1 / 19

URI General Education Program Revision Update 3/22/12

URI General Education Program Revision Update 3/22/12. A REPORT TO THE FACULTY SENATE UPDATING PROGRESS ON THE REVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND ’ S GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENT.

sivan
Download Presentation

URI General Education Program Revision Update 3/22/12

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. URI General Education Program Revision Update 3/22/12 A REPORT TO THE FACULTY SENATE UPDATING PROGRESS ON THE REVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND’S GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENT

  2. Academic Plan - Reinvigorate the general education program to assure relevance in preparing students for the future. • Integrate general education courses with those in the major in order to better establish them as relevant building blocks of a progressive undergraduate education model. • Develop interdisciplinary, disciplinary, and problem-based freshman seminars. Key elements should include: problem solving, information literacy, global and multicultural perspectives, quantitative reasoning, environmental literacy, health literacy, critical thinking, and perhaps a self-designed element outside of the major. • Establish integrating themes in the first two years based on “grand challenges,” (e.g., poverty, nonviolence, economic development, renewable energy, climate change, etc.). • Consider developing general education courses designed to establish multicultural competence as a learning outcome for all students. • Streamline the general education offerings and deliver in an efficient manner, challenging and supporting students and exploring a 4-credit model where useful or valuable. • Elevate the importance, value, and prestige associated with teaching of general education curriculum and freshman courses, ensuring the involvement of tenure-track faculty and lecturers as appropriate to maximize faculty-student interaction. • Build on learning communities to ensure that students make meaningful connections between subject matter across courses or disciplines and with other students.

  3. Other Important Elements • Academic Summit 2009-General Education discussion • Increase expectations • Problem-focused not menu driven • Integration of knowledge (not just knowledge acquisition) • Collaborative learning • ‘Authentic’ problems that students care about • General Education Task Force • Development of Grand Challenge courses for URI’s General Education Program • Living Learning Communities • Opportunity for theme-based housing for those students who are interested

  4. Other Organizations and Institutions • AACU – Association of American Colleges and Universities • LEAP Outcomes – Liberal Education and America’s Promise • National initiative that began in 2005 and defined essential learning outcomes • Partnerships with campuses, state systems (MA, CA, etc) , and K-12 leaders • Lynn University – Dialogues of Learning • 3 Dialogues – Self and Society, Belief and Reason, Justice and Civic Life • Seminars at Foundational (100/200) and Integrative/Capstone (300/400) levels • Learning Outcomes, based on LEAP • University of Rochester • Major is in Humanities and Arts, Social Sciences, or Natural Sciences & Engineering • 2nd major or 3-course clusters in each of the other 2 broad areas • Foundational writing course, and advanced writing in major or elsewhere • Appalachian State • 2 or 3 course sequences in themes from 4 perspectives • Temple, BC, BU, U of M, and the new RIC program

  5. Charge from FSEC, Sept 2011 • Meet the requirements of NEASC (40 credits) • Remove the "first two year" model of General Education • Work well with the most restrictive colleges and programs • Allow for 3-, 4-, and other-credit courses • Support dynamic, interdisciplinary courses to attract and engage students To the extent possible, the proposal should: • Be universal – consistent and flexible enough to fit all majors and allow students freedom to move between majors and colleges • Focus on learning outcomes • Include a schedule for implementation and suggest incentives for faculty making the transition

  6. UCGE Process • Review of AACU guidelines and other general education programs • Faculty Forums (Spring 2011, Fall 2012) • Presentation to Faculty Senate (May 2011) • Student Forum and Student Senate (Fall 2012) • Visits to College and Department Faculty Meetings (Spring 2012) • Upcoming – more college meetings, Providence campus, administrative offices

  7. Why these choices of outcomes? • ”State of the art" for general education, with careful attention to URI's own special priorities (e.g. global, multicultural, interdisciplinary integration) • Explicit representation in the requirements • highly probable that courses will be allowed to meet more than one of the learning outcomes (e.g. a course may be designated to count for Arts & Humanities, Writing, and Global Responsibility outcomes). • To be approved, a course will have to show: • how required student work will address the identified learning outcomes • that work will contribute to learning outcomes assessment process for general education

