JerryGaffciteda“heuristic”definitionofgeneraleducation:“theknowledge,skills,andattitudesthatallofususeandlivebyduringmostofourlives”(AAC1994,ii).Noonewouldarguewiththecontinuingrelevanceoftheseelementsastouchstonesforeffectivegeneraleducationandasassumptionsbehindaninstitution’smoreinclusiveliberaleducationaims.ItseemsfittingthereforethattheessentiallearningoutcomesAAC&UpromotesthroughLEAPstandon“strongfoundations”firstsetforthin1994andnoworganizedmorebroadlyintocriticaldomainsofknowledge,asfollows:

• knowledgeofhumanculturesandthephysicalandnaturalworld• intellectualandpracticalskills• personalandsocialresponsibility• integrativeandappliedlearning Theessentiallearningoutcomesareideallyadaptedtothechangingenvironment

ofhighereducationandrepresentaplatformonwhichstrategicprogrammaticreformcanbebuilt.Buttheoutcomesalsorepresentanimportantelementintheenvironment,astronginfluenceonmanyofthechangestakingplacewithinit,and,assuggestedabove,apromptforconsideringboththeattributesofacomprehensivecommitmenttoliberaleducationandthecrucialroleofgeneraleducationwithinthatcommitment.Hence,incontrastwiththeobserversinRobertFrost’senigmaticpoem“NeitherOutFarNorInDeep,”General Education and Liberal Learningwillboth“lookoutfar,”soastoacknowledgethecircumstancesemphasizingtheimportanceofofferingaliberaleducationtoallstudents,and“lookindeep”athowourunderstandingofeffectivegen-eraleducation,sovitaltoouroverallliberaleducationcommitment,isbecomingricher,moresubstantive,and,inanimportantsense,moreambitious.


9

Whydoweseekthisbroadervisionnow?Importantchangesintheenvironmentofhighereducationhavetypicallyemergedgraduallyovertime—lotsoftime.Butincreas-ingly,highereducationisexperiencingdisruptiveratherthangradualformsofchange.TrendsglimpsedinStrong Foundationshaveaccelerated.Othertrendsofemergingsignificancehavebecomeincreasinglyinfluential.Andeffortstorespondtothesetrendsthroughanevolvingvisionofhowgeneraleducationcontributestooveralleducationalgoalshaveproducedastrongrecordofinnovation.Inordertounderstandmorefullywhythenewcenturycallsforafreshvisionofessentiallearningandtoappreciatewhathasbeenachievedinpursuitofthatvision,weshouldacknowledgesomeofthesetrendsandconsidertheirrelevanceforgeneraleducation.

Figure 2: Essential Learning Outcomes

Beginninginschool,andcontinuingatsuccessivelyhigherlevelsacrosstheircollegestudies,studentsshouldpreparefortwenty-first-centurychallengesbygaining:

Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural WorldThroughstudyinthesciencesandmathematics,socialsciences,humanities,histories,

languages,andtheartsFocusedbyengagementwithbigquestions,bothcontemporaryandenduring

Intellectual and Practical Skills, includingInquiryandanalysisCriticalandcreativethinkingWrittenandoralcommunicationQuantitativeliteracyInformationliteracyTeamworkandproblemsolvingPracticed extensively,acrossthecurriculum,inthecontextofprogressivelymorechallengingproblems,projects,andstandardsforperformance

Personal and Social Responsibility, includingCivicknowledgeandengagement—localandglobalInterculturalknowledgeandcompetenceEthicalreasoningandactionFoundationsandskillsforlifelonglearningAnchoredthroughactiveinvolvementwithdiversecommunitiesandreal-worldchallenges

Integrative and Applied Learning, includingSynthesisandadvancedaccomplishmentacrossgeneralandspecializedstudiesDemonstratedthroughtheapplicationofknowledge,skills,andresponsibilitiestonewsettingsandcomplexproblems

Source:AAC&U2007,12


The World Is Demanding MoreAsnotedabove,aneffectivegeneraleducationprogram—whetherintheformofacoherentprogramorexplicit,actionableexpectationsrequiringintentional,systematicresponse—cannotdoitall.Butthecontributionsgeneraleducationmakeshavecometoberecognizedasparticularlyrelevanttothedemandsofanewcentury.Astronggeneraleducationprogramprovidestheskills,traits,andawarenessthatsupportnotonlystrongbeginningsintheworldsofemploymentandservice,butalsothecapacityforgrowththatcharacterizesagilethinkers,enthusiasticlearners,andeffectiveteammembers.

Asexpectationsofcollegegraduateshaveevolved,thedemandsmadeofgeneraledu-cationhavenecessarilydevelopedaswell.WhileeffectiveprogramsofgeneraleducationshouldcontributesignificantlytoallthebroaddomainsofknowledgesetforthinCollege Learning for the New Global Century, suchprogramsaboveallensurethatstudentsexperi-encethewaysofknowingthatmustnotonlybegraspedbut“practicedextensively,acrossthecurriculum,inthecontextofprogressivelymorechallengingproblems,projects,andstandardsforperformance”(AAC&U2007,12).Theseincludeinquiryandanalysis,criti-calandcreativethinking,writtenandoralcommunication,quantitativeliteracy,informa-tionliteracy,teamwork,andproblemsolving.

Suchwaysofknowinghavealwaysbeenimportant,butthedemandsofthenewcenturyhaveexpressedasingularurgency.Neverbeforehastherebeensogreataneedforlearnedandadaptablecitizenscapableoftakingapartandunderstandingcomplexproblems,ofidentifyingreliabilityandauthorityamongthemanysourcesofinforma-tion,ofappreciatingthequantitativerealitiesthatmayliebeneaththesurface,ofthink-ingcreativelyaboutsolutions,ofcommunicatingto otherstheemergingresultsoftheirwork,andofworkingwith otherstobringsolutionstopractice.Inshort,whatgeneraleducationcanofferiswhatallstudentsneedtoliveinacomplexglobalsociety.

ThissenseofurgencyiswellcapturedintherecentrevisionofgeneraleducationattheUniversityofNebraska–Lincoln(UNL).“Achievement-CenteredEducation”seekstoofferstudentsopportunities“todevelopandtoapplyrelevantskills,knowledge,andsocialresponsibilitiesnomatterwhattheirmajorsorcareeraspirationsare.”Eachofthesecomponentsisarticulatedthroughdirect,active,assessableimperatives.Forinstance,insteadofofferingavagueaspirationthatstudentslearntowritewell,UNLexpressesthecommitmentthatitsstudentswill“writetexts,invariousforms,withanidentifiedpurpose,thatrespondtospecificaudienceneeds,incorporateresearchorexistingknowledge,anduseapplicabledocumentationandappropriateconventionsofformatorstructure.”Tofurthertheopportunitiesofferedforartsawareness,UNLassertsthatitsstudentswill“useknowledge,theories,ormethodsappropriatetotheartstounderstandtheircontextandsignificance.”Andratherthanfloatingthehopefulexpectationthatstudentswillsomehowfinditpossibletointegratetheirexperiencesindifferentrealmsofknowledge,UNLcallsonstudentsto“generateacreativeorschol-arlyproductthatrequiresbroadknowledge,appropriatetechnicalproficiency,informa-tioncollection,synthesis,interpretation,presentation,andreflection”(UniversityofNebraska–Lincoln2008).

Never before has there been so great a need

for learned and adaptable citizens

capable of taking apart and understanding complex problems.


11

A Different Student BodyBeneathmanyearnesttwentieth-centurystatementsofgeneraleducationgoalslietwounstatedpremises:moststudentswillbeabletodevotetheirfullattentiontotheircollegeexperience,andmostwillcompletetheirgeneraleducationattheinstitutionfromwhichtheywillgraduate.Thisvisioncontinuestoinformmanygoalsstatements,butformanyinstitutionsandstudents,therealityisnowverydifferent.Asof2007,accordingtotheNationalCenterforEducationStatistics,“about46percentoffull-timeand81percentofpart-timecollegestudentsages16–24wereemployed”(U.S.DepartmentofEducation2009).

Studentsnowforthemostpartstudyparttimewhilebalancingtheireducationalgoalswiththenecessityofemployment.Andmanypart-timestudentsarefull-time workers.Whilethepercentageofcollegestudentswhoworkhasincreasedincrementally,theper-centageofstudentswhoworkfulltimewhileattendingcollegehasrisensharply,from5.6percentin1985to10.4percentasof2000(Orszag,Orszag,andWhitmore2001),andupto32.2percentin2007–8(U.S.DepartmentofEducation2008).Thosewhofollowthesetrendscloselynowdifferentiatebetween“studentswhowork”and“workerswhostudy.”Studentsareincreasinglymobileaswell,movingfromoneinstitutiontoanotherastheirneedsandlocationsdictate.Asof2006,17percentofundergraduatestudentstransferredfromoneinstitutiontoanotheratleastonetime,and2percenttransferredtwoorthreetimes(U.S.DepartmentofEducation2007).Thesepercentageswouldbeevenhigherifstudentswhocoenrolledinmorethanoneinstitutionatatimewereincluded.

Iftheacademyistomeetitsgoalofprovidingthebenefitsofessentialeducationtoallstudents,itmusttakeseriouslythesedemographicandculturalshifts.Thisisespeciallyimportantasinstitutionsstrivetoincreaseaccesstohighereducationandworktohelpstudentscompletethebaccalaureate.OneoftheimportantprinciplessetforthinStrong Foundations isthatacollegeoruniversitymustreachclarityonwhatitsgraduatesshouldknowandbeabletodo.Onlyinthatbroadercontextofpreparationforcareersandlife-longlearningcanthespecificgoalsforgeneraleducationmakesense.Butiffewerthanhalfofaninstitution’sgraduatesreceivetheirgeneraleducationattheinstitutionfromwhichtheyreceivethebaccalaureatedegree,whatcananinstitutiondotoensurethatallitsgraduatesmeetitsliberallearninggoals?

Diversity as a Critical Educational ValueOnlywithinthelastfifteenyearshassubstantiveresearch,acknowledgingwidelyacceptedmoralandculturalvalues,confirmedthewaysinwhichadiverselearningenvironmentsupportseffectiveeducation.Classroomswithavarietyofstudentandfacultyperspec-tivesinplay,supportedbyarichmultiplicityofcontentandmaterials,aredynamicandengaging.Asaresult,increasingaccesstoeducationanddiversifyingthefacultyremainnotonlyurgentsocialimperatives,butalsohaveemergedaspedagogicalnecessities.Inaddition,thepursuitofdiversityinthecurriculumhasencouragedamoreinclusiveun-derstandingofessentiallearningitself.Ascurricularchoiceshavemultiplied,abroaderopportunitytodevelopdistinctiveapproachestoglobalunderstanding,cross-cultural


competence,andsocialresponsibilityhasemphasizedtheimportanceofthoughtfulchoicesincurriculardesigntopromoteessentiallearning.

A1995AAC&Ustudy,Diversity in Higher Education,stilloffersausefulpointofdepartureforanappreciationofthisforcewithinthe“newenvironment.”Diversitymustbecome,inaword,“transformative”(Musil1995,62).Buttheemphasisofthe1995studyonsocialchange,whileentirelyappropriatetoandnecessaryforthecircumstancesitdocuments,suggestsalsoaprocessofgrowthwithinthisimperative.Earlyexperiencewith“diversitycourses”hasexpandedtoincludeconsiderationofthecurriculumasawholeandofhowitisofferedwithinanenablingenvironment.AmorerecentstudybyHuandKuhconcludesthatstudentswhoenjoythebenefitsofadiverselearningenvironmentregardthosebenefitsasdirectlyrelatedtotheireducational gains(HuandKuh2003).

Economic PressuresIssuesoffundinghavehadameasurableimpactonbothcollegestudentsandtheirin-stitutionsinthetwenty-firstcentury,andanyoneconcernedwithstrengtheninggeneraleducationmusttakesuchissuesintoaccount.Reductionsinstatesupportforpublicinstitutions,evenbeforetherecessionthatemergedin2007,promptedmanyinstitu-tionstoincreaseclasssizes,relymoreonpart-timefaculty,andmeasureanyinnovationintermsofcosteffectiveness.Privateinstitutionshavenotbeenimmunefromsuchpressuresandhavehadtomakedifficultchoicesamongsuchconcernsasfinancialaid,enhancedtechnology,andfacultysalaries.Reductionsinthevalueofendowmentsandeconomicpressurestoconstraintuitionhaveexertedsimilarpressures.Inthisenviron-ment,preservingfundingforfacultydevelopment,smallseminars,teamteaching,andundergraduateresearch,forexample,requiresthatastrongcasebemadebyfaculty.

Inturn,studentsandfamiliesfacedwithtuitionincreasesthathaveoutstrippedannualincreasesinthecostoflivinghavebecomefarmorepragmaticandurgentaboutwhytheyareseekinghighereducation.Professionalprogramsthatappeartopromisemoreimmediatejobplacementhavegreatappeal.Inthisenvironment,generaleduca-tioncanbevulnerable.Tostudentswhomustworklonghourstopaytuition,anyre-quirementsthatappearunrelatedortangentialtotheirvocationalambitionsmayappearsimplyasimpediments.

However,asweacknowledgetheeconomicforcesthatbearonstudents,teachers,andthecurriculumitself,wemustrespondtothemappropriatelyandavoidinjudicious,counter-productiveconcessions.Agreementonprinciplesofeffectivegeneraleduca-tion—and,morebroadly,onoverarchingliberaleducationgoals—shouldleadustoarticulatemoreforcefullytheconnectionsbetweengeneraleducationandsuccessinaturbulentglobaleconomy.Stronggeneraleducationprogramsenablestudentstopre-pareforandadapttouncertainty,torecognizeandrespondtoemergingopportunities,andtoexercisecreativitywhenothersarehunkeringdown.

Ofcourse,economicchallengescanpromotepositiveinnovationsaimedateffi-ciencyandeffectiveness,suchastheuseofcourse-managementsystemsandelectroniclibraryresources.Insomeinstitutions,budgetconstraintshavepromptedafreshclarity

Strong general education programs

enable students to prepare for and adapt

to uncertainty.


astopriorities,areturnofthefocustostudentlearningandawayfromlessessentialoperations.Andmanystudentsbalancingworkandstudydounderstandthecontributiongeneraleducationmakestoprovidingthemwiththeskillsandcapacitiesthatemployersvalue.

Thebottomlineofthisbalancesheetisclear.Periodsofeconomicuncertaintycastintoevenhigherreliefthevaluesofliberallearning.Thosewhopayattentiontosuchvalueswillidentifyopportunitiesforinvestment—notretrenchment.

The Influence of TechnologyWhenStrong Foundationswaspublished,the“technology”ofchoiceforinstructionwastheoverheadprojector.Computerswerealreadyinwideuse,ofcourse,butthepotentialinfluenceoftheInternetwasonlybeginningtoemerge.Notuntil2000wouldBlack-board,Inc.,fileitspatentfor“Internet-basededucationsupportsystemsandmethods.”Wikipedia,nowtheworld’slargest(ifperhapsleastreliable)encyclopedia,wasfoundedin2001.Googlesearchesbeganlessthanadecadeago.Andtheavailabilityofsuchservicesthroughstandardwirelesstransmissionprotocols?Alsoatwenty-first-centuryphenomenon—andonethatspanstheglobe,linkingstudentsandfacultymembersnotonlytoimportantdatabutalsotooneanother.

Thesignificanceforlearningthroughtheseremarkabledevelopmentsisconspicu-ous.Facultymembersnowroutinelysupporttheirlectureswithprojectedcomputerslidesandothervisualmaterialsappropriatetovariedlearningstyles.Coursewaresystemsenablefacultymembersandstudentstofurthertheworkoftheclassroomthroughinformaldiscussion,throughpromptstoadditionalreading,andthroughopportunitiesforout-of-classcollaborativework.Classroomresponsemechanisms,e.g.,“clickers,”offerstrategiesforensuringsomedegreeofstudentparticipationeveninverylargecoursesections.Facultycanevenconnecttheirstudentsandcourseswithclassroomsabroadtopromoteinternationalperspectiveswithoutthecostsoftravel.Andelectronicportfoliosprovideanewlearningandassessmenttool.

Butthereisalsoasenseinwhichtechnology,specificallytheInternet,posesacrit-icalepistemologicalissueforgeneraleducation.Whentheinventionofprintingledintimetoaproliferationofpressesandpublications,scholarsfacedthenewchallengeofenablingtheirstudentstodiscriminatebetweenauthoritativeandunreliabletexts.Nowasimilarchallengehasarisen,asstudentsmustbeabletounderstandandapplycriteriafordeterminingthevalidityandobjectivityofsourcesfromreliable,somewhatreliable,anddeeplyunreliableproviders.FacultymustcautiontheirstudentsagainstuncriticalrelianceonWebresourcessuchasWikipedia,urgethatscholarlyresearchutilizemethodsbeyondGoogle,andworkwiththelibrarystafftoteachinformationliteracy.

Perhapsthegreatestchallengeisdistancelearning.Shouldgeneraleducationcours-esbeofferedonline,therebyforegoingtheintangiblebenefitsofclassroomcollegialityinfavorofstudentconvenienceandremunerativeenrollments?Asfacultyexperimentwiththisnewformat,manyhavelearnedhowtopreservethevalueofdiscussion,imme-


diatefeedback,andcoaching.Atthesametime,bothfacultyandstudentsconcedethatface-to-facelearninghasbenefits.Thus,manycampusesarestrivingforamixedmodelofdelivery.

The Assessment Imperative In1994itwouldhavebeendifficulttovisualizehowinfluentialandpervasivetheassess-mentofeducationaloutcomeswouldbecome.Theissueisnolongeroneprimarilyofaccountability—eventhoughsuchexpectationscontinuetoemerge.Rather,theprin-cipalvalueofassessmentlieswithinalargerpicture,asacomplementtothelearningoutcomesthatgivepurposeanddesigntogeneraleducation.

Becausewewillattendtoassessmentasan“effectivepractice”inpart3,andwilldosoatsomelength,itmaybeenoughtonoteherethepositiveinfluenceassessmenthashadwithinhighereducation.Properlyconceivedandimplemented,assessmentprovidesaproductivefocusonoverridingquestionsofpriority,forexample:

• Whatshouldstudentslearnandbeabletodo?• Howcanwemeasuremostusefullytheeffectivenessofprogramsandinstitutions

inassistingstudentstotheirrespectiveeducationalgains?• Whatcansuchmeasuresrevealtothosewhosupportstudentlearning—faculty

members,librarians,cocurricularleaders,administrators,andmanyothers—sothattheycandosomoreeffectively?

Tobesure,aheavy-handedautocraticefforttoimplementanassessmentprograminpursuitofpoorlyunderstoodinstitutionalconcernscanarouseresistance.Undertak-ingsthatconfusetheevaluativepotentialofassessmentwithitspotentialforsupportinginstitutionalstrengtheningmayalsorunaground.Preciselybecauseassessment,properlyconsidered,drivestotheheartofteachingandlearning,itsadaptationtoinstitutionalneedsmustbemanagedwithsensitivityandvision.

Somecommentatorsdescribean“accountabilityloop”—ausefulphraseifaccount-abilityisnotseensolelyasameansofattestingtocompliancewithminimalstandardsofadequacy.Ifaccountabilityisseenratherasameansbywhichaninstitutionremainsaccountabletoitself,toitsgoalsforstudentlearningandtheexpansionofknowledge,thenassessmentstandsasalynchpininacontinuingloopofqualityimprovementandasanemblemoftheacademy’sfreshcommitmenttoexamining,understanding,andincreasingitseffectiveness.

