General Education Open Forums

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General Education Open Forums

• April 7, 8, 10
• 2008

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Why conduct a comprehensive review of general
education?

• It has been approximately 20 years since the last
  comprehensive review.
• The 2006 Higher Learning Commission Accreditation
  Team observed unenthusiastic support of general
  education by the students and recommended
  intentional efforts to connect general education
  to the degree programs and similar efforts to
  help students through advising and counseling to
  understand the value of general education
  (Advancement Section, p. 5).

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Why form a Task Force?

• The Academic Affairs Council first recommended
  (10/8/07) that a General Education Task Force be
  formed to review general education.
• This recommendation was endorsed by the EMS
  College Council (10/18/07), the BILSA College
  Council (11/1/07), the LAE College Council
  (11/7/07), the UUCC (11/7/07), the Assessment
  Oversight Committee (11/12/07), the Faculty
  Senate (11/13/07), the Academic Standards
  Committee (11/14/07), and the Improvement of
  Learning Committee (11/20/07).
• The UUCC and Faculty Senate retain the power to
  accept or reject the Task Force recommendations,
  and both governance bodies will be consulted
  throughout the process.

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Who is on the Task Force?

• BILSA EMS LAE
• Amanda Trewin Joanne Wilson Shane Drefcinski
• Steve Kleisath Kevin Haretzen Laura Anderson
• Frank Steck Philip Parker Patrick Hagen
• Annie Kinwa- Christina Curras Alison Bunte
• Muzinga Sheryl Wills Stephanie Branson
• Mike Dalecki
• Students Andy Rankin Alicia Slowey
• Keith Thompson, George Smith, and Carol Sue
  Butts are also regular participants.

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What has been accomplished to date?

• The starting point for the Task Force was the
  Association of American Colleges and Universities
  (AACU) Liberal Education and Americas Promise
  (LEAP) document (http//aacu.org/advocacy/leap/vis
  ion.cfm).

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LEAPs Essential Learning Outcomes

• Beginning in school, and continuing at
  successively higher levels across their college
  studies, students should prepare for
  twenty-first-century challenges by gaining
• Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and
  Natural World
• Through study in the sciences and mathematics,
  social sciences,humanities, histories,
  languages, and the arts
• Focused by engagement with big questions, both
  contemporaryand enduring
• Intellectual and Practical Skills, Including
• Inquiry and analysis
• Critical and creative thinking
• Written and oral communication
• Quantitative literacy
• Information literacy
• Teamwork and problem solving
• Practiced extensively, across the curriculum, in
  the context ofprogressively more challenging
  problems, projects, and standards for performance
• Personal and Social Responsibility, Including
• Civic knowledge and engagementlocal and global
• Intercultural knowledge and competence
• Ethical reasoning and action
• Foundations and skills for lifelong learning
• Anchored through active involvement with diverse
  communities and real-world challenges
• Integrative Learning, Including

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What has been accomplished to date? (part 2)

• After several meetings and revisions, the Task
  Force agreed to the following draft statement on
  the goals of a UWP Education.
• Note that these goals are not limited to the
  general education curriculum they apply to the
  majors as well.
• The Task Force is eager to receive feedback.

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The Goal of a UWP EducationDraft 3/28/08

• A UWP education, beginning in general education
  and continuing in the major, will enable students
  to become competent professionals and
  knowledgeable citizens who
• recognize and solve a wide variety of problems
• To identify a problem within a system or a
  portion of a system, students must understand how
  the system behaves and its broader context. Once
  a problem is identified, students should be able
  to apply appropriate problem-solving processes
  such processes include identifying assumptions
  and constraints, distinguishing between facts and
  opinions, and evaluating potential solutions.
• appreciate and create innovative and original
  works
• Students will increase the depth and breadth of
  their intellectual maturity in ways that
  challenge them to write, speak, and think
  critically, creatively, and effectively. The
  consideration of various forms of cultural
  expression will enhance their ability to develop
  and explore new interpretations, produce original
  works, and value innovative designs.
• develop a global perspective
• Students will acquire knowledge of the histories
  and cultures of diverse peoples within the United
  States and throughout the world. This knowledge
  enables students to better appreciate the
  multiple ways in which peoples lives are
  interconnected.
• participate ethically and wisely in a diverse
  society.
• Ethical action requires an ability to recognize
  and address the moral issues of our time, such as
  social inequalities and environmental threats.
  Students will develop the skills to become
  reflective, engaged citizens who are aware of the
  consequences of their actions.

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Compare the Proposed Goals to the Existing
General Education Goals

• UW-Platteville's educational philosophy is
  rooted in four ideas first, that students are
  capable of and responsible for making choices
  second, that the quality of choice is largely
  dependent upon the nature and extent of their
  experience third, that experience becomes more
  meaningful and constructive when it is informed
  by knowledge and fourth, that while there are
  kinds of knowledge that people need in order to
  practice their particular professions, there are
  other kinds of knowledge that people need in
  order to live in a world larger than the purely
  professional.
• The development of these latter kinds of
  knowledge is the essential purpose of a liberal
  education. Such an education empowers persons to
  live thoughtful lives, concerned about a universe
  much larger than their immediate environment and
  about a public realm that reaches far beyond
  their professional circle, local community, or
  nation. More specifically, this central part of
  education promotes the ability to think and
  communicate coherently, critically, and
  creatively about
• the thoughts and actions of people from one's own
  culture, as well as from different cultures
• the processes of nature, both animate and
  inanimate
• the interrelations among people and between
  nature and humankind and
• the possibilities for each person to enhance or
  detract from the goodness and beauty of life.
• This philosophy of education is compatible with
  the opening statement of the Select Mission in
  which the University of Wisconsin-Platteville
  pledges itself to enable each student to become
  broader in perspective, more literate,
  intellectually more astute, ethically more
  sensitive, and to participate more wisely in
  society as a competent professional and a
  knowledgeable citizen.

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Proposed Questions for Discussion

• What qualities would you like to see in a UWP
  graduate?
• How closely do the proposed goals match your
  answer to question 1?

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What is next?

• Once the goals are established and approved by
  the UUCC and the Faculty Senate, the Task Force
  will recommend student learning outcomes that can
  be meaningfully assessed.
• Once those student learning outcomes are
  established and approved by the UUCC and the
  Faculty Senate, the Task Force will recommend
  curricular structures that fit with these goals
  and student learning outcomes.
• Those recommendations will be submitted for
  approval by the UUCC and the Faculty Senate.

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How can I participate?

• Task Force meetings are open to all interested
  faculty, staff, and students.
• Meeting dates and times are posted in the
  Intercom and at (http//www.uwplatt.edu/gened/GenE
  d_TaskForce.html).
• A General Education Task Force blog welcomes
  comments at (http//www.uwplatt.edu/tec/blog/).
• Comments and concerns can be sent to the chair of
  the Task Force at (drefcins_at_uwplatt.edu).