I.) Crossings: Our Shared Curriculum
A.) We don't talk about gen ed (-ed, -ed, -ed)....but we should!
"the way the purpose for Gen Ed is presented is important and it should be revisited regularly" - Prof Eric Touya (Languages)
How & where is the purpose of general education apparent at Clemson?
- Often invisible in the degree maps. Students don't always know they're taking courses that are part of a horizontal and vertical way of shaping their thinking, skills, knowledge, and aptitudes.
- So....let's talk about gen ed!
- New students - OA training & discussions, CU 1000 module
- New students & parents - summer orientation
- Advisors - advising prof devt session in May, 2-pager in advising manual
- Faculty, students, staff, stakeholders, and all - today! (Including the panel we'll have in a few minutes.)
- Logo links for syllabi for improved transparency
Courses are now all clearly connected to desired student learning outcomes:
- Communication
- Ways of Knowing: Arts & Humanities, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences
- Global Challenges
II.) Courses, Content, and Context: What WE Can Do
How does a general education curriculum support holistic and lifelong outcomes for students?
Attributes of educational experiences that matter:
Content of the educational curriculum
- Nonvocational, i.e.: not designed for a specific job or profession.
- Students develop a comprehensive understanding of the world.
- Full span of knowledge: study broadly while understanding ways that areas of knowledge are interrelated. ** (2-3x the impact for students of lower socioeconomic resources!)
- Courses completed unrelated to one's major or allied fields. Discussions in courses focus on the philosophical, ethical, or literary perspectives on the human condition.
- Professors encourage the examination of strengths and weaknesses of one's own views.
- Coursework frequently emphasizes discussion of questions to which there is not necessarily a right answer.
Context of the educational curriculum
- Uses engaging pedagogy - methods of teaching that actively involve students. They take a role in class discussion and participation as a critical part of the learning process.
- Develops larger perspectives: broadens understanding and challenges narrow thinking.
- Learning about those from other cultures, which includes frequent conversations with others who are different from one's self: religious beliefs, political opinions, personal values.
- Analyzing diverse perspectives on peace, justice, human rights, equality, and race relations with other students.
- Occurs in an authentic learning community - students, faculty, and staff interact with each other in meaningful ways, both formally and informally outside of class time. Instructors are also mentors. ** (2-3x the impact for students of lower socioeconomic resources!)
Big finding: CONTEXT matters more than content.
The relationship between educational outcomes & life outcomes:
Do we want to...
- ...create more leaders? Enroll them in courses that help them develop larger perspectives that broaden their views and challenge narrow thinking patterns.
- ...cultivate life-long learners? Help them to study a broad range of subjects in nonvocational fields, develop larger perspectives and intellectual skills, and engage with their college communities.
- ...contribute to adults living fulfilled lives? Encourage them to take more classes in the arts and humanities, engage in activities where issues of significance are discussed, challenge their thinking and writing in coursework, and employ engaging pedagogy.
For more reading:
- Detweiler, R.A. (2021). The Evidence Liberal Arts Needs. MIT Press.
- Bustillos, L. T., Rueda, R., & Bensimon, E. M. (2011). in Vygotsky in 21st century society: Advances in cultural historical theory and praxis with non-dominant communities. Peter Lang.
- AAC&U and Hanover Research. (2022). “On the Same Page?” https://www.aacu.org/research/on-the-same-page
- Emsi. (2019). “Degrees at Work.” https://www.economicmodeling.com/2019/07/30/degrees-at-work/
- Clemson University. "Core Competencies." https://career.sites.clemson.edu/core/resources.php