The Changing Roles of and Pressures on FacultyEarlyreviewsofthequalityofgeneraleducationprogramsfocusedprimarilyonthefacultywhotaughtthecoursesinthoseprograms.Morerecently,suchreviewshaveledtoconcernsabouttheefficacyofaprogramthatstandsalone.Educationcannottaketheformofasingleinoculation;itrequiresincremental“boostershots.”Earlyexposuretoimportantideas,skills,andvaluesiscritical,butrepeatedexposureprovidesimportantreinforcementandincreasingsophistication.Recenteffortsto“connect”generaleduca-


tionwiththemajor,importantinthemselves,havethusyieldedanimportantinsight:allmembersofthefacultysharearesponsibilityfortheirstudents’liberallearning,andallhaveanimpact.Whethertheirdisciplinesareaccounting,history,ornursing,facultymembersatalllevelsofthecurriculumcanprovidereinforcementandpracticefortheirstudents’pursuitofliberallearningoutcomes.

Engagingfacultyinsharingresponsibilityforessentialoutcomesisnoteasy.Indeed,afacultymemberwhosededicationtoaparticulardisciplineadmitsnoacknowledgmentofasharedresponsibilityforliberallearningmayunderminethebroadlearninggoalstowhichaninstitutioniscommitted.Facultydevelopmentmaynotpersuadeallfacultytotakeanactiveinterestingeneraleducation,butcanbeeffectiveinhelpingfacultyappreciatetherolegeneraleducationplaysinsupportofthemajoroutcomes.Inpart4,whenwediscusshowthebenefitsofeffectivegeneraleducationmaybesustained,wewillconsidertheroleoffacultyacrosstheinstitutioninmoredetail,butforthepresentitbelongsinthisreviewofenvironmentalchangesthatdeserveourrecognition.

The New Learning EnvironmentThissurveyofchangingelementswithintheenvironmentofhighereducationhascoveredconsiderablegroundwithinashortspace.Aninfluentialnewconsensusoneducationaloutcomes,shiftingdemographicswithinthestudentbody,anincreasingappreciationfortheeducationalimportanceofdiversity,pressuresarisingfromdeclinesinfunding,theinfluenceoftechnology,theconsiderableexpansionoftheinfluenceofassessment,andagrowingrecognitionthatthefacultyandcurriculumasawholemusthelptoprovidethebenefitsofaliberaleducation—theseinfluencestakentogetherrep-resentapositiveenvironmentalshiftofseismicproportions.

Yetthereareotherenvironmentalelementsthatmighthavebeenexaminedaswell.Some,suchasthedesirableerosionofboundariesbetweenacademicofferingsandstu-dentlife,arementionedbelowinthediscussionofimportantprinciples.Others,suchastheinfluenceofnewapproachestoinstitutionalaccountingthatmayimposeincreased“productivity”demandsongeneraleducation,mustawaitanothervenue.Butwhatseemsabundantlyclearevenfromthisoverviewisthathighereducation—andgeneraleduca-tioninparticular—mustadaptinresponsibleandcreativewaystoachangedenviron-ment.Andthatiswhyclarityaboutthestrengthsidentifiedwithstronggeneraleducationprogramsiscritical.

PartTwo:GeneralEducationasCurricularCornerstone

Part twO: General Education as Curricular Cornerstone

Chapter21

Principles of Strong General Education Programs

Paul l. GastOn

General education programs that contribute significantly to liberal education outcomes em-body several principles. Programs that fall short can be strengthened by colleagues who observe and pursue such principles. In this chapter, we define such principles by paying attention to characteristics common to strong programs.

Whilestronggeneraleducationprogramsmaybehighlydistinctiveinsomeways,theytendalsotoexpressbroadlysharedprinciplesofgoodpractice.WhetherundertakenasaroadtriporasanInternetvoyage,atourofwidelyadmiredandoften-referencedprogramscanrevealsuchprinciplesandsuggestakindofmeasuringrod,orkanon,whichmaybeusefultoothers.Thischapterattendstofiveofthemostimportantofthefactorsthatap-peartosupportprogrammaticeffectiveness.

First,strongprogramsembodyandexpressaclearvisionforgeneraleducation,onegroundedinaninstitutionalcommitmenttothebenefitsofaliberaleducationforallstudents.Second,strongprogramsbenefitfrombroadunderstandingwithinthecollegeoruniversityoftheimportantrolesplayedingeneraleducationbyallinstitutionalconstituen-cies.Third,strongprogramscanpresentevidenceateverycurricularlevelofaconcernwitheffectivepedagogythatexpressesthepurposefulpursuitofexplicitlystatedlearningobjectives.Fourth,strongprogramsdemonstrateappreciationfortheroleofthecocur-riculuminenhancingandsustainingthegainsachievedintheclassroom.Finally,strongprogramsrequireandexpressstrongleadershipfrommanylevels.

Clarity of VisionIncallingforacommitmenttomakeexplicit“thepointofgeneraleducation,”Strong Foundationsestablishedafundamentalprinciple.Aneffectivegeneraleducationprogramnotonlyconveysits“point”butexplainswhyandhowitsparticularprioritieshavebeenchosen,howthedifferentelementsintheprogramcorrespondtothesepriorities,andhowitsstructurereflectsthosepriorities.Ideally,astudentshouldunderstandhowevery

17


classmeetingcontributestothelearninggoalsofeverycourseandhowcoursegoalsarerelatedtoprogrammaticgoals.

Soundprogramsdonotemergebyhappenstance.Theyexpressthedeliberatepursuitofadesignaimedatthatinstitution’svisionofawell-educatedgraduate.Forinstance,ifanaimoftheprogramisthatstudents“unifyandbringtogethertheirlearningacrosscourses,overtime,andbetweencurricularandcocurricularexperiences,”asattheUniversityofWisconsin–EauClaire,thestructureoftheprogrammustguidestudentsaccordinglysoastoensurethatsuchintegrationroutinelytakesplace.Similarly,programsthatemphasizelearningindepthmustdirectstudentsintoopportunitiesforrecursivelearning.Ifthepro-grampromisesthatstudentswilldevelopasenseofcivicresponsibility,itshouldleadstu-dentsintoappropriateactivities,reflection,andevaluation.Becausenogeneraleducationprogramcandoeverything,strongprogramsnecessarilyembodydifficultchoicesamongmanyappealingandworthyobjectives.Andtheyexplainthechoicesthathavebeenmadetostudentsandtothebroadercommunity.

Thatthismostbasicchallengeremainstobefulfilledonmanycampusesappearsbothinmusingswithininstitutionsandfromnationwidesurveys.Infact,manycampusesbegintheirreformeffortswhentheybecameawareofunfulfilledexpectations.TheprocessofgeneraleducationreformatNorthCarolinaStatebeganwithsomecandidadmissions:thecategoriesofofferingswithintheprogram,theobjectivesofthecategories,andthejustificationforcourseswithinthecategorieswere“unclear”(BrescianiandAndersonn.d.).Thus,thenewprogramimplementedinthesummerof2009hasclearobjectivesandoffersthemeanstoaccomplishthem.Acommitmentthatstudentslearntointegratedifferentdisciplinesnowappearsinanexplicitrequirementforinterdisciplinarystudy.

AnotherinstitutionthathasusedthereformofgeneraleducationtopromoteaclearerunderstandingofinstitutionalmissionistheUnitedStateMilitaryAcademyatWestPoint.12Consistentwithitsspecializedpurpose—theeducationofofficersfortheU.S.Army—WestPointhasrefineditsfocusonliberaleducationthroughanexpandedcorecurriculumandanemphasisoncurricularintegration.StudentsatWestPointcompleteathirty-coursegeneraleducationcorethatconstitutesalmost75percentoftheiracademicexperience.Whileacoreofthissizeisnotcommonamongcollegesanduniversities,WestPoint’smissionrequiresthatitsstudentsbebroadlyeducatedsothattheycanbecomeself-directedlearnerscapableofapplyingknowledgetonewsituations.Andsince2005,theacademy’sfocusonintegrativelearninghasledtoalinkingofhistoryandlanguagecoursestopromotethedeepexplorationofglobalconnections.Givenplanstointegratemoreoftheacademy’sthirteenacademicdepartments,theroleofintegrativelearningislikelytobecomeevenmorecharacteristicofWestPoint’smissioninthefuture.

Clarityofvisionneednotrequireachangeinaprogram,butmaybeachievedthroughrenewedcommitmentandcommunicationwithstudents.BrownUniversityrecentlyrevisited

2 Thisandmanyoftheotherexamplesofexemplarypracticeingeneraleducationdescribedinthispub-licationaredrawnfromfeaturestoriesoriginallypublishedinAAC&U’smonthlymemberpublication,AAC&U News.The AAC&U Newsarchivemaybeviewedonlineatwww.aacu.org/aacu_news/archives/archive10.cfm.

North CaroliNa State UNiverSity

raleigh, North CaroliNa

Looking Inward to Improve Intentionality

AtNorthCarolinaState,reform-ingthegeneraleducationpro-grammeantlookinginwardfirst:administratorsacknowledgedthatthecategoriesofofferingswithinthegeneraleducationprogram,theobjectivesofthecategories,andthejustificationforcourseswithinthecategorieswereallunclear.Asaresult,thenewprogram,implementedinthesummerof2009,setsexplicitexpectationsforstudents,anddetailshowtheywillintegratedifferentacademicdisciplinesthroughaninterdisciplinarystudyrequirement.

UNited StateS Military aCadeMy WeSt PoiNt, NeW york

An Interdisciplinary Core

AtWestPoint,studentscom-pleteathirty-coursegeneraleducationcorethatconstitutesalmost75percentoftheiracademicexperience.Whilecorerequirementsofthissizeareunusualatliberalartscol-leges,oneofWestPoint’smainacademicgoalsforstudentsisthattheybecomeself-directedlearnerscapableofapplyingknowledgetonewsituations.Thecorecoursesarehighlyinterdisciplinaryandincludeaspecialfocusonintegratingforeignlanguagewithhistoryandglobalstudies.

SaiNt loUiS CoMMUNity College SaiNt loUiS, MiSSoUri

Sound Preparation for a Four-Year Degree

AtallfourbranchesofSaintLouisCommunityCollege,studentsworkingtowardanas-sociateofartsdegreebeginwithacornerstonecoursethathelpsthemseethegoalsofgeneraleducationandhowtheyfitintothecollegeexperience.Then,inadditiontoskillscoursesinmathematicsandcommunica-tion,studentschoosefromthreecategories—artsandhumanities,socialandbehav-ioralscience,andscience—tobuildaforty-two-credit-hourgeneraleducationprogram.Studentscompletetheirgeneraleducationexperiencewithacapstonecoursethatincludesafinalprojectandpreparesthemtotransfertoafour-yearschool.StudentswhocompletetheentiregeneraleducationprogramareassuredthattheirgeneraleducationcreditswillbeacceptedatanyMissouripublicinstitution.

PartTwo:GeneralEducationasCurricularCornerstone 19

acurriculumlongnotableforitslackofspecificgeneraleducationrequirements.Workingwithinthistradition,ataskforceclarifiedtheinstitution’slearninggoalswithaneyetowardensuringthatBrownstudentsbecomeintentionallearnerswithaclearviewofwhattheyaretryingtoaccomplishthroughtheirstudies.Oneresultisastatement,“LiberalLearningatBrown,”thatdefinesspecificlearninggoalsstudentsareexpectedtoachievebeforegradua-tionandsuggestswaysthatstudentscanprogresstowardthesegoals—allwithoutmandatingspecificclassesordistributionrequirements(BrownOfficeoftheDeanoftheCollege2008).Otheroutcomesofthetaskforce’sworkincluderecommendationsforamorerobustadvis-ingprogramandforane-portfoliorequirementthatasksstudentstoreflectsystematicallyontheireducationalchoicesandtheintentionsbehindthem(Donnelly-Smith2008).

Intheseandmanyotherinstitutions,clearawarenessoftheimportantroleofgeneraleducationasacurricularcornerstoneconfersmanyadditionalbenefits.Students,faculty,andcocurriculardirectorscanfindbothdirectionandmotivationinasharedconviction.Theinstitutioncantellitsstorymorepersuasivelytopotentialstudents,newfaculty,anddonors.Andthegroundforcontinuousimprovementandadvancementoftheinstitutionissolid.

Commitment to CoherenceAlltoooften,generaleducationprograms“striveforeducationalcoherence”byfoistingontostudentstheresponsibilityforachievingit.Butaspart3willexploreinmoredetail,unlessthestructureoftheprogramandthefacultyteachingwithinitenablestudentstoun-derstandtherationalebehindtherequirementstheymustsatisfy,fewstudentsarelikelytoachievetheobjective.Afterreadingthroughthecatalogcopydescribinggeneraleducationathisinstitution,commentatorMarkBauerleinobservesthattherhetoricofcoherencedirectedatstudentsmayfallondeafears.Studentsarelikelytoregardan“array”ofgeneraleducationcourses“asmerelyabunchofrandom,disconnectedcoursesoutsidetheirmajor...abunchofheterogeneoushoopstopassthrough”(Bauerlein2009).

Bycontrast,BardCollegeleaveslittletochance.Principlesofcurricularcoherencefirstappearinathree-weekintensiveintroductiontotheliberalartsandsciences,areregularlyreinforcedthroughafirst-yearseminarprogram,andareembeddedinthecurriculumitself.Allfirst-yearstudentsatBardspendthethreeweekspriortothestartoffallsemes-terintheLanguageandThinkingProgram,inwhichsmallgroupsofstudents,undertheguidanceoffacultymembers,completereadings,discussions,andwritingprojectsthathelpthemunderstandthegoalsandintendedoutcomesofaBardeducation.Studentsthenpar-ticipateinyearlongfirst-yearseminarsthatintroducethe“importantintellectual,cultural,andartisticideasthatserveasabasisfortheliberalartseducation.”Inthesecondyear,aprogramcalledModerationrequiresstudentstoreflectontheireducationalexperienceastheymovetowardin-depthstudyoftheirmajor,andarequiredseniorcapstoneprojecttiestogetherfouryearsoflearning.

SaintLouisCommunityCollege’sapproachtogeneraleducationcouldofferanexampleofcurricularcoherencetomanyinstitutions.Studytowardtheassociateofartsdegreebeginswithacornerstonecoursethatintroducesprinciplesofcollegestudy—including“howtoex-ploreethicalchoices,understandandargueyourownpointofview,andunderstandtheargu-


mentsofothers.”Then,inadditiontoskillscoursesinmathematicsandcommunication,stu-dentschoosefromthreecategories—artsandhumanities,socialandbehavioralscience,andscience—tobuildaforty-two-credit-hourprogram.Studentscompletetheirgeneraleducationexperiencewithacapstonecourse“thathelpsbringallthedisciplinestogether”andprovidesaplatformfortransfertoabaccalaureateinstitution(SaintLouisCommunityCollege).

Dedication to Educating Responsible CitizensCollegesanduniversitiesthatbuildthebaccalaureatecurriculumaroundastronggeneraleducationcornerstonetypicallyexpressavisionofgeneraleducationthatembodiesbothrecognizedoutcomesandprogrammaticcharacteristicsthatsupportsuchoutcomes.Theseoutcomesmayexpressdifferentemphasesfromoneinstitutiontoanother,butincreas-inglytheyreflectthedevelopingconsensusexpressedintheessentiallearningoutcomesasarticulatedbyAAC&U.Theseneednotbefurthersummarizedhere,butthreeinparticulardeserveattention,astheyemphasizetheimportanceofabroadinstitutionalcommitmenttocommunityinmanyforms.Brieflystated,suchprinciplesincludeanappreciationfortheroleofgeneraleducationinfosteringasenseofsocialresponsibility,agrasponimportantexperientialdimensionsoflearningwithinandbeyondtheclassroom,andarecognitionoftheextenttowhicheffectivegeneraleducationmayfosterahealthieracademiccommunity.

Social ResponsibilityThediscussionofgeneraleducationthroughthepastfifteenyearshasmovedbeyondtheassumptionthatstrong“value-based”programs“teachsocialresponsibility”toamoreencompassingperspective:studentsshouldhavetheopportunitytodevelopwithinandbeyondtheclassroominformedandself-reflectivevaluesthatemphasizeagenerousunderstandingofcommunityandpersonalresponsibility.Assuggestedintheessentiallearningoutcomes,thatunderstandingshouldincludecivicknowledgeandengage-ment—localandglobal,interculturalknowledgeandcompetence,thecapacityforethicalreasoningandaction,andafoundationforlifelonglearning.

MichiganStateUniversity(MSU)seekstoachievethesecapacitiesthroughanap-proachthatwilleventuallyspanthefullbaccalaureatecurriculum.ACarnegie-designated“engageduniversity,”MSUhasdevelopedanongoingseriesofcollaborativecampusdia-loguesbasedontheexampleofthehistoricChautauquaInstitution.Theprogramoffersamodelforbuildingacultureofresponsibilitywithintheresidentialcollegesandhastwogoals:theexplorationofpersonal,social,andinstitutionalresponsibility,andthedevelop-mentofcoursesthataddressthelargersubjectofresponsibilityitself.Housedwithinsev-eralofMSU’sresidentialcolleges,theChautauquadialoguesbringtogethersmallgroupsofstudents,facultymembers,staffmembers,andguestsfordialogueaboutaspecifictopicatregularmeetingsoverthespanofasemester.RecentChautauquatopicshaveincludedsustainabilityandhumanrights;MartinLutherKingJr.,equality,andjustice;andcreativity,economicdevelopment,andethics.FacultymembersarecurrentlyusingtheChautauquamodeltoreframecapstonecoursesalreadyrequiredforundergraduatestudentsbyimbeddingwithinthemafocusonpersonalandsocialresponsibility.

MiChigaN State UNiverSity

eaSt laNSiNg, MiChigaN

Dialogues for Social Responsibility

MichiganStateUniversity(MSU)seeksforitsstudentstounderstandsocialrespon-sibilitythroughanapproachthatwilleventuallyspanthefullbaccalaureatecurricu-lum.InMSU’sTwenty-FirstCenturyChautauquaprogram,basedontheexampleofthehistoricChautauquaInstitu-tion,studentsparticipateinanongoingseriesofcollaborativecampusdialoguesontopicslikesustainabilityandhumanrights.Theprogram,housedwithintworesidentialcolleges,offersamodelforbuildingacultureofresponsibility,andcatalyzesthedevelopmentofcoursesthataddresstheresponsibilitymorebroadly.

21PartTwo:GeneralEducationasCurricularCornerstone

Experiential LearningAsStrong Foundationsproposed,generaleducationprogramscan“closethegapbetweenloftyprogramaspirationsandtheirlimitedroleintheformalcurriculum”bytakinggreateradvan-tageof“theextraordinaryresourcesforlearningthatalreadyexistinthevariedactivitiesinthedailylivesofstudents”(AAC1994).Strongprogramsdoincludeattentiontococurricularexperiences.Buttoanincreasingextent,effectiveprogramsofferopportunitiesforlearningthatnotonlycomplementthecurriculumbutalsoarehighlyintentional,intellectuallysub-stantive,closelylinkedtocurricularcontent,andrichincommunityengagement.

Amongtheimportantadvancesincocurricularlearningarewhatcanbecalled“living–learningcommunities,”“residentialcolleges,”orcollege-basedhousing.Someprogramsoperatewithreferencetoafirst-year-experienceprogramorincludefreshmaninterestgroups.Somemayexpressafocusonparticulardisciplines.Othersmayembodyabroadinterdisciplinaryfocusorcontributetocampusoutreach.Inanyevent,suchundertakingsservetoblurthedistinctionbetweentheclassroomandcampusexperiencesbyprovidingopportunitiesforlearninginbothvenues.

