COMMISSION ON GENERAL EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Transcription

1 COMMISSION ON GENERAL EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY Full Report of the Commission Originally Published May, 2007 Available online at: Co-Chaired by Neil Smelser and Michael Schudson Diane Harley, Ph.D., Senior Researcher Center for Studies in Higher Education

2 General/Liberal Education What is it? Depends on whom you ask. Synonymous with liberal arts education (historical term) Set of programs in US education that counterbalance the emphasis on disciplinary major in first 2 years and tendency to eliminate common or shared curriculum taken by a cohort of students. Focus => Breadth + diversity versus specialization Writing, numeracy, critical thinking, common literature, civics, etc. Teach students how to think logically about a common body of evidence and common rules of inference orally and in writing, and to link scientific and humanistic materials that seem remote from one another and from contemporary issues.

3 The UC Commission Definition of GE The approach in higher education focused on introducing students to: ways of knowing, integrative knowledge, appreciation of historical context and common themes of human experience, social responsibility, civic engagement, and the development of practical skills and reflective habits of mind.

4 What is a general/liberal education good for?

5 What is a general/liberal education good for? The value of an education in a liberal arts college is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks." Albert Einstein

6 What is a general/liberal education good for? AACU American Association of Colleges and Universities It is an approach to learning that: Empowers individuals and prepares them to deal with complexity, diversity, and change. Provides students with broad knowledge of the wider world (e.g. science, culture, and society) as well as in-depth study in a specific area of interest. Helps students develop a sense of social responsibility Allows students to develop strong and transferable intellectual and practical skills such as communication, analytical and problemsolving skills, and a demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills in real-world settings.

7 What is a general/liberal education good for? UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) surveyed employers to determine what they look for in new employees. They found that graduates with the right skills rather than the right major had the edge. Skills can be learned, but good thinking cannot. In today s economy, employers desire transferable skills and the ability to adapt in a changing workplace. A liberal arts education prepares students to assume positions of leadership and to be flexible in the marketplace with a solid liberal arts education you are not limited to a particular niche, but freed and qualified for a wide range of opportunities for the rest of your life.

8 Context of General/Liberal Education in US Large diversity of HE institution types in US Private and Public Research/doctoral (e.g., UC Berkeley. Harvard) Teaching intensive (4 year pvt. liberal arts, and public state universities and colleges) 2 year, open-door public community colleges/importance of transfer students to UC Private vocational and career colleges For-profits such as the University of Phoenix, etc.

9 General Education in US Private research universities and liberal arts colleges; tend to have cohesive undergrad curricula. Small # of students. Public universities: may have breadth requirements BUT Cafeteria style the norm. GE highly variable across institutions. 2-year Community colleges => Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) important for transfer students. Breadth requirements for students wanting to transfer to UC include: (11 courses total) Spanning English, Math, Arts and Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Physical and Biological Sciences, Foreign Language

10 Why the UC Commission? Sense that general education is declining in UC s. And other large publics. Meanwhile: The world is becoming more complex and students can expect to change careers. Tendency to have disciplines/major requirements dictate curriculum =>> leads to early specialization + a lost shared curriculum. Trends suggest that GE will decline further ($$ concerns =>> assault on humanistic disciplines (UK, US/SUNY elimination of programs) versus STEM, vocational, and professional training.

11 Process Two years of meetings among members. Funded by Hewlett and Carnegie Foundations. Set of recommendations.

12 Strengthen Role of Chief Undergraduate Education Officers Campuses should systematize their commitment to general education by re-casting and extending the role of chief undergraduate education officers. In particular, these positions should (a) be assured a conspicuous place, voice, and role in the central administration of campuses; (b) be given ample discretionary, renewed annual budgets and other resources to promote courses and programs in general education; and (c) be protected, where appropriate, from routine administrative chores, in order to enhance opportunities for initiative and innovation.

13 Provide Incentives for Faculty Campuses should give high priority to ensuring appropriate incentive structures to enable faculty to participate in general education enterprises, thus easing a principal impediment to faculty involvement in general education. $$, Awards and Prestige, Release time

14 Thematic Bundles of Courses As one alternative to the cafeteria approach to general education, in which students choose a set of core courses from an unwieldy list of general education courses, campuses should develop a discrete number of thematic, interdisciplinary bundles or sequences of courses around substantive and timely topics. These packages could be considered a substitute for discipline-based minors and could receive full academic recognition, so indicated on students transcripts. Students could select any given thematic package voluntarily, but once selected, all of its constituent parts would be required.

15 Suggestions for implementation: Shape departmental curricula in interest of applying knowledge to ethical, moral and political issues. Grand Challenge Questions that require interdisciplinary solutions. E.g., Environmental Sustainability, Eliminating Viral Disease, Fighting Poverty, Technology and Society, Bureaucracy and Society, Bioethics, Peace and Conflict, Global Trade and Democracy, etc. Freshmen and Sophomore Seminars and Capstone courses in the Junior and Senior Year Provide Undergraduate Research Opportunities Evaluate and improve faculty, graduate student teaching methods

16 Civic Education Campuses should give the highest priority to advancing the civic education and engagement of their undergraduates. In particular, they should expand and consolidate courses and programs that combine (a) students volunteer, service, or political work; (b) instruction in the academic significance and importance of that work; and (c) individual or group-based student research related to their community involvement. (See Section 6: Thinking through the Civic Dimension.)