  8. Outcome Area A – Knowledge • Build knowledgeof diverse peoples and cultures and of the natural and physical world. • Understand the context and significance of the arts and humanities using theoretical, historical, and experiential perspectives. [more] • Understand and apply knowledge, theories, and methods of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) disciplines. [more] • Understand theories and methods of the social and behavioral sciences.[more]

  9. Outcome Area B – Intellectual and Interdisciplinary Competencies • Develop intellectual and interdisciplinary competencies for academic and lifelong learning. • Write effective and precise texts that fulfill their communicative purposes and address various audiences. [more] • Communicate effectively via listening, delivering oral presentations, and actively participating in group work. [more] • Apply the appropriate mathematical, statistical, or computational strategies to problem solving. [more] • Develop information literacy to independently research complex issues. [more]

  10. Outcome Area C – Individual and Social Responsibility • Exercise individual and social responsibilities. • Develop civic knowledge and engagement. [more] • Develop and exercise global competencies. [more] • Develop and exercise multicultural competencies. [more]

  11. Outcome Area D – Integration and Application • Integrate and applythese abilities and capacities, adapting them to new settings, questions, and responsibilities to lay the foundation for lifelong learning. • Reflect upon a common theme or conversation linked to contemporary problems from a variety of knowledge perspectives. [more] • Demonstrate a mastery of broad knowledge, appropriate technical proficiency, information collection, synthesis, interpretation, presentation, and reflection in a creative or scholarly product. [more]

  12. Possible Structure • All students need 40 credits of gen ed courses • More flexibility in course selection • Require some fundamental courses • Developmental, across all 4 years including major • An approved course might focus on 2-4 outcomes • Interdisciplinary, possibly by requiring 1 or more themes or conversations • Require a capstone or senior project in the major, minor, or conversation (60% of graduates already!)

  13. Comparison of Proposed Outcomes with Existing “Integrated Skills” • Ex. PSY 113 [S] (D) General Psychology • Approved for read complex text, write effectively, examine human differences • New outcomes might be writing and either civic engagement or multicultural competencies • Ex. HIS 171 [L or FC] (D) East Asian Culture & History • Approved for read complex text, write effectively, examine human differences, information literacy • New outcomes might be writing or information literacy and global competencies

  14. Universality and Transferring • General Education is “the major of URI” • If a student meets requirements for gen ed in one major or college, they meet gen ed for all • Departments or colleges may impose other requirements (for pre-requisites, different degree types, professional certification, etc) • Transfers from outside of URI should continue to have some flexibility

  15. Challenges • Seat management • Advising training and implementation • Resources for implementation • E-Campus and coding • Coordination of transition • Re-submission of courses • Approval of courses • Assessment process • Coordinate with program assessment?

  16. Next Steps • Continue to meet with colleges and administration • Refine structure details • Return to Faculty Senate in April and/or May • Vote on Outcomes • Consider vote on Structure • 2012-2013 Academic Year – submission of new or existing courses for approval • RFP for themes or conversations (?) • Aim for implementation in Fall 2013 (?) • Consider phased implementation

  17. Forum • Open discussion • Outcomes • Requirements (structure) • Forum Feedback Forms • Email valerie@uri.edu for upcoming department meetings • Need for volunteers on UCGE and SAGE!

  18. UCGE Committee Members Valerie Maier-Speredelozzi, COE (chair) Doug Creed, BUS* Walter von Reinhart, GER* John Stevenson, PSY* Adam Roth, COM Carolyn Betensky, ENG Mary Leveille, NUR Celia MacDonnell, PHAR Karen McCurdy, HSS Carol Thornber, CELS Mona Niedbala, LIB Kat Quina, CCE Anne Hubbard, CCE Jayne Richmond, UC Melissa Boyd-Colvin, St. Aff. Students: Ethan Zawatsky and Emily Dionne Sandy Hicks (past chair) Peter Larsen (FSEC) Laura Beauvais (vice provost) Sheila Black Grubman

More Related