Asappreciationforthemeaningofa“practical”liberaleducationdevelopsoncam-puses,manyprogramsmakeanexplicitcommitmenttoengagementandpublicserviceinordertoturnideasintoactionandtheoryintopractice.AtOhioStateUniversity,forinstance,servicelearningisdefinedas“aformofexperientialeducationcharacterizedbystudentparticipationinanorganizedserviceactivitythatisconnectedtospecificlearningoutcomes,meetsidentifiedcommunityneeds,[and]providesstructuredtimeforstudentreflectionandconnectionoftheserviceexperiencetolearning”(OhioStateUniversity).AtMillsapsCollegeinMississippi,whichwasnamedin2008and2009tothePresident’sHigherEducationCommunityServiceHonorRoll,“studentsrecognizethatthereismoretolifethanjustconcentratingonthemselves.TheyareinterestedinservingothersandtheCollegeencouragesthisbylinkingclassestoneedsinthecommunitytofostergrowththroughservice”(MississippiEconomicCouncil2009).

Whilemuchoftheactivityinservicelearningfallswithinthedisciplines,theimplica-tionsforgeneraleducationarestriking.AtRhodesCollege,acommitmenttoexperientiallearning,evidentinitstraditionofcommunityservice,hasinformedimplementationofanewgeneraleducation“Foundations”curriculum.Insteadofdistributionrequirements,thecurriculumembodieselevenfoundationsofliberallearning,oneofwhichis“participa-tioninactivitiesthatbroadenconnectionsbetweentheclassroomandtheworld”(RhodesCollege2007).Thisfoundationrequiresthatstudentsparticipatein“outsidethegates”experientiallearningactivitiesandthattheyworkwithfacultytoconnecttheseactivitiestotheirclassroomlearning.Makingthiscommitmentevenmoreexplicit,startinginfallof2008,Rhodes’s“ScholarshipstoFellowships”initiativeconvertedallmeritscholarshipstofellowshipswithstructuredout-of-classexperientialcomponents.

Finally,thereisthetechnicaldimensionofout-of-classroomlearning.Supportivecoursedeliverysoftwarenowenablesclassmemberstosustaintheirdiscussionsbetweenclassmeetings,tocollaborateonscholarship,toconsultwithinstructorsandoneanother,andtomonitortheirperformance.Effectivegeneraleducationprogramsmakeeffectiveuseofsuchtechnologyto“reachbeyondtheclassroom”atallhoursoftheday.

rhodeS College

MeMPhiS, teNNeSSee

Connecting Experience with Classroom Learning

AtRhodes,thegeneraleduca-tioncurriculumisbuiltoneleven“foundations”ofliberallearning.Onefoundation,“par-ticipationinactivitiesthatbroadenconnectionsbetweentheclassroomandtheworld,”requiresstudentstocompleteexperientiallearningprojectswithinthecommunityandworkwithfacultymemberstoconnecttheprojectstotheirclassroomlearning.Inthefallof2008,thecollegealsotrans-formedallscholarshipsintofellowshipsthatincludestruc-turedout-of-classexperientialcomponents.


Academic CommunityThevisionsetforthinStrong Foundationsofastrongersenseofcommunityarisingfrom“faculty-studentinteraction”remainscompellingandshouldremainasapriority.Butthatpriorityhasgrownlargerintworespects.First,amoreinclusiveunderstandingoftheacademiccommunity,onethatseeksgreaterconsultationandcollaborationamongallelementswithinaninstitution,nowincludesnotonlythefacultyandstudents,butalsothoseengagedinstudentlife,inresidentialservices,inuniversityrelations,andincampusdesign.Ensuringproductiveinterchangeamongstudents,betweenstudentsandfaculty,andamongfacultyremainsattheheartofthiscommitment,ofcourse,andanenlargedun-derstandingofhowstudentslearnhaserodedthefamiliardistinctionbetween“academic”and“nonacademic.”

Second,ithasbecomeclearthatasenseofacademiccommunityrestsmostsecurelyonasharedcommitmenttoqualityandimprovement.The1994callforprograms“consciouslydesignedsothattheywillcontinuetoevolve”stilloffersanimportantreminderthatliberallearningandthewaysinwhichitisofferedcannotandshouldnotberegardedasfixed,butratherassubjecttocontinuingexaminationandtransformation.Andbecausesuchexaminationmustreflectthecommitmentofthecollegeoruniversityasawhole,programsshouldnotonly“evolve”butalsoreflecttheclearintentoftheacademiccommunityinbecomingprogressivelymoreeffective.

TheapproachofHostosCommunityCollege–CityUniversityofNewYorktogeneraleducationillustratesan“organic”approachtolearningthatcanstrengthenasenseofaca-demiccommunitythroughthedefinitionofeducationaloutcomestranscendingtheformalcurriculum.Havingintroducedanewgeneraleducationcurriculumbuiltaroundlearningcompetencies,thecollegein2007celebratedthe“YearofGeneralEducation”byexploringquestionssuchas,Whatdoesitmeantobehuman?Whatiscultureandhowdoweunder-standit?Howdowecrosslinguisticandculturalborders?Aseriesofminigrantsawardedtofacultymemberspromptedpedagogicalinnovationscalled“beautifulideas,”intendedtorefocusexistingcoursesaroundtheschool’scorelearningcompetencies.Throughouttheprocess,Hostosfacultyandadministratorshaveattemptedtoensurethatvoicesfromallpartsofthecollege—includingnonacademicstaff—areheard.Arecentcurricularmeet-ingonpreparationforagrantapplication,opentotheentirecollegecommunity,attractedbothfacultymembersandnonacademicstaffincludingcafeteriaworkers,electricians,andgroundsworkers.

Inordertosustainthepursuitof“anevolvingvision,”strongprogramsmeasuretheirprogressandreflectupontheresults.Theseimportantcommitmentsarenowviewedaslinksinabroaderrecurringcyclesupportingqualitativedevelopment.Therearemanyinterpretationsofthiscycle,butmostembodyatleastfiveelements:(1)clearstatementsofintendedlearningoutcomesassociatedwiththebaccalaureate,withthegeneraleducationprogram,withthevariousmajors,andwitheverycourseinthecurriculum;(2)theapplica-tionofappropriatemethodsformeasuringtheextenttowhichtheseoutcomesarebeingaccomplished;(3)interpretationoftheresultsofsuchmeasurements,leadingtorecom-mendationsformodificationsinexpectations,structures,ormeansofdelivery;(4)theimplementationofsuchrecommendations;and(5)theroutinerecommencementofthe

hoStoS CoMMUNity College–City UNiverSity of NeW york

BroNx, NeW york

Highlighting the Relevance of General Education

HostosCommunityCollegede-clared2007the“YearofGeneralEducation”andsought,throughmonthlyactivities,toemphasizehowgeneraleducationcompe-tenciesarerelevanttoallfacetsofacademicandcommunitylife.Administratorsalsoseektoensurethatallofthecollegecommunity’svoices—includingthoseofnonacademicstaff—areheard.Acurricularmeetingonpreparationforagrantapplication,opentotheentirecollegecommunity,attractednonacademicstaffincludingcafeteriaworkers,electricians,andgroundsworkers.

23PartTwo:GeneralEducationasCurricularCornerstone

cycle.Theobjectsofarasgeneraleducationisconcernedisclear:programsthatareincreas-inglyinviting,coherent,andeffective.Inpursuitofthisprinciple,thereisreallyonlyoneimportantquestion:isthegeneraleducationprogrambecomingprogressivelystronger?Inthesharedpursuitofthatquestionliesanimportantsourceofacademiccommunity.

Appreciation for the Educational Value of the CocurriculumThoseengagedineffectivegeneraleducationprogramsunderstandthatfacultymembersandthelearningtheysupportarenotsolelyresponsibleforitsoutcomes.Theyhavevaluablealliesamongthosewhoteachinthemajors,tobesure,buttheyhaveotherimportantalliesaswell.Formanystudents,vitallearningtakesplacenotonlyintheclassroomandlibrary,butalsoinstudentorganizations,inwork–studypositions,inresidencehalldiscussions,inintramuralathletics,incommunityengagement—theopportunitiestoreinforceessentiallearningoutcomesaremany.Eachofthesearenascanbevitaltoenhancingandsustaininggeneraleducationoutcomes.Residentialcampusesmayhaveanadvantageinpromotingengagement,butalltypesofcampuseswithbothfull-timeandpart-timestudentsareincreas-inglyawareoftheroleofcocurricularactivitiesinanoverallcultureofengagement.

Itshouldnotbesurprisingthatcollegesanduniversitiesofferingexemplaryprogramsingeneraleducationdemonstrateproportionateattentiontostudentexperiencesoutsidetheclassroom.Inlightofanexplicitboardoftrusteescommitmentto“people,programsandfacilitiesthatstrengthenacademicexcellenceineachofourschoolsandcolleges,”ataskforceoncampuslifeatWillametteUniversityobserves,“wearenotwell-servedifthevariouscollegeconstituenciesthinkintermsof‘academics’vs.sociallife”(WillametteUni-versity2001).Indeed,saysthereport,“totheextentthatweactasthoughacademicandsociallifearedistinctandevenantagonisticspheres,weundercutoureffortstoachievetherangeofobjectivesthatwehavesetineducatingourstudents.”Inresponse,thecam-pusdevelopedaplanforresidentialcommonscomplexes,acommunityoffraternityandsororityhouses,andanewstudentcenterdesignedtoencourageconsistentattentivenesstotheinstitution’seducationalobjectivesandhowtheymaybestbeservedthroughaco-curriculumoffering“asubstantialfacultypresence.”Theaimispreciselythatof“connect-ingthecurricularandcocurricularlivesofWillamettestudents”(WillametteUniversityOfficeofCampusLife).

Advancesincreatingconnectionarenotonlyforresidentialcampuses.Manyotherexamplesareappropriateforalltypesofcampusesandstudentbodies;culturalartsseries,internationalprograms,studentgovernment,leadershipacademies,opportunitiesforvolun-teerwork,artshows,andtheaterperformancesareallpartofcampuslife.

Someactivitiesaimforenrichment,whileothersdirectlyreinforceclassroomlearn-ing.Forexample,bothfacultymembersandstudentaffairsstaffmakeeffortstosupportstudentmedia,debatetournaments,ModelUnitedNations,undergraduateresearchconferences,andothertypesofprojectsthatrequiretheapplicationofclassroomlearn-inginnewvenues.Anumberofcampuses,suchastheUniversityofTexasatElPaso,goonestepfurtherbyprovidingstudentswithasupplementarytranscriptthatrecordstheircocurricularaccomplishments.

WillaMette UNiverSity

SaleM, oregoN

Making Cocurricular Life Connect

AdministratorsandtrusteesatWillametteUniversityrecog-nizedtheeducationalvalueofthecocurriculuminataskforcereportthatstated,“wearenotwell-servedifthevariouscollegeconstituenciesthinkintermsof‘academics’vs.sociallife.”Inplanningcampusrenovations,theuniversitydesigneditsKanekoresidentialcommonstoincludevarioushousingcommunitiesthataregovernedbytheirresidents,asignificantfacultypresence,andastudentcenterofferingfilms,alectureseries,andexperientiallearningactivitiestopromotestudentinvolvementbothinthecom-monsandinthelargerSalemcommunity.


Assessmentactivitiesalsohavebeguntofocusonthecocurriculum,andtheresultsrevealthatgeneraleducationgoalssuchasglobalunderstanding,aestheticappreciation,andoralcommunicationaredevelopedandreinforcedincocurricularactivities.Inshort,stronggeneraleducationprogramsacknowledgeandworkwiththecocurriculum.

Visionary Leadership Stronggeneraleducationprogramsbeginandendwiththefaculty.Buttheydonotcomeintobeingwithoutastuteleadershipatalllevels—administrators,facultymembers,students.ArecentAssociationofAmericanCollegesandUniversitiespublication,Revising General Education—and Avoiding the Potholes (GastonandGaff2009),makescleartheimportanceofadministrativeleaderswhoofferconspicuous,well-informedsupportandoffacultylead-erswhoworkastutelywithintheinstitution’spoliticalenvironment.Theengagementofstu-dentleadersincurricularreformcanprovideavaluableadditionaldimension.Consistentleadershipisnecessarytopromoterevisionsaswellastomaintainthecentralityandvitalityofgeneraleducation.

Effectivegeneraleducationthereforeembodiestworelatedprinciples.First,anycurricularreformeffortlikelytosucceedmustenjoythevisiblebackingoftheuniversity’sadministrativeleadership.Thiscantakemanyforms.Adequatefundingforthegeneraleducationofferingis,ofcourse,paramount,butawillingnesstoreassignfacultytimetocur-ricularpriorities,tosupportfacultytraveltoinstitutionswithmodelprograms,andtoinvestinfacultydevelopmentsendsastrongmessage.Second,facultyandstudentleadersmusttakethepoliticsofsuchreformseriouslybyplanningapproacheslikelytosecureapprovalfromtheircolleagues,byanticipatingandbridgingorcircumventinglikelypotholes,andbydedicatingthemselvestothenecessaryfollowthrough.Whilestrongacademicprogramsshouldbethe sine qua nonforattractingandmaintainingsupportthroughouttheaca-demiccommunity,thoseworkingwithinandcommittedtosuchprogramscannottakesuchsupportforgranted.Strategiestocultivatesuchsupportthrougheffectivecommunicationandtheengagementofimportantconstituenciesmustrepresentacontinuingpriorityforthosegenuinelyinterestedinbuildingandsustainingeffectivegeneraleducationprograms.

Thereisnoquestionthatittakestimetodevelopinterestandgarnersupportforchange.Thatapoliticandsavvyapproachcanbeaccomplishedwithreasonabledispatch,however,appearsintheprocessofgeneraleducationreformpursuedbytheUniversityofGeorgia.AtaskforceongeneraleducationandstudentlearningconvenedinSeptember2004reporteditsrecommendationselevenmonthslater,atwhichpointtheuniversitymobi-lizedtoimplementthem.Inthefollowingyear,asasubcommitteemetregularlytodevelopanewgeneraleducationframework,itregularlyshareddraftsofitswork,soughtinputfromthefaculty,andsponsoredforumsopentoallmembersoftheacademiccommunity.Inthefallof2006,justtwoyearsafterthetaskforcefirstconvened,theplanwasapprovedbytheuniversity’scurricularbody,itsgovernancebody,anditspresident.Coursessinceapprovedforofferinginthenewcorecurriculumarenowbeingtaught.

25PartThree:EffectivePracticesinGeneralEducation

Part three: Effective Practices in General Education

Chapter31

Intentionality ann s. Ferren

General education programs should suggest intentionality at every level: the program itself, its constituent elements (first-year programs, learning communities, capstone courses), and individual courses.

Inthesimplestpossibleterms,effectivegeneraleducationdependsoninstitutions,facultymembers,andstudentswhohaveaclearidearegardingwhatistobeaccom-plishedandadeliberateandrealisticapproachtoassuringthataccomplishmentinfactoccurs.

Themajorimpetusforreformofgeneraleducationsometwenty-fiveyearsagowastheclaimthatmostprogramslacked“coherence”andsharednowidelyagreed-uponcontentandskills(AAC1985).Muchoftheattentionfollowingthatcritiquefocusedonprescribing“whatstudentsshouldknow,”andsignificantdebatesaboutspecificcoursesandreadingssometimesovershadowedotherissues.Institutionswithcarefullystructuredprogramstaughtbyfull-timefacultyandfocusedonfirst-yearseminars,sequencedcores,andintegrativethemes—suchasColumbiaUniversityandSaintJoseph’sCollegeinIndi-ana—demonstratedthatgeneraleducationcouldbeacoherentandmemorablepartofastudent’seducation.

Butsomeprogramsregardedasexemplarycouldofferonlylimitedevidencethattheeducationalexperiencestheyofferedwereindeedsuperior.Strong Foundations (AAC1994)wasthefirstmulticampusstudythatteasedouttheelementsofeffectiveandsustainableprogramsandprovidedexamplesfrommanydifferentsizesandtypesofcampuses.Thestudydidnotclaimthataparticularstructuralelementorspecificcontentwasbetterthananother,butratherconfirmedtheimportanceoffacultyengagingincontinuousreflectivedialogueaboutthepurposesoftheprogram;workingtogethertostressconnectionsacrosscourses,skills,anddisciplines;anddevelopingbroadcommu-nitysupportandleadershiptosustainthevitalityofaprogram.

Reformeffortscontinuetobesupportedbyevidencethatstudentsbenefitfromin-tentionalstructures,sequencedlearning,goodadvising,engagingpedagogy,andregu-larassessment.Studiesofthestudentexperiencebegunintheearly1990sbyscholarssuchasRichardLightandGeorgeKuhhaveconfirmedthatalltypesofstudentsneed

Ann s. Ferren is provost at the American University in Bulgaria. She is the coauthor of LeadershipthroughCollaboration(Praeger, 2004).


guidanceintheireducationalplanningsothattheyexperienceaclearbeginning,middle,andculmination.Thustheterm“intentionality”hascometobeassociatedwithgeneraleducationprogramsthatdeliberatelyassiststudentsintheirtransitionfromsecondaryschooltocollegeandthenguidethemthroughincreasinglychalleng-ingcourseworkthatisconnectedtothemajorcourseofstudy,tococurricularexperi-ences,andtopersonalaspirations(AAC&U2002).

Themostrecentworkoncurricularimpacthasfurtherclarifiedthatlineardevelop-mentandstructurearenotenough.Norcanonecourseorexperiencebringthedesiredresults(AAC&U2005).Connectionsacrossdisciplinesarenecessarytoencourageanalyticandintegrativethinking.Collaborativeworkonreal-worldchallengesleadstocreativityandproblemsolving.Andmultipleopportunitiesforapplicationandpracticereinforcecollege-levellearningandthecapacitiesnecessaryforlifelonglearning.Ascampusesalignoutcomeswithstructuralandpedagogicalelements,itshouldnotbesurprisingthatmanyadvisingdocumentsarenolongerchecklistsofrequirementsbutflowchartsanddiagramsshowingrelationshipsamongcourseclusters,skills,andin-classandout-of-classexperiences.Thestudent?Atthecenter!

Studentsnowfarmoreoftenreceiveencouragementtobuildportfoliosoftheirlearningexperiencesaccordingtoaguidingschematicthatrepresentstheirbaccalaure-ateaims.Andcurricularmapsoutliningwhichcoursesintroduceaskillorknowledgearea,whichcoursesdevelopitfurther,andatwhatpointmasteryisexpectedcanenablebothfacultymembersandstudentstounderstandhowpartsarerelatedtothewhole.Ideally,advising,assessment,andstudentservicesarealsodesignedtohelpstudentsunderstandtheiroptionsincollege,theconnectionsamongtheirexperiences,andtheirprogresstowardlearningoutcomes.Inshort,intentionalityrepresentsafocusedefforttohelpstudentsbemoremindfulnotonlyofgeneraleducationbutofallaspectsofthecollegeexperience.

Intentionality Must Focus on Students Changesinourunderstandingofgeneraleducationhavenotcomeeasily.Becausefewfacultymembersreceivepreparationincurriculardesign,pedagogy,orlearningtheoryaspartoftheirgraduateeducation,theytendtorelyontheirownexperiencewithintheirowndisciplinesinorganizingandpresentingtheircourses.AsLattucaandStarkobserve(2009),itisnowonder,then,thatgeneraleducationreformtakessolong.Itisdifficulttocreateconsensuswhenfacultymemberscometothetablewithdifferentperspectives.Forexample,themathematicianthinksofcurriculaassequential,whereastheteacherofpoetrymayfindprerequisitesunimportant.Ageneraleducationplan-ninggroupthatincludesrepresentativesfrommanydisciplinesandcollegesmayfindthatreachingagreementonacommonsenseofcoherenceisachallenge.Theonlyprinciplesharedbythemembersmaybethedesireto“protectturf”orensurethatcertaincoursesareincludedintheproposedprogram.

