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Peer Review, Summer 2003
Introduction
Andrea Leskes, vice president for education
and quality initiatives, AAC&U
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General education in 2003 differs from its past incarnations.
The choices used to be simple: core texts, core courses, or
distribution requirements. Now the architecture varies as
much as the institutions themselves. A plethora of elements--first-year
experiences, learning communities, writing across the curriculum,
senior capstones--can be combined to serve the needs of a
campus's particular students. In terms of a framing philosophy,
too, an institution can choose to stress competency, goals
across the curriculum, or interdisciplinarity, among many
other things. Successful models can be found at institutions
of all types, and the process of reforming general education
has energized faculty and campuses alike.
With this new flexibility, however, comes the responsibility
to ensure the integrity of the student experience. The learning-centered
philosophy of AAC&U's report Greater Expectations:
A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College
can guide effective practice. Many of the concepts proposed--valuable
for designing strong general education programs--enter into
the articles in this issue. Below are several of the most
essential.
The primary concept is intentionality, accorded pride of
place in the Greater Expectations report. Intentionality
is an alignment of desired aims with action. The most significant
aims of general education are the outcomes for student learning
and the expectations of the general education program itself
(its role in the entire curriculum). The actions to align
include the architectural design of general education, content,
teaching methods, assessments, and allocation of resources.
The second concept is coherence. As applied to the curriculum,
coherence translates into conscious designs for learning,
or "purposeful pathways," that foster cumulative learning
of intellectual skills and insights. Coherence implies collective
faculty reflection on how courses and experiences fit together--from
the student perspective--to create explicit learning plans.
The next concept, linkage, connects the various parts of
the student experience: curricular (general education, the
major, and professional programs) and co-curricular. General
education learning outcomes can best be achieved by drawing
on all aspects of college life. Instead of simply a collection
of required courses that compete with the majors, general
education can become the keystone of an integrated programmatic
arch of liberal learning.
The penultimate concept in this abbreviated list is a "culture
of evidence."* Assessing student learning is inherent to effective
teaching, and good teachers use the results to further improve
student performance. Assessment of learning outcomes ultimately
requires demonstrated accomplishment. With regard to general
education--because transferability of learning deepens over
time, through multiple uses, and in various contexts--assessment
must move beyond individual course boundaries to encompass
learning over the full four years.
Finally, concerted action by all stakeholders is essential
to achieving greater expectations in general education. Within
a single institution, general education must become the responsibility
of the entire faculty. Student affairs personnel and students
also form part of the equation. Across colleges and universities,
especially at the state level, if achievement of learning
outcomes replaces simple credit equivalence as the currency
for transfer, powerful learning will result for the many students
who move among educational providers.
The vision of the Greater Expectations New Academy arose
from innovations at campuses around the country. The concepts
inherent in this vision provide new ways to shape general
education's role in student learning and advancement of mission.
Because of its position at the heart of undergraduate study,
general education has often functioned as a catalyst for broader
institutional change. Strengthened now by the concepts of
intentionality, coherence, linkage, evidence, and concerted
action, it can contribute to the dramatic reorganization of
undergraduate education necessary to ensure all students receive
an education of lasting value for the contemporary world.
* Term borrowed from Ralph Wolff, executive
director, Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Accrediting
Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities.
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