2012 Institute on General Education and Assessment

June 2-6, 2012
The Hotel at Turf Valley
Ellicott City, Maryland

Institute Curriculum

The curriculum is designed to address a range of current and recurring topics associated with general education reform. Topic areas (or “tracks”) allow participants to engage with Institute faculty and colleagues across the country in a workshop-style atmosphere intended to promote depth of learning and discovery.

Institute Tracks

Track 1: Process of General Education Reform and Capacity Building

Simply developing good ideas does not guarantee successful change. Track 1 workshops focus on the analysis of campus dynamics, stakeholder engagement, and resource allocation to help teams develop and support ideas for strategic change.

Track 2: Models of General Education Organization and Delivery for Improved Learning

After developing clear liberal learning outcomes, campuses need to build curricula that support the integration of those outcomes within general education (and within departments). Track 2 workshops examine ways of structuring and delivering general education across varied campus contexts.

Track 3: Student Success and Making Excellence Inclusive

General education across our institutions is the foundation for learning and the pathway for student success. How can we be attentive to the needs of all students in constructing this foundation? How can we ensure that students, especially those most underserved, have access to engaged learning environments throughout the GE curriculum? Track 3 workshops survey several contemporary issues that affect the campus context for inclusion and successful reform:

• actively supporting and engaging students of color, first-generation, and low-income students
• integrating and supporting transfer students
• articulating and implementing diversity, civic and global learning priorities
• adopting effective pedagogies for learning and student development
• working with e-portfolios and the use of technology to enhance learning

Track 4: Authentic Assessment and Strategic Communication

The assessment of student learning should be both meaningful and strategic. Track 4 workshops address various assessment techniques and strategies for organizing assessment agenda—responding to specific accreditation issues, communicating results to various audiences, and using data to advance institutional goals. Use of rubrics and portfolios, including e-portfolios, are among the assessment strategies discussed.

Special Topic Sessions

These sessions provide the opportunity to engage in more concentrated discussions within particular topic areas or issues. Sessions typically include the following topics:

• connecting departmental majors and pre-professional programs to general education goals
• allocation of resources
• using institutional data to advance learning and campus communication
• faculty development
• integrating the curriculum and co-curriculum