Incontrast,whenfacultymembersintentionallydesigncurriculaaroundtheneedsofstudentsinthecontextofdevelopmentalandconstructivistlearningtheories,they

27Part Three: Effective Practices in General Education

mayunderstandthatageneraleducationprogramguidedbydesiredoutcomes—suchasthosedefinedthroughthemultiyearworkoftheAssociationofAmericanCollegesandUniversity’sLiberalEducationandAmerica’sPromiseproject—ispreferabletoaprogramwithbroaddistributionrequirements.Institutionsthatadoptoutcomes-directedprogramsaccepttheirrightfulresponsibilityforcoherenceandintegrationratherthansimplyassumethatstudentswillsomehowdrawtogetherthedisparateelementsoftheireducationalexperience.

Suchacceptanceofresponsibilityattheinstitutionallevelisespeciallyimportantgiventhebroaddiversityofstudentsandtheirneeds.Althoughthereislittleagreementastothecharacteristicsoftheso-called“millennialgeneration,”facultymemberscannotignorethegrowingimpactthatsocialnetworking,cellphonechatter,andTwitteringhasonrelationshipsandconceptsoftimeandspace.Thisgenerationofstudentshasbeendescribedasmulti-taskers,aspressuredtoachieve,asconfidentthattheyarespecial,asassertiveoftheirrights,andasfearfulofnotbelonging(StraussandHowe2003).Inaddition,aschapter1observed,studentsareincreasinglydiverseinage,background,culture,experience,andpreparation.Insuchacomplexenvironment,whiletheremaybeno“best”structurefortheelementsofgeneraleducation,“any”structurewillnotdo.Strongprograms—astheyreflectawarenessofstudents’identities,howtheyaccesstheprogram,andhowtheylearn—embodyinstitutionalintentinconnectingoptionsandexperiencesinmeaningfulwaysforaspecificcampusandspecificlearners.

The Importance of the First Year Thewidevarietyoffirst-year-experienceprogramsdemonstrateshowdifferentformatscanservedifferentpurposes.Somecampusesofferacritical-inquiryseminaronachal-lengingtopicsuchasclimatechangetoemphasizeforstudentsthetransitionfromhighschool–leveltocollege-levellearning.Othercampuseshelpstudentsformabondwiththeinstitutionbyusingsmallfirst-yearseminarstolinkadvisingandcoursework.Othersstressacademicandsocialdevelopmentbyencouragingstudentstoregisterforaclusterofcourseswithinafreshmaninterestgroup,asmallcommunitywithinthelargeruniver-sity.Increasingly,programsinitiatedtoeasetransitionandencouragepersistencehaveevolvedtoincludethelargerpurposeofhelpingstudentsdefinetheirgoalsfromtheoutsetandassumeresponsibilityforpursuingthem.Suchprogramsnolongerask,whatdowewantthemtoknowandbeabletodo?Theyaskinstead,whatdo theywanttoknowandbeabletodo?Thegoalistohelpstudentsbecomeintentionalabouttheirlearning.

Thefirstyearalsooffersimportantopportunitiesforstudentstoconnecttothelargercommunitybeyondtheclassroomandtheinstitution.Throughbothindividualchallengesandcollaborativeactivities,studentscometounderstandthemselvesmorefully,torecognizewhatcanbelearnedfromothers,toexperiencereciprocityandteamwork,andtotesttheirabilitytoovercomeparochialthinkingandrespecttheideasofothers.Tohelpachievetheseimportantoutcomes,elementssuchasservicelearning,volunteerwork,acontroversialspeakerseries,orintentionallydiverselearningandlivingarrangementsmaybeplannedforthefirstyear.Whilenotalwaysidentifiedasdirectly


linkedtogeneraleducation,suchstrategiescansupporttheaccomplishmentofgeneraleducationgoals.

Withinstronggeneraleducationprograms,effectivefirst-yearprogramsserveasathresholdtosustainedprogramming.UnlikecampusesdisappointedbyNationalSurveyofStudentEngagementfindingssuggestingadeclineinstudentengagementafterthefirstyear,institutionssuchasEvergreenStateCollege,AlvernoCollege,andWagnerCollegesustainahighlevelofinvolvementbyarticulatinghowexpectationsestablishedinthefirstyearwillbecontinuedthroughoutthesubsequentyearsofthecollegecareer.Assessmentactivitiesareusedtotrackeffectivenessattheendofeachyearrelativetobenchmarksestablishedforeachprogramobjective.Monitoringlearningsequencesthroughtranscriptanalysiscanalsorevealwhetherstudentsareexperiencingthegainsfromthecurriculumandcocurriculumthattheinstitutionseekstoensure.

Developing, Extending, and Mastering Transferable SkillsAtruismforgeneraleducationprogramsisthat“thewholeshouldbegreaterthanthesumoftheparts.”Yetcriticsoftheundergraduateexperiencefindinprogramsevidenceofagoodstartandastrongfinishbuta“muddleinthemiddle.”Intentionallydesignedprogramsaddressthisconcernbyframingwhatshouldhappennotjustinthefirstyearbutalsointhesecond,third,andfourthyears.Educationis,asitshouldbe,cumula-tive,withopportunitiesforreinforcementatmanystages.Ofcourse,forthattohappen,facultymembersneedtoworktogethersothattheirstudentscanintegratetheworktheydoandbuildonitfromcoursetocourseandyeartoyear.Forexample,FranklinPierceCollegeorganizesitsgeneraleducationrequirementssequentiallysothatallstudentstaketheminthesameorderinthefirstthreeyears.

Althoughweknowthatstudentslearnmosteffectivelyfrompractice,repetition,andmultipleexposures,thisidealcanbedifficulttoachieve.Ittakestimeandcommit-mentforfacultymemberstodesigncoursestogether,toaligntheirreadingsandwritingassignments,andtoincorporateopportunitiesforapplication,reflection,andreinforce-ment.Ithasalwaysbeeneasierjusttoadd—ratherthanintegrate—newelementstothecurriculum.Forexample,insteadofintegratingrace,class,gender,andcross-culturalconcernssystemicallywithinthecurriculum,manycampuseshavesimplyaddeddiversityandinternationalcourses.Andratherthanexpecteveryfacultymembertoteachwrittenandoralcommunicationskills,asacomprehensiveapproachwouldrequire,somecam-pusesaddwriting-intensivecoursestothedisciplines.Byavoidingtheobligationtoworkintentionallywithregardtothecurriculumasawhole,reformcommitteesmayavoidtheresistancethatmoresignificantchangecouldarouse.Butthey—andtheirstudents—willmisstheadvantagesthatfollowfromamoreholisticapproach.

Thechallengeofprovidingmultipleopportunitiestodevelopandreinforcelearn-ingisevengreaterforcampusesthatreceivetransferstudentswhowillmisssomeoftheimportantelementsatthedesiredstage,suchasthefirst-yearseminar.Otherstructuressuchasclusteredcourses,sequencedcourses,andlinkedcoursescanensurethatevenlatearrivalswillbenefitfromthoughtful,well-integratedcurricularchoices.American


Universityoffersatwo-coursesequenceineachofitsfiveModesofInquirytoallowgreaterstudyindepth,anapproachmodeledafterprerequisitesthatprovidethresholdstomajors.Similarly,CityUniversityofNewYork–BrooklynCollegeorganizesitsprogramintotwotiers,sothattransferstudentsenterattheappropriatelevelbasedontheirprevi-ouscreditsearned—perhapsforegoingalower-tiercourselikeShapingoftheModernWorld,buttakingaGlobalConnectionscourseintheuppertier,suchasTheDevelop-mentoftheSilkRoad.Throughsuchapproaches,transferstudentscanmorereadilymakeconnectionsbetweenwhattheyhavestudiedelsewhereandtheintentionalele-mentsoftheirnewacademicprogram.

Coherence In and Among Individual CoursesStudentswhoask,whyisn’tageneraleducationcoursejustgeneralinsteadofbeingsodifficult?failtounderstandtherelationshipofgeneraleducationtotheirothercourse-work.ArecentAAC&Usurveyofinstitutionsfoundthatonly42percentofrespondentsindicatedthat“almostalloramajority”ofstudentsunderstoodtheroleoftheirinstitu-tion’sstatedlearningoutcomes(HartResearchAssociates2009).Attemptingtoanswerthequestionbyrenamingtheprogramas“LiberalLearning”or“TheCore,”assomeinstitutionshavedone,maysendtherightmessagebutstillfallshortofintentionality.Strongprogramspayattentiontogoodpublicrelationswithstudents,tobesure,buttheyemphasizeaboveallstudentunderstandingofthescaffoldoflearningbuiltthroughasequenceofrelatedcoursesandcumulativeexperiences.

Ofcourse,forunderstandingtobecomepossible,thescaffoldingmustexist.Andintoomanycollegesanduniversities,thecurriculumreflectsnotadeliberatestructurebutanamalgamcreatedthroughaccretion.Thecoursecatalogthenserves,inLeeKne-felkamp’swell-knownphrase,asacampus“autobiography,”thelegacycreatedbyfacultymemberswhohavecomeandgoneovertheyears.Eveniftherearepoliciesgoverningtheremovalfromthecatalogofseldomofferedcoursesorarequirementthatsyllabimustbekeptcurrent,alackofintentionalitymayappearwhenaccreditingagenciesorinternalprogramreviewprocessesrequirethesystematicmappingofeducationaloutcomes.Insuchinstances,externalevaluatorsmaybeabletodetectidiosyncrasiesdif-ficultforthoseonacampustosee.Facultywhostriveforintentionalitywoulddowelltoreviewalloftheprevailingparadigms:assumptionsaboutprerequisites,whatcourseleveldesignationsandcoursenumberingssignify,andtheextenttowhichcourseworkloadsandoutcomesarealignedwiththeawardofcredits.

GeorgeKuh’sworkonlevelsofchallengeusingresultsfromtheNationalSurveyofStudentEngagementrevealedvaryingexpectationsacrossawidesampleofcampusesabouttheworkfacultyexpectedofstudents.Clearly,oneachcampus,studentswouldbenefitfromfacultymembersworkingtogethertoestablishsharedcriteria:Whatisthewritingexpectationina200-levelcourse?Howmuchreadingshouldstudentsdoinacourseatthefirstlevel?Whatmakesaspecialtopicscourse“advanced”?Toaddresssuchquestionsrequiresnotonlyanunderstandingofwhatquestionstoask,butalsoaframe-workfordealingwiththeanswers.Typically,astrongfacultydevelopmentprogramand

City UNiverSity of NeW york BrooklyN College

BrooklyN, NeW york

Integrating Transfer Students’ Experience

AtBrooklynCollege,thegeneraleducationprogramisarrangedintwotiers,sothattransferstudentsenterattheappropri-atelevelbasedontheirpreviouscreditsearned.Thisarrange-mentallowstransferstudentstomorereadilymakeconnectionsbetweenwhattheyhavelearnedatpreviousinstitutionsandtheintentionalelementsoftheirnewprogram.


well-designedprogramreviewprocessesarenecessaryconditionstosupportintentional-itywithinageneraleducationprogram,aswellasacrossthecurriculum.

AmoreambitiouseffortmodeledaftertheBolognaProcess,whichaimstoensurecomparablelearningoutcomesacrosstheEuropeanHigherEducationArea,hasbeentakingplaceundertheauspicesoftheLuminaFoundationinthreestates:Minnesota,Indiana,andUtah.There,facultymembersinselecteddisciplineshaveconvenedstate-widetoattempttoreachconsensusonlearningandcapabilitylevelsapplicabletotheirrespectivedisciplines.Theframeworksthatresultfromthisprocessareusedtoachievecomparabilityandtransparencyacrossinstitutionsorstates.Whilethis“tuning”processfocusesprimarilyonoutcomesofthemajor,skillssuchascriticalthinkingandoralandwrittencommunicationdrawnfromgeneraleducationalsoareessentialtoemployabilityandlifelonglearning.Perhapsinthefuture,somecombinationofnational,statewide,andcampuseffortswillenabletheacademytobeclearaboutwhatitseekstoaccomplishandintentionalabouthowit“intends”todoso.

Ascampusesmoreintentionallylinkgeneraleducationtothemajor,theystrength-enawarenessofaverticalspinerunningthroughthefouryearsofcollege.Forexample,theUniversityofHartfordusesasequencedbuilding-blockmodelinitsengineeringpro-gramtoaligngeneraleducationcourseswitheachstageofthemajor.Facultycollaborateacrosstheinvolveddisciplinesateachstepsothatstudentstakethegeneraleducationcoursesinapredictableorder,notatrandom,andcanbuilduponperspectivesandskillsfrompreviousyears.Anycampuscanbalancethedemandsofacumulativegeneraleducationprogramwiththoseofelectivesandthemajorbylookingforappropriateconnections.Thosethatcreatesuchalignmentsthroughoutthefour-yearbaccalaureatecurriculumnolongerencouragetheirstudentsto“getgeneraleducationoutoftheway”sothatseriousapplicationtothemajormaycommence.

Integrating Experiences and Outcomes in the Final Year Someyearsback,thehighereducationcommunitybegantoask,whatisspecialaboutthesenioryear?Howcanwehelpstudentsdrawtogethertheirexperiences,integratetheirlearning,andprepareforthetransitiontograduateschooloremployment?Manycampusesalreadyhadcapstoneexperienceswithinmajors,suchasaseniorthesisoraseniorseminar,butsuchcoursesoractivitieshadalimitedpurpose—forexample,determiningwhichstudentswouldgraduatewithhonors.Attentiontothecapstonehasnowbecomeanimportantelementinintentionalcurriculardesignandmayleadtobroaderandmoreinclusiveexpectations.Thestructureofsuchexperi-encesmaydiffer—andmayincludeaninternship,seniorproject,thesis,orseminarof-feredeithertoindividualsorgroups—butwithinintentionalcurricula,thegoalsnowtendtobefarbroader.Throughtheactivelearninginvolvedinaprojectorseminar,studentsworkwithfacultyassupervisorsormentorstogainanintegratedperspectiveontheirbaccalaureateexperienceasawhole.

Throughtheactivelearninginvolvedinaprojectorseminar,studentsworkwithfac-ultyassupervisorsormentorstogainanintegratedperspectiveontheirbaccalaureate

WorCeSter PolyteChNiC iNStitUte

WorCeSter, MaSSaChUSettS

Tackling Complex Real-World Problems

StudentsatWorcesterPoly-technicInstitutecompleteanInteractiveQualifyingProjectinthejuniororsenioryear,takingonatoughtechnologicalproblemwithhumanandsocialdimensions.Thestudentsworkininterdisciplinaryteams,oftenwithanexternalorganization,todevelopsolutionstoprob-lemsfacingdiversecommuni-ties.StudentscancompletetheprojectintheUnitedStatesoratoneoffourteeninternationalcenters,andmayworkonthetaskfulltimeforonesemester,oracrossthreetermsaspartofthestandardcourseload.


experienceasawhole.OneofthemostambitiousundertakingsisatWorcesterPolytech-nicInstitute,wheretheseniorInteractiveQualifyingProjectislinkedwithstudyabroad.Theprojectposesacomplextechnologicalproblemwithhumanandsocialdimensionsthatrequirestheintegrationofskillsandknowledgedevelopedinbothgeneraleduca-tionandthemajor.Studentsinterestedinstrengtheningtheirglobalperspectivecanchoosetoundertaketheprojectatoneoffourteeninternationalprojectcenters.

Althoughthemajorityofsuchsenior-yearexperiencesremaininthedomainofthemajor,anumberofcampuseshavedevelopedadiscretecapstoneorsenior-yearexperiencethatisidentifiedaspartoftheoverallliberallearningplan.WagnerCollegerequiresathirdlearningcommunityexperiencewithareflectivetutorialandprojectattheseniorleveltointegrateoutcomesfromthemajorwithliberallearningoutcomes.SaintJoseph’sCollegeinIndianacontinuesitsthematicseminarprogramintothesenioryeartostrengthenthecollege’soverallgoals.Somecampuses,suchastheUniversityofConnecticut,focusonthetransitionfromcollegetotheworkplaceandincludeanarrayofcurricularandcocurricularexperiences.Whatevertheapproachtaken,broaderatten-tiontoculminationandtransitioncancontributesignificantlytothecoherenceofthecurriculumandthepreparationofstudentsforemploymentorgraduatestudy.

Yetofallelementsofanintentionallydesignedgeneraleducationprogram,thesenior-yearexperienceasanintentionalelementofgeneraleducation—asopposedtothemajor—appearstobetheleastwidelyimplemented.Onereasonmaylieintheextenttowhichacapstoneexperiencecallsforadifferenttypeofinvolvementandcommitmentonthepartofstudentsandfacultymembers.Indeed,manyreportthatatotallydifferentrelationshipde-velopsastheyworktogetherinamentoringrelationshiponaresearchprojectorintegrativeseminar.Researchconfirmsthatthismentoringrelationshiphasadeepimpactonnotonlythestudents’learningbutalsotheirunderstandingofthemselvesaslearners.Studentswhoundertakeademandingprojectoftenreportafterwardthattheyhadnotbeenawareoftheircapacityforcollaborativeinvestigationofahighquality.Andafacultymemberwhosecollegialrelationshipwithastudentresultsinsubstantiveprojectoutcomesoraconferencepresenta-tioncontributessignificantlytothestudents’transitiontograduatestudyoremployment.

Integrating In-Class and Out-of-Class ExperiencesAscampusesrecognizethatoutcomesattributedtothebaccalaureatedegreearenotaccomplishedonlywithinacademicsettings,intentionalcollaborationamongacademicaffairs,studentaffairs,andotherconstituenciesleadstocooperativeprojectsthatservestudentlearning.Choosingabroadlyassignedbookorthemefortheacademicyear,holdingacampuswidelectureseries,schedulingclassmeetingsinresidencehalls,mountingcocurricularcommunity-basedprojectsthatextendthroughouttheyear—suchundertakingscaninvolvefacultymembers,staffmembers,andstudentsinintegratedin-classandout-of-classexperiences.Becausemoststudentsspendlessthan15percentoftheirwakinghoursinaclassroom,therearemanyhoursavailableforcocurricularactivi-ties,recreation,work,andotherresponsibilities.Strongprogramsareintentionalaboutofferinglinkagestostrengthentheoveralllearningexperience.


Tobesure,residentialcampuseshaveanadvantageinconnectingcocurricularexperiencestoclassroomlearning.Theresearchevidenceisclear.Themoreengagedandactiveastudentisinthecommunity,themorepowerfulthetotaleducationalexpe-rience.Evendemandingcommitmentstoworkortointercollegiateathleticsappeartoenhance—ratherthandetractfrom—liberalandprofessionallearning(Light2001).Asnotedinchapter1,workerswhostudy,asdistinctfromstudentswhowork,representamajorityonanincreasingnumberofcampuses.Thus,thechallengeforcampusesistomakeworkexperienceapartoftheguidededucationalplan.

Makingsuchconnectionsisfarmorechallengingforcommutercampusesandforinstitutionsthatenrollmanynontraditional-agedstudentswithmanyoff-campusrespon-sibilities.Manycommunitycollegesaretakingadvantageofportfolios,learningcommu-nities,andotherstructurestohelpstudentsandfacultymakestrongerconnections.

Oneapproachthatappearstoworkformanydifferenttypesofinstitutionsisthatofguidedcommunityengagement,thelinkingofacademicworkintheclassroomtopow-erfulout-of-classexperiences.TulaneUniversity,whichreneweditsfocusoncommunityinvolvementfollowingHurricaneKatrina,mandatesthatallstudentscompleteapublicservicerequirement,administeredbytheuniversity’sCenterforPublicService.Separat-edintotwosequentialparts,therequirementensuresthatstudentshavea“cumulativeandreflective”experience.Withintheirfirsttwoyears,studentsenrollinaservice-learn-ingclass,andduringthejuniororsenioryear,theycompleteafinalproject,whichcouldincludeanacademicservice-learninginternship,apublicservicehonorsthesisproject,oraservice-basedinternationalstudyabroadprogram(TulaneUniversity).