17 Transfer Students The University of California and its campuses should evaluate the implications of the academic work of transfer students for the general education of its students. They should cooperate fully and equally with high schools, community colleges, and state universities, in order to safeguard the integrity and maximize the quality and effectiveness of the general education of students who spend only part of their educational careers at the University.

18 Information and Communication Technologies Administrators and faculty should pursue applications of new information and communication technologies to facilitate undergraduate education, which could lower costs and increase access to their institutions. At the same time, administrators should assure that educational quality is not inadvertently sacrificed in the process. (See Section 8: New Technologies and General Education.) Large concern: What will be the effect of having students take most of their general education courses off campus and increasingly online i.e. to get them out of the way?

19 Educating Stakeholders Campus administrators and faculty should actively and continuously strive to educate all of their constituencies on the value, rationale, and goals of general education, and making clear the opportunities for its pursuit on their campuses. = Faculty, administrators, graduate students, undergraduate students, parents, alumni/business community. Academic Affairs, as well as Student Affairs, should engage in efforts to integrate transfer students into the University, with specific course work designed for transfer students (including one-unit courses modeled on freshman seminars).

20 (b) require designers and teachers in general education to provide statements of the goals of their efforts, to specify means of implementing these goals, and subject their work to periodic internal and external evaluation. Evaluation We took a middle ground. To assure the quality of general education, campuses should: (a) establish machinery in their Academic Senate divisions dedicated to initiating, monitoring, and reviewing general education courses, programs, and experiments, and

21 Future Budget Crisis has put this problem on back burner on many campuses. UC Commission on the Future: 3 year degrees, increase use of online courses, centralization of curriculum content? Increase tuition paying out of state students.

22 UC Commission on the Future Recommendation 2: Continue timely exploration of online instruction in the undergraduate curriculum, as well as in selfsupporting graduate degrees and Extension programs. Fully Online UC Degree? Begin with the most indemand (general education) lower division courses. Pilot just starting.

23 Role of Online Education in Future? Rhetoric: Solve problems of Costs. Quality. Access. (Pick any two.) Hybrid courses abound in US. Ratio of online and classroom variable. Full courses? Many in all HE sectors esp. community colleges. Fully online degrees? Many in remedial area, vocational, and professional degrees and certificates. Public U. Extension programs very active in certificate programs. 4-year degree? Some large publics (UMASS). Proprietary (UoPhoenix). Comm. Colleges. Harvard Liberal Studies. UK Open University. Not in elites.

24 Can you provide General Education online? UC Online degree. Very contentious. Where is the evidence it can be done? Who owns the curriculum? Quality? What does F-to-F offer? Costs to providing a quality experience online? OERs? DIY? Competency based vs credit hours? (WGU=test for knowledge). Social media can replace the classroom experience?

25 ICTs hold promise for widening access to higher education, but it will require more than downloading syllabi from sites like MIT OpenCourseware (MITOCW) or watching lecture webcasts. Increasing access will require significant front-end investments in course redesign, provision of the necessary infrastructure and tools to enable high quality interactions among faculty and students, and putting mechanisms in place to assure quality and the seamless transfer of credit.

26 COMMISSION ON GENERAL EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY Co-Chaired by Neil Smelser and Michael Schudson Full Report of the Commission Originally Published May, 2007 Available online at: Diane Harley, Ph.D., Senior Researcher Center for Studies in Higher Education

27 UC Commission on the Future Education and Curriculum Recommendation 1: Manage educational resources more effectively and efficiently to (1) increase the proportion of undergraduate students graduating in four years, (2) create a pathway for undergraduate students to complete degrees in three years, (3) make more effective use of faculty resources, and (4) maintain or improve the undergraduate student experience.

28

29 UC Commission on the Future Recommendation 3: Expand use of self-supporting and part-time programs to expand opportunities for a UC education to existing and potential students, working professionals, and underserved communities. By leveraging existing resources, including UC Extension, UC may be able to better meet student and workforce needs and generate new revenue.

30 UC Commission on the Future Recommendation 3: Expand use of self-supporting and part-time programs to expand opportunities for a UC education to existing and potential students, working professionals, and underserved communities. By leveraging existing resources, including UC Extension, UC may be able to better meet student and workforce needs and generate new revenue.

31 UC Commission on the Future Recommendation 4: Develop a systemwide academic planning framework that incorporates campus goals within the context of priorities identified for the University as a whole. Substantial shifts in the state funding model drive a need for academic program plans of individual campuses to be considered in concert with the aims and offerings of the entire system.

32 UC Commission on the Future UC should identify a set of measures that relate to educational quality that can be monitored over time