AAC&U Institute on General Education

June 4-9, 2010
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT

Institute Curriculum

The institute is designed to provide an ideal environment for campus planning and extensive time for substantive team work, interaction with colleagues from other campuses, and private consultations with resident faculty.

The curriculum is designed to address a range of current and recurring topics associated with general education reform and development. For example, campus teams working on integrating global issues or ethical action in their general education goals and curriculum might connect with other campuses with a similar focus. Topic areas (or “Tracks”) allow participants to engage with resident faculty and colleagues from across the country in a workshop-style atmosphere intended to promote both depth of learning and discovery.

An opening plenary presents national trends in general education reform, frame-works, and recommendations from AAC&U’s Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) Initiative.

Workshops combine intensive small group discussion on multiple dimensions of general education reform with guidance from faculty who serve as group leaders and discussion facilitators.

Overview of Curriculum Tracks

The Process of General Education Change
Simply developing good ideas does not guarantee successful change. Workshop discussions focus on the analysis of campus dynamics, politics, and culture, and relations with internal and external entities to help project teams develop and sup-port ideas for strategic change on their campuses.

Models of General Education Organization and Delivery for Improved Learning
Developing clear learning outcomes or expectations is a powerful first step to learning improvement. Building curricula to achieve integrative liberal education outcomes is often more challenging. Ways of structuring and delivering general education will be examined.

Building Institutional Capacity: Making Excellence Inclusive
A number of issues can complicate the path toward developing clear learning outcomes essential to improving general education curricula. Workshops survey a number of current issues that affect the reform process, such as:

• The integration of transfer students
• Articulating and implementing diversity and global knowledge and engagement
• Ethical reasoning and civic involvement in action
• Effective pedagogies for student learning and development in the twenty-first century
• Working with e-portfolios and the use of technology to enhance student learning

Assessment and Communication
The assessment of student learning should be both meaningful and strategic. Participating teams will be introduced to various assessment techniques and strategies, including rubrics and portfolios of student work for organizing current and future assessment agendas, communicating data on campus, and using results to create change and advance institutional goals.

Overview of Concurrent Sessions

Concurrent sessions are intended to provide the opportunity to engage in more concentrated discussions within particular topic areas or issues. Concurrent session topics typically include:

• Connecting departmental majors and preprofessional programs to general education goals
• Allocation of resources
• Using institutional data to advance learning and campus communication
• Faculty development
• Integrating the curriculum and cocurriculum