Inallsuchcases,studentswhocompletetheirworkinanoff-campussettingdeveloparelationshipwiththeirsupervisorandcolleaguesthatisquitedifferentfrommoston-campusrelationships.Indeed,onecommonthemefromfacultymembersandsupervi-sorswhotakepartinsuchprojectsisdeeprespectforwhatastudentcando.Studentscommentsimilarlyontheexhilarationarisingfromapplyingwhattheyhavelearnedintheclassroomtoissuesintherealworld.

The Common ThreadFromthedesignofthegeneraleducationprogramitself,tothealignmentofgeneraleducationandthemajor,tofirst-yearandsenior-yearopportunitiesforintegrationandapplication,thesinglemostconspicuousdeterminantofqualitycanbesummarizedinasingleword:intentionality.Strongbaccalaureateprogramsdonotemergethroughaccretionyearbyyear.Liberallearningoutcomesarenotmetthroughprogramsthatsimplyevolve.Thehighcallingofofferingeducationandenablinglearningrequiresnothinglessthanthedeliberate,focusedattentionofallthoseinvolved.Toreachconsensusonintentandonthestrategiesthatwillenabletheaccomplishmentofthatintent—thatisthechallengecolleaguesshare.Anditistheirprofessionalresponsibilitytoshareitwitheachotherandtheirstudents.

tUlaNe UNiverSity

NeW orleaNS, loUiSiaNa

Service as a Way of Life

TulaneUniversityreneweditsfocusoncommunityinvolve-mentfollowingHurricaneKatrina,whichdevastatedtheuniversity’slocalcommunity.Studentsarenowmandatedtocompleteapublicserviceproject,whichisadministeredthroughtheuniversity’sCenterforPublicService.Therequire-mentspanstheentireeduca-tionalexperience,withstudentstakingservice-learningcourseswithinthefirsttwoyears,andcompletingafinalservice-learningproject,internship,orservice-basedstudyabroadexperienceduringthejuniororsenioryear.

33

Chapter41

Alignment with the Majors Karen Maitland schillinG and dwiGht sMith

General education programs, well aligned with majors, should express a comprehensive institutional commitment to the liberal education of all students by means of the entire curriculum.

IntheconcludingparagraphsofStrong Foundations,theauthorsassertedthatgeneraleducationhadatlast“comeofage.”Aligningthemselveswithhighereduca-tionleaders,theydescribedgeneraleducationas“botharichconceptandacontinuingideal”(AAC1994,57).Theevidenceinsupportofthisassertioncontinuestoaccumu-late.ThesurveyofAssociationofAmericanCollegesandUniversitiesmemberinstitu-tionsconductedbyHartResearchAssociates(2009)reportedthatamajorityofinstitu-tions(1)haveacommonsetofintendedlearningoutcomesfortheirundergraduatestudents;(2)haveidentifiedgeneraleducationasaninstitutionalpriority;and(3)areinsomestageofassessingormodifyingtheirgeneraleducationprogram.Moreover,studentlearningoutcomesidentifiedasimportantinanemployersurveyconductedforAAC&Uin2006mirrorcloselytheoutcomesthatinstitutionssaytheyintendfortheirgraduates(PeterD.HartResearchAssociates2007).Theseoverarchingcompetencies,suchascriticalthinkingorteamwork,arenowrecognizedbyemployersasofanimpor-tancecommensuratetothoseaccomplishedwithinthemajor.

Thatisthegoodnews.Whereconcernsariseisfromourawarenessthattheseout-comesarenotalwaysaccomplished.Indeed,theincreasingeffectivenessofassessmentoncollegecampuses,asdetailedinchapter6,hasdemonstratedtheimportanceofintegra-tionwithingeneraleducation,betweenageneraleducationandmajorprograms,andbetweenthecurriculumandthecocurriculum.Programsthatinvitestudentstochooseamongabewilderingvarietyofoptionswithoutrequiringeducationaldesignsthatarecoherent,integrative,andpragmaticarelikelytofaceachallengeindemonstratingmea-surableeducationalgains.Tothecontrary,asassessmenthashelpedusunderstandmoreaboutstudentlearning,ithasalsoshownusthatifourstudentsaretoachievetheliberallearningwepromise,themembersofacademymustcollaboratetoensuretheeffective-nessofboththecurriculumandthecocurriculum.


KAren MAiTlAnd schilling is dean of the College of Arts and Science and professor of psychol-ogy at Miami University.

dwighT sMiTh is vice president of academic affairs at the County College of Morris in New Jersey.


Emerging Conceptions of the Scope of Liberal LearningTheauthorsofStrong Foundations commentedfavorablyonanemergingerosioninthehistoricaldistinctionbetweenbreadth,associatedtraditionallywithgeneraleducation,anddepth,associatedwithstudyinthemajor.Andwecontinuetoobserveinstrongprogramsthepreferenceforsynergyoverduality,theconcertedpursuitofbreadthwith depth,andtherecognitionthatstudywithingeneraleducationcanincludeadvanceddiscoveryandthatstudyinthemajorcanbefoundational.

Increasingly,facultymembersarerecognizingtheimportanceof“scaffolding”inthedesignofcurricula.Teachersofwritinghavelongarguedthatthecomplexskillsandcompetenciesrequiredbyanewcenturydeveloponlythroughincrementalempha-sis,butwehavecometorealizethatallessentiallearningdevelopsmostfullythroughworkthatiscumulative,integrative,andreflective.Similarly,quantitativeliteracy,oncerelegatedtofoundationcourses,shouldbedevelopedincrementallythroughoutmanycourses.Andresearch,onceexpectedonlyofmaturestudentsinadvancedcourses,nowappearsinmanyfirst-yearprograms.Datednotionsofspecificoutcomesattachedto“mycourse”for“mystudents”haveinstrongprogramsgivenwaytoemphasesonpartneringtoachieveacumulativeimpact.

Witnessthegrowingemphasisonliberallearninggoalsinsuchprofessionaleduca-tionprogramsasbusiness,engineering,andnursing.Indeed,programmaticaccreditorsintheseprofessionshavedefineddesiredoutcomesthatareoftencloselyalignedwithinstitutionalgeneraleducationgoals.Preciselybecauseofthislinkageofliberallearn-ingoutcomesandprofessionaloutcomes,theincreasingcareerorientationofstudentsnolongerweighsagainsttheirachievingthegoalsofliberallearning.Asaresult,facultyteachinginprofessionalprogramswhooncesawgeneraleducationasunrelatednowarelikelytoseeboththecoursesandcompetenciesasintegraltotheirgoals.Manydocu-mentthisintegrationintheiraccreditationself-studies.

Challenges and Supports for Comprehensive ProgramsEventhemostsalutaryinstitutionalcommitmentmustoperateintherealworld.Asobservedinchapter1,theeducationallandscapehaschangedandcontinuestochange,andmanyassumptionsserviceableenoughinthetwentiethcenturynolongerhold.Mostinstitutionstodaymustdealwitha“swirl”ofstudents.AsAdelman’s(1999)analysisofstudents’collegetranscriptssuggests,evena“traditional”studentlivinginanon-campusresidencehallmayattendclassoncampusinthemorning,addresstherequirementsofanasynchronouscourseofferedbyanonlineproviderintheafter-noon,anddriveacrosstownthateveningtotakeacommunitycollegecoursethatwillsatisfythehomeinstitution’sdegreerequirements.Becausemoreandmorestudentsnowcompletetheirgeneraleducationrequirementsatacommunitycollegeorsomeotherinstitutionbeforetransferringtotheinstitutionfromwhichtheywillseekthebaccalaureate,baccalaureateinstitutionsmustfocusonensuringthatalloftheirgrad-uatesenjoythebenefitofacoordinatedandintentionalapproachtowell-integratedlearninggoals.

Faculty teaching in professional programs who once saw general

education as unrelated now are

likely to see both the courses and

competencies as integral to their goals.


Since2000,Arkansas,California,Connecticut,Iowa,Louisiana,Maine,Missouri,Ne-vada,NewJersey,NewMexico,Oregon,Tennessee,Texas,Virginia,Utah,andWashingtonhaveenactedlawstofacilitatetheseamlesstransferofcreditbetweenpublicinstitutionsofhighereducation(B.Vandel,pers.comm.).FloridaandIllinoishavepreviouslyestablishedgeneraleducationarticulationrequirementsbetweentheirpublichighereducationinstitu-tions,andinFloridaevenprivateinstitutionshavetheopportunitytoparticipatevoluntarilyinthestate’scoursearticulationsystem.

InstatessuchasFlorida,Utah,andNewJersey,wheregeneraleducationcourserequire-mentsareprescribedaccordingtocurricularcategoriesandthenumberofcreditsforeach,theconversationaboutalignmentbetweengeneraleducationandthemajorhasmovedbe-yondasingleinstitutiontoallinstitutionswithinthestate.Thebroadlysharedresponsibilityforgeneraleducationandthestate-mandateddiscussionsamongfacultywithindisciplineswouldinalllikelihoodadvancethecauseofcoherenceandintentionalityinthepursuitofliberallearningforallstudentsifonlythestatewideapproacheswerenotbasedonverydatednotionsofgeneraleducation.Ingeneral,theseapproachesconvenefacultytofocusonprovidingbreadthofcontentatthefoundationallevel.Thealignmentofgeneraleduca-tionwithinstitutionalmission,theframingofstructuresthatrelategeneraleducationtothemajormoreclosely,theencouragementofinnovationinthejuxtapositionofthecurriculumandcocurriculum—suchopportunitiestomakesignificantadvancesintheeffectivenessofgeneraleducationsoastoensuretheadvantagesofliberallearningforallstudentsmaynotfindfertilesoilinlegislateduniformity.

Statewideagreementsbasedonconventionalassumptionsofthetwentiethcenturymayweighagainstreform,butwhensuchagreementsarewellinformedbyinnovativethinkingandgoodpracticetheycanexertapowerfulstimuluswithinhighereducation.Thereareotherhelpfulinitiativestoguideinstitutions.TheAssociationofAmericanCollegesandUni-versities,throughitsLiberalEducationandAmerica’sPromiseinitiative,offersprogressivecounseltosystemarticulationeffortsbymovingtheconversationbeyondagreementontheequivalenceofinputstoconsensusonsharedoutcomesforstudentlearning.CurrenteffortsbytheTeagleFoundationtofosterconsensusonlearningoutcomesforstudentsinspecificmajorsalsoprovidemorecontemporarymodelsforalignmentandarticulationbetweengeneraleducationandthemajor.

Faculty Roles and ResponsibilitiesAnothertraditionalassumptionwithregardtocurriculumreviewandrevisionprocesseshasbeenthattheresponsibilityrestsprincipallywithfull-timefaculty.Butasobservedinchapter1,heretoocurrentrealitymayintrude.Recentanalysesindicatethat,in2007,thenumberoffull-timetenuredortenure-trackfacultyaccountedforjustover30percentofallfacultyoncampusesthroughoutthecountry(AmericanAssociationofUniversityProfessors2009).Asaconsequence,atmanyinstitutionsgeneraleducationcoursesareincreasinglythepurviewofnon-tenure-trackfaculty,adjuncts,“roadscholars”(whomayteachthreeorfourcoursesatthreeorfourdifferentinstitutions),andgradu-ateassistants.Somehighereducationinstitutionshaveevenoutsourcedtheteaching


ofgeneraleducationcoursestoonlineproviders.Insuchinstances,generaleducationreforminitiativesthatengageonlyfull-timetenuredandtenure-trackfacultymayfailtoincorporatetheimportantinsightsofthosemostdirectlyinvolvedintheprogram.

Arelatedissueappearsininstitutionalstandardsforawardingtenureorpromotiontofull-timefacultyandcontinuingthecontractsofadjunctandnon-tenure-trackinstruc-tors.Fromonecollegeoruniversitytoanother,wecanobserveconsiderablevariationinthevalueaccordedtotheteachingofgeneraleducationcoursesandtoparticipationinthereformandmaintenanceofgeneraleducationprograms.Aninstitutionalcom-mitmenttoexplicitgeneraleducationoutcomeswouldsuggestthathigh-qualityfacultyparticipationingeneraleducationwouldreceivefavorableattentioninthepromotionandtenureprocess,butthisisnotalwaysthecase.Infact,onelargestateuniversityinOhio,whichhadearlieradoptedabroaderdefinitionofscholarshiptosignalahighervalueplacedonparticipationincurriculardesignandimplementation,recentlyrevert-edtothetraditional“teaching/research/service”rubricsoastorestoreanoverridingemphasisonresearch.Becauseinstitutionalprioritiesareoftenstatedmostinfluentiallyinthelanguageofevaluativerubricsandcareerrewards,itisimportantthatinstitutionsdeterminedtoensureliberallearningoutcomesforallstudentsattemptsomedegreeofconsistencybetweentheendstheyseekandtheincentivestheyoffertothosemostresponsibleforachievingthoseends.

Student Preparedness and ExpectationsThewidevariationfoundinstudentpreparednessforcollegehasbeenwelldocument-ed.AtoneregionalcampusinNewMexico,fully95percentofmatriculatingstudentsareassignedtooneormoretransitionalcoursesthatmustbecompletedpriortocollege-levelstudy.However,asimportantascompetenceinwriting,mathematics,andothersubjectareasis,studentspreparedtodowellincollegealsorequireaclearunderstand-ingoftheexpectationsthatwillgreetthem,oftheliberallearningoutcomestheywillbeaskedtoaccomplish,andoftherelationshipofbothgeneraleducationandthemajortosuchoutcomes.StanfordUniversity’sBridgeProjectfoundthatfirst-generationstudents,especially,arelikelytoentercollegewithoutsuchawareness(Venezia,Kirst,andAntonio2004).Tomanyofthem,learningoutcomesforgeneraleducationandthemajormaybealienconcepts.Andtheexperiencethattheyhaveonceincollegemaytendtoreinforce,ratherthantemper,theirinsecurityanduncertainty.

Forinstance,nearlyallinstitutionsofhigherlearningidentifycompetenceinwrittencommunicationasoneoftheimportantliberallearningoutcomes.Butmoststu-dentsfirstencounterthisexpectationthroughoneortwocoursesincompositiontaughtthroughtheauspicesoftheEnglishdepartment.Andwhilemanyinstitutionsappeartoassumethatsuchfoundationalcourseswillpreparestudentsforthewritingtheywillbeaskedtodoinothercoursesandinthemajor,thestudentexperiencemaybequitedif-ferent.Differencesinpriority,instyle,andinconventionalformsarewidespreadamongthedisciplines.Intentionalprogramsprovideguidanceandseektoaligngeneraleduca-tionwiththemajor.Theyembodyattentiontothekindsofwritingassignmentsoffered


tobeginningstudentsaswellastothoseatadvancedstagesoftheirprograms.Andtheymakeclearthestandardsbywhichsuchassignmentsareevaluatedandthewaysinwhichevaluationsarecommunicated.

Toolslikecurriculummapsandscoringrubrics,suchasthosedescribedbyMaki(2004),maybehelpfultothecommunicationoflearningoutcomesthroughoutthegeneraleducationandmajorprograms.InstitutionssuchasMiamiDadeCollegehaveusedcurriculummappingtodocumentwherewithinthecurriculumlearningoutcomesareintroducedandreinforcedinboththegeneraleducationprogramandthemajors.Inshort,expectationsmustbemadeexplicittostudentsthroughoutthecurriculum,whetheringeneraleducationormajorcourses.

Alignment in the Context of Accreditation and Accountability DemandsTheextenttowhichtheessentiallearningoutcomesofliberaleducationareaccom-plishedthroughoutthegeneraleducationandmajorprogramscanbeilluminatedbyassessment.Thechallengeforconductingsuchassessmentistoobtainandinterpretin-formationthatwillinfactshedlightonhowwelltheoutcomesareaccomplishedoverallandnotjustinpartsofthecurriculum.Theinformationobtainedguidesthealignmentofgeneraleducationandthemajorandacommitmenttocontinuousimprovement.

Alignmentalsostandsatthecenterofassessmentandaccountabilityrequirementsasdefinedforbothgeneraleducationandmajorprograms,aconvergenceseeninsharedexpectationsamongregionalandspecializedprogramaccreditors.Becausetheassess-mentoflearningoutcomes,suchaswrittencommunication,isencouragedorrequiredbybothtypesofaccreditors,facultymembersmusttakethisexpectationseriouslywhethertheyareengagedprincipallyingeneraleducationcoursesorinthosespecifictoamajor.Similarly,becausesomeaccreditors,suchasABET(engineeringandtechnol-ogy)andtheAssociationtoAdvanceCollegiateSchoolsofBusiness(business),expecttofindsomeevidenceofstudyindepthwithinthegeneraleducationcurriculum,facultymembershaveanotherstrongincentivetocollaborateongeneraleducationreformsthatservewellthealignmentofgeneraleducationwiththedisciplines.

Bothregionalandspecializedaccreditorsnowroutinelyauditprogramsandinstitu-tionsfortheircommitmenttobotheffectiveassessmentandtheuseofassessmentaspartofan“accountabilityloop”supportingacommitmenttocontinuousimprovement.Theirsharedinterestinthisindicatorofinstitutionalqualityrepresentsastrongincentiveforthoseconcernedwiththecloseralignmentofgeneraleducationandthemajor.

Alignment as Institutional Commitment Thealignmentofgeneraleducationandthemajorisanimportantmeanstoanimportantend—butitis,finally,ameans.Theendliesinaninstitutionalcommitmenttoliberallearn-ingforallstudentsthroughanintentional,well-coordinatedcurriculum.Hence,discussionofalignmentmustinduecourseturntothoseinstitutionalcommitmentsrequiredforthemeanstothosenecessarytosecuretheend.


1. An institutional commitment to understanding students. Followingstudentsastheynavigatetheirwaythroughthecurriculumprovidestheopportunityforfacultyandadministratorstounderstandstudentexpectationsmorefullyandtogaugestudentpreparednessmoreaccurately.Forsomeinstitutions,theresultsmaybesurprising.Venerableassumptionsaboutthestudentbodymay,infact,havetogivewaytoamoreaccurateunderstandingofstudentswhospendlesstimeoncampusandmoretimeonthejob,andofstudentswhoaremorelikelytotransfer—bothintoandoutoftheinstitution.Thesefactorsnecessarilymakethealignmentofgeneraleducationandthemajoramorecomplexundertaking.

2. An institutional commitment to systems of higher education. Becauseofdemograph-ic,economic,andsocialchangesreflectedinthestudentbody,andinsomecasesbecauseofchangesinstatelaw,thealignmentofgeneraleducationandthemajormustservestudentswhotransferinandoutoftheinstitution.Hence,thechallengeisonethatinstitutionscannotaddressinisolation.Soundarticulationarrangementsamonginstitutionsandwithinstates,whichmustnecessarilyhelpdefinetherelation-shipbetweengeneraleducationandthemajor,thusdependonmutualrespectamongdifferenttypesofinstitutionsandtheirfacultyandadministrators.

3. An institutional commitment to the value of tenured and tenure-track faculty teach-ing general education courses. Inthefacultyhiring,promotion,andtenureprocess-es,aninstitutionshouldmakeexplicitthevalueitplacesontheteachingofgeneraleducation.Aninstitutioncommittedtoteachingalsowelcomesfacultyengagementinthescholarshipofteachingandlearning.Howeffectivelyafacultymemberteach-esgeneraleducationcoursesshouldrepresentanimportantfactorinfacultyreviews,whetherthefacultymemberistenured,tenuretrack,oradjunct.Andatemptationtooutsourcetheteachingofgeneraleducationcoursesshouldbeweighedagainsttheinstitution’scommitmenttothealignmentofgeneraleducationandthemajor.

4. An institutional commitment to use assessment results to understand student achievement of essential outcomes, for the benefit of faculty, administrators, and students. Assessment,discussedlaterinthisvolumeinmoredetail,canservethealignmentofgeneraleducationandthemajorinseveralways—forexample,bymeasuringtheeffectivenessofalternatestructures,bygaugingthequalityofpreparationforspecificmajorsprovidedbygeneraleducation,andbycomparingstudentsuccessingeneraleducationwiththatinthemajor.Assessmentresultscanalsoenablestudentstoidentifytheirlearningstrengthsandtheiropportunitiesforimprovement,bothwithrespecttotheessentialoutcomesofliberallearningandwithrespecttooutcomesspecifictoparticularmajors.Moreover,whenaninstitu-tionembracesassessmentandaccountabilityreportingrequirementsinordertocommunicatemoreeffectivelywithprospectivestudentsaboutitsexpectations,studentsmayarrivemorefullypreparedtosucceed.

Offeringthebenefitsofliberaleducationinthisnewcenturytoallstudentswillchal-lengealltypesofhighereducationinstitutions.Thesecommitmentscanserveasaguidetowardtheinstitutionalfocusnecessarytoimprovestudentlearningingeneraleducationandinmajorprograms.


Chapter51

Effective Pedagogy J. elizabeth clarK

General education programs should incorporate effective pedagogies throughout their curricula, with particular focus on crossing disciplinary boundaries, putting students at the center of learning, and including reflective meaning-making exercises to ensure students understand their progress.

Facultymemberstodayoftenfindthemselvesonthedividebetweentwenty-first-centuryexpectationsandtwentieth-centuryconventionsandfacilities.TheremaybenobetterillustrationofthischallengethanMichaelWesch’sDigitalEthnographyprojectatKansasStateUniversity.Participatingstudentsdocumenttherealitiesoftheirliveswithvideocameras,filmingthewaytheyaccessinformationandlearn,theirlociforsocialandprofessionalinteractions,andtheirincreasingdependenceondigitaltechnology,whilesittingintheanonymousmoldedplasticseatsofatraditionallecturehall(Wesch2007).Asstudentsexaminedigitaltechnology,theyencounterboththelimitationsoftheirpres-enteducationalenvironmentsandtheeffectivepedagogiesthatcannowguidestudentlearning.Harnessingcurrenttechnologiestoengagestudentscholarsasco-inquirers,Wesch’spedagogicalapproachconfrontssquarelythedemandsoftoday’schangingglobalcommunity.Butheisinsomewaysanexception.Toooften,highereducationremainsunpreparedtoteachthosewhohavegrownupwithtechnologyandhavebeeneducatedinhighschoolslikethecityofPhiladelphia’sSchooloftheFuture,whichoffersaproject-basedcurriculumsupportedbyvirtualandface-to-faceinteractionsbetweenfacultymembersandstudents.

Crossing BoundariesIncreasingly,facultymembersarebeingaskedtoworkcollaborativelyacrossdisciplinestocreateenvironmentsthatembodytheinterdisciplinarityofknowledge.Clearly,globalproblemssuchaspandemics,naturaldisasters,andpoliticalcrisesmaybeaddressedonlythroughthesynergyofmultipledisciplines.Asfacultymemberspursueintegrativelearningacrossthecurriculum,theymovebeyondtheparadigmof“courseoutcomes”toanunderstandingofhowindividualcoursescontributetoalargereducationalwhole.

J. elizAbeTh clArK is professor of English at LaGuardia Com-munity College/City University of New York. Her most recent article in ComputersandComposition,“The Digital Imperative,” examines the use of educational technology, such as e-portfolios and blogs, in the writing classroom.


Itshouldnotthereforebesurprising,asMaryHuberandPatHutchingsdemonstrateinIntegrative Learning: Mapping the Terrain (2004),thatenablingundergraduatestoovercomecurricularfragmentationandconnecttheirlearning“isbecomingapriorityatmanycollegesanduniversities.”

OtterbeinCollegepreparesstudentsforaninterconnectedglobalcommunitythroughanintegrativestudiesprogramintendedtohelpthemusetheirlearningto“serveandshape[their]chosenresponsibilitiesinandtotheworld.”Byconnectingindividuallearningwithglobalandculturalknowledge,Otterbeinteacheskeyskillssuchasethics,publicengagement,socialresponsibility,criticalthinking,andinterculturalknowledgeasitprompts“intellectualcuriosityabouttheworldasitisandadeeperun-derstandingoftheglobalcondition”(OtterbeinCollege).

PortlandStateUniversity’scapstonecourseoffersanothermodelforintegrativelearningbyplacingstudentsoninterdisciplinaryteamstoapplywhattheyhavelearned“toarealchallengeemanatingfromthemetropolitancommunity”(PortlandStateUni-versity).RecentgroupprojectshaverangedfromthecreationofpublicserviceWebsitesaboutcoloncancerandmelanomatoenvironmentalprojectsexaminingtheeffectsofmotorvehiclesontheatmosphere.

BothOtterbein’sandPortlandState’sprogramsrelyonapedagogythatworksoutsideoftraditionaldisciplinaryboundariesandencouragesstudentstoexplorecon-nectionsbetweencourses,disciplines,andcocurricularexperiences.TheAssociationofAmericanCollegesandUniversities’LiberalEducationandAmerica’sPromiseprojectreport(2007)andGeorgeKuh’sHigh-Impact Educational Practices (2008)offerotherexamplesofwaystoalignpedagogieswithdesiredoutcomes.

Putting Students at the Center of LearningNewpedagogiesplacestudentsatthecenteroflearning.Reflectingstandardsarticu-latedin Strong Foundations(AAC1994),effectiveclassroomsinvitestudentsaslearn-ers—notreceivers—byengagingtheminthediscoveryofnewknowledgeandenablingthemtoshowcasetheirbestwork.AtcollegesasdiverseasLaGuardiaCommunityCol-lege,ClemsonUniversity,SanFranciscoStateUniversity,theUniversityofMichigan,theUniversityofOregon,andVirginiaPolytechnicInstituteandStateUniversity,studentsdisplaytheirwork,arguefortheirfindings,andpublishportfolios—bothpaperandelec-tronic—thatdemonstrateconnectionsamongtheircourses,professionalgoals,cocur-ricularactivities,andacademicachievements.

Forherstudentsincoursessuchasenvironmentalscience,humanandphysicalge-ography,andenvironmentalscience,KarenKirkatMontanaStateUniversityadvocateshands-onexperiencesbecausetheynecessitatelearningthroughmultipledisciplinesandmodalities.Kirksaysthat“experience-basedlearningallowsstudentstoactuallylivetheexperiment.”Whetherthefocusisonlocalissuessuchaszoning,landuse,andlocalpoliticsoronglobalissuessuchasresourceextractionandgreenhouseemissions,experience-basedprojectsconfrontstudentswithdifferentlearningmodalitiesappropri-atetothematerialand,again,placethematthecenter(Kirk).


Facultymembersuseavarietyofmethodsinmanydifferentdisciplinestosupportstudentengagement.Asometimesbewilderingvarietyofapproacheshasevolvedtoin-cludereflection,fieldwork,studentresearch,interactivelectures,project-basedlearning,virtualworlds,games,simulations,visualization,labs,presentations,roleplaying,I-re-porterprojects,simulation-basedlearning,collaborativelearning,inquiry-basedprojects,Socraticquestioning,groupwork,andindependentresearch,butallhaveincommonadeterminationtoplacestudentsatthecenterofthelearningprocess.Manyofthesestandardpedagogiesarenowbeingenhancedwithnewtechnologies,updatingthemodeofdeliverybutnottheintentbehindthepedagogy.

Not Just Grades, But MeaningAtSt.LawrenceUniversityinafirst-yearprogram-course,studentswritereflectivejour-nalsand“advisingletters”asawaytofindadditionalmeaningintheirlearning.Theyarebynomeanssingular.AtAlvernoCollege,Rose-HulmanInstituteofTechnology,Kapi’olaniCommunityCollege,andSpelmanCollege—tonamejustafew—studentsdevelopportfoliosthatmakesuchlearningtransparentandthatsupportassessmentatthestudent,programmatic,andcollegelevels.Bydemonstratingtheircompetenciesindesignatedoutcomeareas,oftenreflectingontheirownprogressaslearners,studentsconsidertheirlearninginastructuredfashionandinthecontextofartifactsfromtheireducationalexperiences.Mostsignificantly,studentsmakemeaningfromtheirwork,reflectingontheirgrowthanddevelopment,notingsignificantaccomplishments.AAC&U’sworkonitsValidAssessmentofLearninginUndergraduateEducationproject13alsodemonstratesnewpotentialforinstitutionstocollaboratewithstudents,bybringingthemintoamultifacetedandrichdiscussionofcross-institutionallearningandassess-ment.Puttingstudentsatthecenteroftheirownlearningincludesinvitingthemintotherealmofassessment,encouragingthemtodocumentandreflectontheirgrowthasemergingscholarsandresearchersinthefield.

Digital Realities, Digital PedagogiesByexperimentingwithnewmedia,many“earlyadopter”facultymembersarecollaborat-inginthedevelopmentofadigitaleducationalculture.However,theireffortshavenotyetbeguntoaltersignificantlyourtraditionalexpectationsaboutclassrooms.Anincreas-ingmisalignmentbetweenthecurriculumandtheculturecandisadvantagestudentswhowillenterorganizationsdependentonnewtechnologies.Toooften,asWesch’sprojectdemonstrates,today’sclassroomsmayfailtopreparestudentsforaworldwherethedominanceofprint-textliteracyisincreasinglyunderchallenge.Facilitatorsofstronggeneraleducationprogramsunderstandtheneedtoreflectontraditionalparadigms,

3 AspartofAAC&U’sValidAssessmentofLearninginUndergraduateEducationproject,teamsoffacultyandotheracademicandstudentaffairsprofessionalsengagedinaniterativeprocessovereighteenmonthswhereintheygathered,analyzed,synthesized,andthendraftedinstitutional-levelrubrics(andrelatedmaterials)forfifteenoftheAAC&Uessentiallearningoutcomes.Theserubricsareavailableonlineatwww.aacu.org/value/rubrics.

alverNo College

MilWaUkee, WiSCoNSiN

Integrating Assessment in Learning

Alvernohasastrong“ability-basededucation”systemthatrequiresstudentstodemonstratecompetencyinaparticularareathroughassess-mentscollectedinalearningportfolio.Thecollegedoesnotusetraditionalassessmentslikeexams,andstudentstracktheirprogressthroughadigitalportfoliosystemthatincludesfeedbackfromprofessors,out-sideexperts,andpeers.Facultyfeedbackandstudents’ownreflectionontheirworkcreates“acontinuousprocessthatim-proveslearningandintegratesitwithassessment.”


fromcurriculumtocontenttostructuretopedagogy,sothattheymoreeffectivelypre-parestudentsfortheworldtheywillenterwhentheygraduate.

Supportivetechnologyinallclasses—fromcoursemanagementsystemstoe-port-foliostodigitalstoriestouseofmultimedia—shouldrepresentpartofalargerunder-standingofwhatitmeanstolearnandproduceknowledgeinthetwenty-firstcentury.Studentsneedtolearnbothhowtousethesetechnologicaltoolstogatherinformationandtoauthortheirownmultimodalworks.Institutionswithstronggeneraleducationprogramsconsiderwhatitmeanstoeducateandbeeducatedinanageofinformationthatpresentsradicalchallengestoanindustrial-eraeducationalmodel.

Aroundthecountry,variousinterdisciplinaryprojectshaveemergedtoexamineandexperimentwithemergingtechnologies.ProgramssuchastheUniversityofTexasatAustin’sComputerWritingandResearchLab,MichiganStateUniversity’sMediaIn-terfaceandNetworkDesignsLabandWritinginDigitalEnvironmentsResearchCenter,andtheUniversityofCalifornia-LosAngelesCenterforDigitalHumanitiesareforerun-nersinexploringadigitalcultureofcommunication.Moreover,asmorehighschoolsadapttheircurriculatothepossibilitiesofnewtechnologies,traditionalclassroomsinhighereducationmaybecomemoreandmoreremovedfromthepedagogicalpresent.

Inshort,stronggeneraleducationprogramstrackthecontinuingchangesintech-nology,weightheimplicationsofsuchchangesforpedagogy,adopttoolslikelytoproveusefulinthepresent,remainreceptivetotoolslikelytoproveusefulinthefuture,and,aboveall,maintainaconsistentfocusonstudents.

Providing Support for Pedagogical ChangeDespiteyearsofconsistentresearchontheefficacyofpedagogiesthatengagestudents,aglanceintomanyclassroomswillfindfacultymemberslecturing.Newpedagogieswinconvertsslowly.Technologycanthreatenthosewhofeelthemselvestobelessthanproficientinitsuse.Tocreategeneraleducationprogramsworthyoftoday’sstudentsrequiresimprovedsupportforfacultysothatallmayappreciatemorefullytheopportu-nitiesforlearningthatareemergingthroughintegrativepedagogyandtechnology.Andfacultymembersengagedinreengineeringtheirapproachtotheclassroommustbeencouragedtoreflectontheirexperienceandtosharethatexperiencewiththeirpeers.Professionalreflectioncancreatemoreengagedteaching,moreengagedlearners,andamoresophisticatedunderstandingofpedagogyinhighereducation.

Greaterattentiontowhatfacultyneedwillleadcampusesbeyondtheissueof“con-tinuingsupportforfaculty”broachedinStrong Foundationstothequestionof,whatistherightkindofsupport?Tobesure,opportunitiesforprofessionaldevelopment,theencouragementofinterdisciplinaryconversations,andthelikearecritical,bothfortheirownsakeandasanindicationofinstitutionalsupportforfacultygrowth.Butinstitutionsdeterminedtoprovideliberallearningtoallstudentsaseffectivelyandinvitinglyaspos-siblecannotrelysolelyonproviding“opportunities”forfacultydevelopment.Clearerexpectations,incentives,andheightenedaccountabilitycanallplayrolesinensuringthatfacultybecomeandremaincurrentwithregardtonewpedagogiesanddevelopingtools.


TheProfessorsoftheYearselectedbytheCarnegieFoundationfortheAdvance-mentofTeachingoftenembodyemergingprinciplesinundergraduateeducation.Whileteachingatverydifferentinstitutions,theseprofessorsshareacommitmenttoengagedpedagogiesandscholarlyresearchonteachingandlearning.Theirworkisamongthebestinthecountryastheyfindnewwaystosituateteachingandlearningattheheartoftheirresearchandtheirworkwithstudents.Theyseektobuildcommunitiesofac-tivepractitioners,introducingstudentstoresearchinthefieldandsolicitingtheirhelpinbuildingcommunal,collaborativeworkthatconcretelyassiststhelocalcommunity.Anothercommonfeatureoftheirengagedpedagogyistheabilitytoconnecttheoreti-calconceptstostudents’ownlives,providingthemwithacriticallensthroughwhichtoexaminetheirexperiencesandchoices.Thesefacultymembersarecomfortablewithinterdisciplinarity,borrowingaconceptfromonedisciplineandusingitinanother.Theyeffectivelychoosethebestpedagogyfortheparticularcourseorlesson,ratherthanbeinglimitedbytraditionalboundariesandconstraints.Aboveall,theseaward-winningfacultymembersconsistentlydemonstratetheirkeenabilityasreflectivepractitioners,seekingtolearnfromtheirownclassroomsandexperienceswithstudents.

SeveralinstitutionsaremodelingthekindsoffacultysupportthatleadtothekindsofteachingexemplifiedintheCarnegieProfessorsoftheYearprogram.Forinstance,OklahomaCityUniversityhaspilotedanovelapproachtofacultydevelopmentthroughitsPriddyFellowsstaffdevelopmentprogram,acollaborationbetweentheuniversity’sartscenteranditsCenterforExcellenceinTeachingandLearning.PriddyFellowsarese-lectedbasedontheirinterestinintegratingtheartsintotheirsubject-areateachingandparticipateinayearlongfacultydevelopmentprograminalearning-communitymodel.Fellowsattendaweeklongartsimmersionworkshopandmeetregularlytodiscusscom-monreadingsandtodeveloparts-integratedcurriculafortheirdisciplines.Byyear’send,eachfellowhaspreparedanewcourseintegratingartwithwhateverhisorherdisciplin-aryareamaybe.Similarly,atKentStateUniversity,MoultonScholarsfromthroughouttheuniversity’seight-campussystemregularlyconvenewithotherscholarsintheircohortforreflectiononpedagogicalissuesandforworkwithconsultantstodevelopcoursesrichinthecreativeuseoftechnology.Alumniofeachprogramconcurthatthelearningcom-munitymodelpromotesreflectionaboutteaching,encouragesinterdisciplinarycollabo-ration,andsupportstheassessmentofpedagogicaleffectiveness.

Award-winning faculty members consistently

demonstrate their keen ability as

reflective practitioners, seeking to learn from their own classrooms and experiences with

students.


Chapter61

Assessment PeGGy MaKi

General education programs should document their effectiveness and demonstrate a dynamic commitment to continuous improvement through the articulation of clear learning outcomes and assessment relative to such outcomes.

Coherentandintentionalgeneraleducationprogramstranslateaninstitution’slib-erallearningmissionintothefabricofinstitutionallifeandintothefabricofstudents’cumulativelearningovertime.Similarly,sharedunderstandingamongeducatorsandsharedunderstandingamongstudentsabouttheeducationalpurposesoftheirgeneraleducationcurriculumandtheirrelevancetolearninginamajorprogramofstudyareessential.Tosupportthesevitalcharacteristics,theperiodicassessmentofstudentworkmustbecomearhythmofinstitutionallife—awayofascertaininghowwellstudentsareprogressingtowardandthenachievinginstitutionalexpectationsforstudentlearning.Evidencethusobtainedregardingunderperformingprogramelementscanpromptcollaborativediscussion,leadingtowaystoimprovestudents’achievement.Likeeveryotherimportantpracticeineffectivegeneraleducation,assessmentisfocusedonstudents—onmakingtheirlearningricherandmoreeffective,andonhelpingthemsucceed.

Beginning with the EndsTranslatingageneraleducationmissionintothefabricofinstitutionallifebeginswheneducatorsworktogetheracrossaninstitutiontoarticulateasetoflearningoutcomestatements—sentencesthatdescribewhatstudentsshouldbeabletodemonstrate(1)asaresultoftheirgeneraleducationprogramofstudy,and(2)asaresultofintegrat-inggeneraleducationoutcomesintothedisciplinaryandinterdisciplinarycontextsoftheirmajorprograms.Outcomestatementsexplaintostudentswhataninstitutionexpectstheyshouldbeabletoachievebasedonthecoherentdesignofthegeneraleducationcurriculumandthealignmentofthatdesignwithmajorprogramsandthe

Peggy MAKi is an interna-tional education consultant specializing in the assessment of student learning, and a former senior scholar at the American Association for Higher Education. Her most recent books are AssessingforLearning:BuildingaSustain-ableCommitmentAcrosstheInstitution(Stylus, 2nd ed., 2010) and ComingtoTermswithAssessingStudentLearning(Stylus, 2010).


programsandservicesofferedinthecocurriculum.Iftheydonotshareanunder-standingoftheaimsofageneraleducationprogram,botheducatorsandstudentswilldevelopdifferentviewsofitssignificance.

Asnotedinchapter1,theAssociationofAmericanCollegesandUniversity’sLiberalEducationandAmerica’sPromiseinitiativehasidentifiedfourdomainsoflearningoutcomesstatements—knowledgeofhumancultureandthephysicalandnaturalworld;intellectualandpracticalskills;personalandsocialresponsibility;andintegrativeandappliedlearning—thatreflecttheaimsofliberallearningthroughoutU.S.higheredu-cationandthatthereforedrivethedesignandassessmentofgeneraleducation.Whenstitchedacrossstudents’livesoflearninginboththecurriculumandcocurriculum,suchoutcomesbecomeameasureforofferingtostudentsmultipleopportunitiesforthemtoapplyandbuildontheirlearning.

Forexample,aninstitution’sfocusonquantitativeliteracyasanoutcomeofgeneraleducationshouldappearagaininastudent’smajorprogramofstudyasadisciplinaryoutcome.Studentsshouldbeaskedtoapplyquantitativereasoningtosolveproblemsinhistory,thequantitativeskillsessentialtonursingshouldreceiveregularreinforcement,andjournalismstudentsshouldreceiveassignmentsrequiringthemtomakequantitativeanalyses.Torestructurestudents’viewofgeneraleducationas“somethingwehavetotake”or“somethingwehavetogetoutofthewaybeforewestudywhatisimportant—themajor,”BowlingGreenStateUniversity,forexample,hastranslateditsmissionintolearningoutcomestatementssothatstudentsdevelopacommonunderstandingofwhattheuniversityexpectsthemtolearn.Theseoutcomesarealsointegratedintostudents’majorprogramsofstudyandintothecocurriculum(StudentAchievementAssessmentCommittee,BowlingGreenStateUniversity2009).

Examininghowandwherestudentsfindopportunitiestolearn,practice,andreflectontheseoutcomesisanotherwayaninstitutiontranslatesgeneraleducationintothefabricofinstitutionallife.Curricularandcocurricularmapscanprovideavisualrepresentationbychartingthecourses,educationalexperiences,andwaysofteachingandlearningthatcontributetostudents’achievementoftheselearningoutcomes.Forphysics,asanexample,acurricularmapillustrateshowgeneraleducationoutcomesarewovenintoaphysicscurriculumandcontinuallyassessedsothatstudentscontinuetopracticeandachievegeneraleducationoutcomeswithinthemajor.Inshort,majorpro-gramsofstudyshouldofferstudentsopportunitiesovertimetotransfer,integrate,apply,andpracticetheirgeneraleducationoutcomes.

Chronologically Reinforcing General Education Outcomes throughout Undergraduate EducationOrientingstudentstogeneraleducationoutcomesandcontinuingtoconnectstudentstotheseoutcomesintheirmajorprogramsofstudycontributetostudents’ownershipofthiscorelearning,aswellastotheirdeepenedunderstandingoftherelevanceofgeneraleducation.First-yearexperiencesofferaninitialoccasiontoorientstudentstogeneraleducationlearningoutcomes.Chronologicalreinforcementoccursthroughthe

47

advisingprocessandthroughsyllabithatidentifyoutcomesspecificallyaddressedingen-eraleducationcoursesandincoursesinstudents’majors.Studentsneedtodevelopanunderstandingoftheseoutcomesovertime,butwithoutmultipleopportunitiestolearn,relearn,andpracticetheseoutcomes,theseexpectationsarenotlikelytobecomeapartoftheirenduringlearning.

Syllabirepresentthethreadsthatlinkstudentstogeneraleducationoutcomes.Specifically,eachsyllabusshoulddescribe:(1)learningoutcomesforacoursethatalignwithdepartmentorgeneraleducationoutcomes;(2)teaching/learningstrategiesthatpromoteeachlearningoutcome;and(3)chronologicalassignments(andmethodsofassessment)throughwhichstudentswilldemonstratetheirprogresstowardorachieve-mentofoutcomes.Thisformofintentionalreinforcementofgeneraleducationlearningoutcomesthroughoutallcourseskeepsstudentsconnectedtoandengagedwiththecur-riculumandcocurriculum.

Altogether,then,articulatinggeneraleducationlearningoutcomes,mappingthoseoutcomes,andthreadingthemacrosssyllabiservethreeimportantfunctions,whichareenumeratedbelow.

1. Theybuildunderstandingamongfacultyinadepartmentandprogramabouttheprogression,content,topics,pedagogy,andmodesofdeliverythatindividualfacultymembersusetofosteragreed-uponlearningoutcomes.Moreover,sucharticulationbuildsunderstandingacrossaninstitutionabouthowprogramsanddepartmentsfosterinstitution-leveloutcomes,suchastheircorecurriculumorgeneraleducationoutcomes—outcomesthataredesirableforgraduatesfromanyprogram.

2. Theyhelpstudentsunderstandovertimehow“thingsfittogether”acrosslearn-ingexperiencesinsideandoutsideoftheclassroom.Studentsshouldbeenabledtoarticulatethefruitsoftheirlearning,includingwhattheyhaveaccomplishedandwheretheyhavefallenshort.Andstudentsshouldbecomechronologicallyaccountableandresponsiblefordemonstratingdesiredoutcomesalongthecourseoftheireducationaljourneyaswellasattheendoftheirjourney.

3. Theyprovideexternalparties—suchasaccreditors,parents,ortransferinstitutions—evidenceofintentionalcurricularandcocurricularcommitmenttofosteringlevelsofagreed-uponoutcomes.

A Student-Centered Approach to AssessmentAcommitmenttodeepeningstudents’understandingoftherelevanceofgeneraleduca-tionoutcomesiscentraltoastudent-centeredapproach.Tothatend,stronggeneraleducationprogramsbuildinopportunitiesforstudentstoreflectontheirlearning,includingidentifyingstrengthsandweaknesses.Toassistthisprocess,effectivegeneraleducationprogramsdevelopandapplyscoringrubricsoruseexistingonessuchasthenationalrubricsdevelopedunderAAC&U’sValidAssessmentofLearninginUndergrad-uateEducationproject.Theseoffercriteriaofjudgmentthatfaculty,peers,andstudentsmayapplytotheirwork.



Forexample,accompanyingtheworkstudentsproduceforanelectronicportfolio,self-reflectiveentriesshoulddescribehowparticularworksamplesrepresentachievementorprogresstowardtheinstitution’sgeneraleducationoutcomes.Self-reflectionreinforceslearningbyengaginglearnersinfocusedthinkingabouttheirunderstandingandmis-understanding.Inaddition,feedbackfrommultipleindividuals—facultymembers,staffmembers,peers,internshipadvisers,outsidereviewers,orrepresentativesfromaprofes-sion—providesstudentswithrealisticresponsestotheirwork,causingthemtoreflectfurtherontheirachievement.Bycontrast,limitedfeedback,coupledwithlittleopportu-nityforstudentstoself-reflectontheirdevelopmentorunderstanding,maycontributetosomestudents’inabilitytounderstandandattesttothelearningdescribedininstitutionaloutcomestatements.Andbecausedifferentindividualslearndifferentlyovertime,thelossoftheopportunityforreflectionisnoteasilymadeup.Someofthemostpowerfulassessmentmodelsforgeneraleducationoutcomesareflexibleandindividuallyoriented,allowingstudentstodemonstratetheirprogresswhentheyareready,ratherthanthroughtraditionalexams.AlvernoCollegehasawell-developed“ability-basededucation”systemthatrequiresdemonstrationsofstudentlearninginactionthroughcourse-basedandintegrativeassessmentscollectedinastudentportfolio.Facultyandexpertfeedback,aswellasstudents’ownreflectionsontheirlearning,help“createacontinuousprocessthatimproveslearningandintegratesitwithassessment”(AlvernoCollege).

Direct and Indirect Assessment to Ascertain the Efficacy of General EducationCurricularandcocurricularmapsnotonlyrepresenthowgeneraleducationintentionsarewovenintocoursesandothereducationalopportunities;theyalsoprovideaframe-workforcollecting,analyzing,andinterpretingstudentachievementalongthecon-tinuumofstudents’learningtoidentifypatternsofweaknessinstudentwork.Withoutperiodicevidence,wecanprovideonlyanecdotesaboutstudentlearningand“hope”thatlearningistakingplace.Evidenceofstudentlearningalongtheircontinuumoflearningisthusessential.

Moretothepoint,withoutdirectevidenceofstudents’learningrepresentedintheirworkorperformance,wecannotknowhoweffectiveourcollectiveeffortsare.Directevidenceconsistsofworkthatstudentsproducetodemonstratetheirprogresstowardorachievementofgeneraleducationoutcomes.Casestudies,tests,milestoneexaminations,performances,visualrepresentations,multimediaproducts,laboratoryreports,andcol-laborativeWebsites(suchasstudent-generatedwikis)representsomeexamplesofdirectmethods.

Incontrastwithclosed-endedtests,whichseekonlyyes-or-noresponses,educatorsmayuseopen-endedscoringrubricssuchasthosedevelopedunderAAC&U’sVALUEprojecttoidentifypatternsofstrengthandweaknessinstudentwork.Appliedchrono-logicallytosamplesofstudentwork,scoringrubricsidentifyhowwellstudentsareimprovingormakingprogressintheirlearningoridentifycontinuedobstaclesorchal-lengesstudentsface.

alverNo College

MilWaUkee, WiSCoNSiN

Integrating Assessment in Learning

Alvernohasastrong“ability-basededucation”systemthatrequiresstudentstodemonstratecompetencyinaparticularareathroughassess-mentscollectedinalearningportfolio.Thecollegedoesnotusetraditionalassessmentslikeexams,andstudentstracktheirprogressthroughadigitalportfoliosystemthatincludesfeedbackfromprofessors,out-sideexperts,andpeers.Facultyfeedbackandstudents’ownreflectionontheirworkcreates“acontinuousprocessthatim-proveslearningandintegratesitwithassessment.”

49

Forexample,ClarkeCollege,asmallCatholicliberalartscollegeinIowa,hasidenti-fiedthreepointsalongstudents’collegecareersatwhichtocollect,analyze,andinter-prettheachievementofgeneraleducationoutcomes:inaninitialcornerstonegeneraleducationcourse,atthemidpointinstudents’majorprogramsofstudy,andattheendpointwithinstudents’seniorcapstoneprojects.Documentingpatternsofstrengthandweaknessintheirstudents’achievementofoutcomesenablesfacultymemberstoidentifyalternativepedagogiesoreducationalpracticesintendedtoimprovestudentperfor-mance.

Learningfromstudentsabouthowtheyareexperiencingthegeneraleducationcur-riculumandhowtheyaremakingmeaningoftheircourseworkandeducationalexperi-enceisanessentialcomponentoftheassessmentprocessaswell.Indirectassessmentmethodscapturestudents’perceptionsoftheirlearningandtheefficacyofeducationalpractices.Bycomparingtheresultsofdirectmethodstoresultsofindirectmethods,suchassurveys,questionnaires,andinterviews,educatorscangainadeeperunderstandingofpatternsofstudentachievement.Forinstance,joiningtheresultsofanonlineques-tionnairethatasksstudentstoidentifytheeffectivenessofcomponentsoftheirgeneraleducationprogramwiththeresultsofsampledstudentworkmayshedvaluablelightonsuchpatterns.Inaddition,thecommitmenttoelicitingstudentresponsescaninitselfdemonstratethataninstitutionorprogramvaluesitslearners’perspectives.

Using Assessment Results to Improve Student LearningEducatorswhoofferstronggeneraleducationprogramsshareanopennesstolearn-ingabouttheeffectivenessofeducationalpracticesthroughtheassessmentprocess.Withoutthisopenness,recordingpatternsofstudentachievementcanbecomeanemptybureaucraticprocess.Determiningthat75percentofstudentshavesatisfactorilydemonstratedageneraleducationoutcomerepresentsacommitmenttoaccountability.Butacommitmenttoidentifyingpatternsofstrengthandweaknessinthat75percent,aswellasintheremaining25percent,andtodiscoveringthereasonsforthosepatternsrepresentsopennesstolearnmoreabouttheteaching/learningprocessandwaystoimproveit.

Byidentifyingmisunderstandings,misconceptions,flawedreasoning,oraninabilitytoapplypreviouslearninginnewcontexts,forinstance,analystscantrackpatternsofweaknessappearinginstudentwork.Havingidentifiedsuchpatternsandreachedsomeunderstandingastowhytheymayexist,educatorspositionthemselvestoconsiderwaystoimprovepedagogy,toreviseinstructionaldesign,ortomakemodificationsinthecurricu-lumdesign,eitherbydevelopingindigenousresponsesorbyidentifyingandadaptingsalutarypractices.Havingagreedonnecessarychanges,educatorscanthenimplementthemandassesstheirefficacy.

Asaruleofthumb,institutionswithstronggeneraleducationprogramswill1. identifyoneormorelearningoutcomestheywillassesseachyear;2. collectevidenceofstudents’progresstowardtheseoutcomes;3. applyscoringrubricsorothergaugesofworkagainstbenchmarks;


Clarke College

dUBUqUe, ioWa

Continuous Assessment

ClarkeCollegecollectsandanalyzestheachievementoflearningoutcomesatthreepointsinstudents’academicca-reers:inaninitialcornerstonegeneraleducationcourse,atthemidpointofstudents’majorprogram,andduringseniorcap-stoneprojects.Thisapproachnotonlyallowsfacultytoassessstudents’individualprogress,butalsoprovidesdataabouttheeffectivenessofpedagogi-calmethodsandpracticesandlendsitselftocontinuousim-provementattheprogramlevel.


4. identifypatternsofweaknessthatneedtobeaddressedthroughalternativewaysofteachingandlearning,instructionaldesign,modesofdelivery,andothereducationalpractices;

5. implementagreed-uponchanges;and6. reentertheassessmentcycletoascertainhowwellchangeshaveimproved

studentlearning.Asischaracteristicofprofessionalsinanyfield,competenteducatorspositionthemselvestobecomelearnersabouttheirwork.Theresultsoftheirinvestigationspositionthemtoidentifyneworimprovedwaystoteachorpositionstudentstolearn.Astronggeneraleducationprogram,then,buildsincyclesofinquiryabouttheefficacyofeducationalpractices.Thatis,itsrelevance,vitality,andefficacyareregularlyinvestigated.

51Part Four: Sustaining General Education Programs

Part FOur: Sustaining General Education Programs

Chapter71

Institutional Commitment Paul l. GastOn

General education programs that continue to grow in strength and effectiveness de-pend on the friendly scrutiny and dedicated support of faculty members, administrators, and the university community as a whole.

Effectivegeneraleducationprogramsarenotmachines.Theyareorganismsthatrequirenurturingiftheyaretoflourish.Theyreachmaturity;unlessattendedto,theygrowstale.Ifneglectedorignored,theygrowweak.Strongprograms,bycontrast,exemplifythebenefitsofcontinuingattention,strongsupport,andbroadlysharedresponsibility—theyaretaughtwithenergy,topicsarefresh,pedagogyisinnovative,andstudentsareengaged.Themosteffectiveprogramsexpressthreekeyassumptions.First,collegesanduniversitiesthatofferstronggeneraleducationprogramsinevitablyembodyacommitmenttotheholisticliberallearningofallstudents.Second,theirfacultymembers,whatevertheirdisciplineorcurricularfocus,embraceandpursueabroadlysharedcommitmenttoassuringthatallstudentsbenefitfromsuchaneduca-tion.Finally,manystrongcollegesanduniversitiesdiscoverwithinthesetwocommit-mentsasignalelementinthecharacteroftheirinstitutions,a“signature”thathelpstodefinewhotheyareandwhattheystandfor.

Liberal Learning without the SilosAnimportantemphasisofoursurveyhasbeengeneraleducation’scritical—butpartial—roleinassuringliberallearning.Acurriculumhasmanyparts,andallmustcontributetotheaccomplishmentofliberallearningobjectivesiftheyaretobemet.Butthe“parts”thatstudentsbringtotheireducationaremuchlessclearlydiscrete.Whileacademicprogramsmayreflectdivisionsbetweengeneraleducationandthemajorandamongthesciences,thehumanities,thearts,andthesocialsciences,students’experiencesandperspectivesarenotsimilarlydivided.Oratleasttheyshouldnotbe.Facilitatorsofstrongprogramscon-siderhowbesttoofferlearningthatisholistic,associative,andthoughtfullyintegrated.

AnewinitiativefromtheCollegeofLiberalArtsandSciencesatVillanovaUniversitywellexpressesthiscommitment.Referringtoan“interconnectedworld,”thecollege


hascreatedtheVillanovaCenterforLiberalEducation,“aninnovativeacademiccenterdedicatedtointerdisciplinaryteaching,research,andlearningintheliberalartsforundergraduatestudents.”SeekingtobringVillanovastudents“intoanongoingdialoguewithsomeoftheCollege’sfinestteacher–scholars,”thecenterisintendedto“provideavaluableforumforfacultytocontributetotheirprofession,inspirestudentstobecomemoreactiveandengagedparticipantsinthelearningprocess,andadvancetheimpor-tanceoftheliberalarts”(VillanovaCollegeofLiberalArtsandSciences).Bysodoing,thecenterextendstheuniversity’sCoreHumanitiesProgram,whichoffersrequiredcoursessuchasanAugustineandCultureseminarthatseekstointroducestudentsto“thelifeofthemind.”

Justasstronggeneraleducationprogramscanpromptgreaterawarenessofthetran-scendentvaluesofliberallearning,so,too,canaholisticapproachtoliberallearningdrawattentiontotheincreasingartificialityofdisciplinaryboundarieswithintheacad-emy.Studentsenteringcollegenowbringextensiveexperiencewithonlinedata,whichisprofoundlyassociative.Google“Lincoln”toresearchtheGettysburgAddressandyoumayfindyourselfwantingtolearnaboutauniversityinthesoutheastcornerofPennsyl-vaniacommittedtoinstructionthatis“holistic”andto“challengingstudentstoutilizealllevelsofcognition”through“holistic”instruction(LincolnUniversity2000).

AstheAssociationofAmericanCollegesandUniversitiesessentiallearningout-comesemphasize,thebroadergoalsofliberallearningcanfinallybeaccomplishedonlythroughintegrationandsynthesis.The“intellectualandpracticalskills”thatdenotealiberallyeducatedindividualmustbe“practicedextensivelyacross the curriculum.”Inte-grativelearningmustspan“generalandspecializedstudies.”Andasenseofpersonalandsocialresponsibilitymustarisethrough“activeinvolvementwithdiversecommunitiesandreal-worldchallenges”(AAC&U2007,12).Bringingtogetherallthesecriticalelementsrequiresleadershipatalllevelsthroughoutaninstitution.

Liberal Learning “Takes a University” Ourreviewoftheessentialelementsofstronggeneraleducationprogramsmust

includeanappreciationoftheroleplayedbytheindividualfacultymember—everyfacultymember,whateverthediscipline,whateverthecourseleveltaught—inmakingavailabletoallstudentsthebenefitsofliberallearning.Inshort,everymemberofthefaculty,whateverhisorherfieldofexpertise,contributestotheliberallearningofeverystudent.Forgoodorforill.Period.

Thisrecognitionappearsmostvividlyintheexamplesofthosefacultymemberswhoteachnotonlyparticularelementscharacteristicofaliberallearning,butalsothevaluesofliberallearningitself.Suchfacultymembersmaybefoundineverydisciplineandateverylevelofthecurriculum.Theyteachbypreceptandbyexample,throughtheirsyl-labi,theirconductoftheirclasses,theirwriting,eventheirbehavior,withinandbeyondthewallsoftheinstitution.

Butothermembersofthefacultymayofferadifferentlesson.Whiletheymaybeprincipled,knowledgeable,andprofessional,theymayoffertheirstudentsthepowerful


messagethattheinstitution’sliberallearninggoalsare,atbest,aharmlessdiversionand,atworst,ameaninglessdistraction.Unfortunately,asthesuperbstudybyformerHarvardPresidentDerekBok(2006)indicates,studentsaremostlikelytoexperiencesuchnega-tivecontributionstotheirliberallearningwithintheirmajors,intheirthirdandfourthyears,whentheytendtohavebecomemoreclearlyfocused,moreself-interested,andmorehighlymotivated.Iftheseniorfacultywhostudentsencounterduringthiscriticalperiodfailtoreinforcetheliberallearningvaluesintroducedthroughgeneraleducation,theyinevitablyunderminesuchvaluesandmayevenreversethebesteffortsofthosewhohaveearlierattemptedtoteachthem.WritingintheChronicle Review,StanleyN.Katzobserves,withthinlyveiledacrimony,“Ourresearchfacultymembershavelittleinterestinjoiningeffortstobuildcoreorgeneral-educationprograms,muchlessinteachinginthem.Moreover,canwebeconfidentthatthoseprizedfacultyrecruitsaresufficientlyliberallyeducatedtoparticipateingeneraleducation?”(2005,B6).

Yetwhethertheproblemisendemicwithinaninstitutionoratypical,thedamagetoliberallearningthatcanbedonebyanindifferent,hostile,orinappropriatelypreparedinstructorisconsiderable.Suchdamagecantakemanyforms.

Overtdisregardfortheaimsofliberallearningisperhapstheleastperiloustostudents.Theycanrecognizenarrowobsessionwhentheyseeit.Facultymemberswhoseauthorityandpersonalappealcamouflageanarrowandilliberalapproachtolearningrepresentafargreaterthreat.TheaccountingprofessorwhoneverreferstotheethicalissuesraisedbytheEnronscandal,ortothecontributionofdouble-entrybookkeepingtotheIndustrialRevolution,ortoJosephConrad’svisionofcompetentaccountingamidthehellofthe“HeartofDarkness”isofferingapowerfulperspectiveonliberallearn-ing:namely,thatitsvaluesareirrelevanttothematterathand.Similarly,aprofessorofnineteenth-centuryhistorywhofailstomentiontheimportancewithinhisperiodofnewaccountingtechniques,theimpactofeconomictheoryonpoliticalbalancesofpower,orthewaysinwhichtheIndustrialRevolutioninEnglandstimulatedanincreaseinsmallbusinessessendsthesamemessage:mydiscipline,asIunderstandandprofessit,iswhatmatters—isall thatmatters.

Tobesure,someprofessorsavoidethicalissuesorotherquestionsofvaluebecausetheylackconfidenceinaddressingissuesbeyondtheboundariesoftheirrespectivedisciplines.Othersmayholdthattheimportantadvancesintheirfieldsaredirectlyat-tributabletothefocusthatresultsfromspecialization.Stillothersmayclaimthattheirobligationtocoverandimpartabroadfieldofinformationprecludestheallocationofclasstimetomattersnotclearlyincludedinthesyllabus.

Eachoftheseconcernshassomemerit.Butinstitutionsthatpromisethebenefitsofaliberallearninghavearesponsibilitytoaddressthem.Thosewhoremainresolutelywithintheirdisciplinarysilosoutofasenseofprofessionalresponsibilityshouldberemindedthattheirresponsibilityincludesmodelingthebenefitsofliberallearning.Thatincludesawillingnesstoconsiderissuesandcontextsthatbearonthesubjectbeingtaught.Whenprofessorsavoidissuesofvalueorignoreperspectivesthatadddepth,lib-erallearningsuffers.Thosewhoattributetheproductivityoftheirdisciplinetoitsspeci-ficityshouldbeencouragedtoengageindialoguewithspecialistsinotherdisciplines.

The damage to liberal learning that can be

done by an indifferent, hostile, or

inappropriately prepared instructor is

considerable.


Whileimportantadvancesmaybeattributedtoacademicspecialization,collegesanduniversitiesthataspiretoprovidetheirstudentswithaliberallearningmustnotdependontheirstudentstocreateacoherenteducationalexperiencefromtheirencounterswithasuccessionofspecialists.Andthosewhoinsistthattheirobligationfor“coverage”requiresanunblinkingdeterminationtodeliverallthatisexpectedshouldbemadeacquaintedwiththeprofoundparadigmshiftinouracademicgeneration,fromafocusonthetechniquesofteachingtoanemphasisonfacilitating,confirming,andimprovinglearning.Ashasbecomeclear,thisshiftneednotleadtoneglectofcourseobjectives;tothecontrary,itrequirestheirclarification.Nordoesitignorethedevelopmentofcom-petenciesamongstudents;itensuresthatstudentsareinfactdevelopingcompetencies.And,mostimportantforthoseconcernedwithliberallearning,anemphasisonlearningratherthanteachingrespectsstudentsaswholeindividualswithanimpressivecapacityformakingconnections,drawinganalogies,andfindingassociations.

Moresubtle,andthereforeperhapsevenmoredamaging,maybethefacultymem-berwhoisunableorunwillingtomodeltheordinaryinterests,sympathies,ornativeawarenessoftheliberallyeducatedindividual.Astatewideleaderinlibrarysciencecon-venedameetingat10:00a.m.onSeptember11,2001,bywhichtimeitwasevidentthatacatastropheofunprecedentedproportionswastakingplace.Byhisresoluteinsistencethattheagendaforthedaybe“covered,”regardlessofwhatmightbehappeningintheworld,heofferedanindeliblelessonininsensitivityanddisproportion.Hefailedeventorealizetheparticularrelevanceforlibrariansintheunfoldingofthedisaster.Thereweresimilarstoriesfromclassroomsinmanyacollegeanduniversityatthetime,wheretheemphasisondeliveringthepreparedknowledgeoverwhelmedattentiontothemorepowerfullearningfromthatday.

Thebrightsideofthiscoinisthegoodnewsthatliesintheopportunityeverymem-beroftheacademiccommunityhastofurthertheliberallearningofstudents.Whatevertheirdiscipline,facultymembers,studentaffairsprofessionals,andindeedeveryonewithinaninstitutioncancontributetoitsliberallearninggoals.

Suchopportunitybeginsmostclearlywiththosecoursesmosttraditionallyassoci-atedwithliberallearning,thosethatdirectlyaddressbroadlyagreed-upongoalsfortwenty-first-centurylearning.Coursesaddressingthesegoalsmustofcoursebetaughteffectivelybyfacultymemberswhoembracethevaluesandvisiontheyexpress.Justbecauseacoursebelongstoacorecurriculumoffersnoguaranteethatitwillcontributetotheliberallearningofstudents;acourseinthefinearts,ortheology,orthedevelop-mentofWesterncivilizationmayoperatewithinaconfinedperspective,justasmayacourseinorganicchemistryorfinance.Similarly,acoursethatfallsoutsideofthecorecurriculummayofferauniquelyliberatingexperienceforsomestudents.

Ultimately,institutionsmustrecognizethattheofferingofeffectivecorecurriculumcoursesbyenlightenedanddedicatedfacultymembers,whethertheybetraditionallib-eralartscoursesornot,shouldbeonlyabeginning,forfacultymembershavearespon-sibilitytoteachthevaluesofliberallearningwhenevertheyteach,whatevertheyteach.Athoughtfullyplanned,discerning,andcoherentgeneraleducationprogram,whetherlimitedtothefirsttwoyearsofthecurriculumordistributedthroughoutthebaccalaure-


ate,cangoalongwaytowardsupportingfacultyeffectiveness.Butfacultymembersalsocreatelearning(orfailtodoso)bypursuingliberallearningobjectivesthroughcourseswithintheirdisciplines,bythebreadth(ornarrowness)oftheirintellectualinterests,bytheirenthusiasm(orlackofenthusiasm)forthelifeofthecollegeoruniversityasawhole,andbytheirintellectualengagement(orthelackofit)withdisciplinesotherthantheirown.

Eight Practical ApproachesWhatdoesthismeaninpracticalterms?Anyinstitutionintentonprovidingitsstudentswiththebenefitsofaliberallearningwilladdressthisquestioninitsownway.Butitispossibletosuggesteightpracticalstepsthatweasfacultymemberscantaketoensurethatasharedcommitmenttothevaluesofliberallearningmakesadifferenceforourstudents.

1. Break out of the silos. Wecanexpandourawarenessofthe“liberal”dimensionsofthecourseswithinourrespectivedisciplines,boththoseofferedwithinthecorecurriculumandthosereservedformajors.Muchexcitingscholarshipisap-pearingonthemarginsbetweenourareasofexpertise,butwemayhavetoseekoutthelesstraditionalvenuesinwhichitisappearinginordertofindit.Doingsowouldbeverymuchworthourwhile.Wearelikelytobecomebetterin-formed,moreenthusiastic,andmoreeffectiveeducators.Wemayevenbecomemoreexpertasspecialists.

2. Model commitment to general education with colleagues. Wecansharewithourstudentsandcolleaguesthefruitsofourliberallearningandencourageourcolleaguesandstudentstodothesame.AprofessorofEnglishwhocom-mentsinclass(orafacultymeeting)onarecentarticleinScientific American,aneconomistwhomentionsaperceptivereviewofaBruceSpringsteenconcert,orabiologistwhobeginsaclassonchlorophyllbyreading(orrecitingfrommemory)RobertFrost’s“NothingGoldCanStay”willcreateapositiveandindelibleimpressionwhilepromptinggenuinelearning.WalkerPercy,thenov-elistandessayist,onceobservedthatthemostprofoundlearningoccurswhenconventionalexpectationscollapse:thebiologystudentonedayfindsasonnettapedtoherlabtable,whiletheliteraturestudentreceivesasetofdissectingtoolsandadogfishsharkinapan.

3. Establish clear liberal education goals for each course.Weshouldestablishclearlearninggoals—includingliberallyeducativeones—foreachcoursethatweteach.Suchgoalsshouldbestatedexplicitlyinthesyllabus,inlessonoutlines,anddur-ingeachclassmeeting.AteacherofShakespearemightscheduleadiscussionofElizabethanscienceandfinance.AteacheroffinancemightwanttoreachouttoacolleaguetoshareadiscussionofThe Merchant of Venice.Ifthereareunavoid-ableconstraintsthatwillpreventouraddressingcertainliberaldimensionsofoursubjects,wecanatleastacknowledgethem,offerpointersforself-guidedstudy,andreferstudentstomoreinclusivecourses.


4. Be flexible and relevant. Wecanexerciselogisticalandintellectualflexibilitybyrespondingtoemergingissues,especiallywhentheyaregermanetowhatweareteaching,butoccasionallyevenwhentheyarenot.Someissuesaresocompellingthattoignoretheminanyclassroomistomakeoneselfperipheraltotheeduca-tionalprocess.Tsunamis,terroristattacks,orearthquakesarenotjustnewsworthydisastersbutarealsoopportunitiesforreflectiveresponse.

5. Allow students to own their learning. Wecanempowerourstudentsinthede-velopmentoftheirliberallearningbysharingtosomedegreetheownershipofourcourses.Ataminimum,wecanstructuresometimeineachclasssessionforstudentobservationsrelatedbutperhapstangentialtotheissuesformallysched-uledfordiscussion.Andwemightallowatleastoneortwoclasssessionsduringeachcourseforthepursuitofemphasesthatemergeinthecourseorthatstu-dentsaredefiningasemergent.AgiftedteacherofcalculusattheUniversityofTennesseeatChattanoogawoulddemonstrateeventonovicesthemathematicalunderpinningsofeverythingfromNolanRyan’scurveballtomissionsofthespaceshuttle.

6. Promote liberal learning in everyday life. Wecanpromoteopportunitiesforliberallearningoutsideoftheclassroom.Acquaintingourstudentswiththeeducationalandculturalopportunitiesoncampusandinthecommunitywouldbeastart.Shar-ingourownenthusiasmforparticularscheduledeventswouldbeevenmoreper-suasive.Andactuallyshowingupwouldbemosteffective.Thesociologyprofessorwhoattendsalectureonliquidcrystalphysicswillprobablylearnsomethingshedidnotknow.(Shemightalsoenjoystartlingascientificcolleaguebyherpresence.)Andherstudentswillprofitfromherexample.

7. Highlight relationships between topics and disciplines.Wecanseekopportuni-tieswithcolleagues,especiallythoseinotherdisciplines,todiscover,define,andhighlightrelationsamongthecoursesweareteaching.Theprocessofassociationitselfisliberallyeducative,anditshouldbeapparentthatthebroaderandmoreinterestingthecontexts,themorelikelyitisthatgenuinelearningwilltakeplace.Wecanalsoencourageourstudentstoextendoureffortsbyaskingdifficultques-tionsandbyvolunteeringtheirowndevelopingintellectualenthusiasms.

8. Exemplify engaged lifelong learning to students. Aboveall,asprivilegedmembersoftheacademy,wecanofferourselvesinallthatwedoasenergeticlearners.Wecanattendcoursesofferedbycolleagues.(IndianaUniversityonceencouragedthispracticebyofferingincentives.)Wecaninviteourcolleaguestoattendourcoursesandtoraisequestionswithus.Wecanaskcolleaguesandstudentsforreadingsuggestionsandreportbackonourexperiences.Wecanseekguestlecturersanddiscussants.Wecantakeahikeandreportonthefernsweidentified.WecanfollowtheinstructionsinScientific Americantoperformasimpleacousticalexperiment.Whateverourfieldorprimaryexpertise,aswesharewithourstudentsandcolleaguestherichnessofourintellectualexperi-ence,wemodelforthemthefruitsofaliberallearningand,aboveall,testifytoitsvalueinourlives.


Facultymemberswhoembraceinfullthevaluesofaliberallearningcanoffertheirstudentsanintenseandindelibleexperience.Theymayalsoapproachanidealthat,inalllikelihood,hasrarelybeenattained.Whatiscertainisthatifacollegeoruniversityistohonoritsstatedmissionofofferingaliberallearningtoitsstudents,theengagementofeverymemberofthefacultyisessential.

General Education as “Signature”Somecollegesanduniversitiesstillviewgeneraleducationasamandatetobefulfilledratherthanasanopportunitytobegraspedandturnedintoanadvantage.Faculty,stu-dents,andadvisersinsuchinstitutionstendtoagree:generaleducationisarequirementtobe“gottenoutoftheway”sothatseriousstudyinthemajormaybegin.

Butmanyothers,includingthosewhoseaccomplishmentsarecitedinthesepages,haveindeedgraspedtheopportunityofgeneraleducationreforminordertodevelopofferingsthatarecompellingforthefaculty,attractivetostudents,andcompetitiveinthehighereducationmarketplace.Inshort,exceptionalgeneraleducationprogramsdistin-guishinstitutionsandenablethemtodefinethemselvesmorefullyandmorepositively.AsStephenL.Trainor,formerdeanofundergraduatestudiesatSalveReginaUniversity,wrote,suchprogramscapture“thedistinctivemissionandessenceofaninstitution”(2004,16).Thebenefits—forstudentsuccess,facultyrecruitment,alumnisupport,pub-licawareness—canbeconsiderable.

Wehavenotedmanyoftheelementscharacteristicofeffectivegeneraleducationpro-grams,butafewadditionalexamplesofcurriculathatrepresentinstitutional“signatures”mayprovideanappropriateperorationtothisbriefsummonstoexcellence.

WemightwellbeginwithSalveReginaandthelessonsitsexperienceoffers.Deter-minedtoavoid“aleast-common-denominatormodeldesignedtooffendnoone”(Trainor2004,16),theuniversitysoughtconsensusforacounter-intuitiveprocessrelyingheavilyondefinitionof“theproblem,”strategiesfordrawingonfacultycreativity,rubricsforevaluat-ingalternatemodels,andtheidentificationandimplementationofthemostcompellingone.The“high-profile”resultoftheprocessisacoreofrequiredcoursesintendedto“fos-terdiscussionandlivelydebate”amonglearners“workingforaworldthatisharmonious,justandmerciful”(Trainor2004,17).OfferingswithinthecoreincluderequiredcoursessuchasWhatItMeanstoBeHuman;SeekingWisdom:FromWondertoJustice;andChristianityinDialoguewithWorldReligions.AcapstonecalledLivingWisdom,Contem-poraryChallengescapturestheessenceofacurriculumthatisdistinctive,clearlyalignedwiththevaluesoftheuniversity,andexpressiveofitsculture—inshort,a“signature.”

Ontheotherendofthehighereducationspectrum,alargepublicflagship,theUni-versityofMaryland,beganinthespringof2010tomovetowardasignatureprogrambyoffering“signaturecourses”accordingtoseveral“I”categories.Intendedasprecursorstoanew,distinctivegeneraleducationoffering,thenewcourses“aredesignedtoinvestigate significantissueswithimagination andintellect withabeliefthattheywillinspire futureinvestigationandprovideconcretemechanismstoimplement innovativeideas”(UniversityofMaryland2009).CoursesonsubjectsrangingfromShakespeare(ActingHuman)to


theChesapeakeBay(IntersectionofScience,Economics,andPolicy)tothethreatofasteroidimpact(CollisionsinSpace)aremeanttoofferstudents“notonlynewintel-lectualdomainstoexplorebutalsonewwaystothinkaboutcontemporaryproblemsliketheenergycrisisandageolddilemmaslikeecologicalsustainability”(UniversityofMaryland2009).

MichiganStateUniversity’sclaimtoa“signatureprogram”rests,inpart,onthreecentersforintegrativestudies,oneinartsandhumanities,oneingeneralscience,andoneinsocialscience.Throughthesecenters,studentspursuecourses“thatintegratemultiplewaysofknowingintoanenhancedappreciationofourhumanity,creativity,knowledge,andresponsibilitiesforourselvesandourworld”(MichiganStateUniversityCentersforIntegrativeStudies).Asamplingofthecoursetitlessuggeststhatthecreativeclaimsfortheprogramareexpressedthroughtheopportunitiesitoffers:HumanValuesandtheArtsandHumanities;MusicandSocietyintheModernWorld;RolesofLan-guageinSociety;VisionsoftheUniversity;ConceptsofRealitythroughPhysicalScience;Power,Authority,andExchange;andSocietyandtheIndividual.

In SumOtherexamplesofeffectivepracticecouldeasilybegiven.Butthepointismade.Oneimportantwaythatcollegesanduniversitiesmaydistinguishthemselvesandenhancetheircompetitivenessonmanystages—thatofpublicaccountability,thatofstudentrecruitment,andthatofalumnisupport,tonameafew—istoreachconsensusonthegoalsofliberallearningandtomoveintentionallytoaligntheirgeneraleducation,major,andcocur-ricularofferingswiththosegoals.Effectiveinstitutionsthenmeasurethequalityoftheirprogrammingthroughassiduousandcreativeassessment.And,mostimportant,theyusewhattheylearntomakethemselvesevenmoreeffective.

Buttheendofsucheffortsfinallytranscendsissuesofinstitutionalprominenceorcompetitiveness.Clarifyingthegoalsofliberallearningandstrengtheninggeneraleducationfinallyhasoneoverridingobjective:tosupportstudentsintheirlearningandtoenablethemtoachievesuccessfulcareersandsatisfyinglives.

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63About the Author

About the Author

Paul l. GastOn isTrusteesProfessoratKentStateUniversity,anappointmentthatcallsforteachingandresearchinatleasttwodifferentdisciplines—inhiscase,highereduca-tionandEnglishliterature.Heconcludedtwenty-fiveyearsasanacademicadministratorbyservingasprovostofKentStatefrom1999to2007.HeearnedthePhDandMAinEnglishfromtheUniversityofVirginia,wherehewasaWoodrowWilsonFellowandaDuPontFellow.Hehaswrittenextensivelyonsubjectsrangingfrominterartanalogies,thepoetryofGeorgeHerbert,andthefictionofWalkerPercy,toacademicstrategicplanning,theHigherEducationAct,andcomputer-dominatedfuturestrading.HismostrecentbooksareRevising General Education—And Avoiding the Potholes: A Guide for Cur-ricular Change (withJerryG.Gaff)(AAC&U,2009),andThe Challenge of Bologna: What United States Higher Education Has to Learn from Europe and Why It Matters That We Learn It(Stylus,2010).GastonhasservedonthefacultyoftheAAC&UInstituteonGeneralEducationsince2001andworksfrequentlyasaconsultanttocolleges,universities,andaccreditingassociations.

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