General Education courses and activities will have as their primary objective the achievement of General Education foundational goals.
1. Developing Critical Thinking and Communication Skills: The skills to think critically and to communicate effectively equip students to excel and set the foundation for continuous learning. Therefore, all courses in the General Education program will develop in students the skills of critical thinking, writing and speaking. Critical thinking can best occur through the engagement with foundational questions and issues within academicmethods of inquiry. Therefore, all courses in the General Education program will require students' engagement with primary source materials.
2. Understanding Content Knowledge: Because the values of integrity and citizenship can be developed through interaction with various modes of inquiry, courses within the General Education program's "Ways of Knowing" will articulate a connection to the themes of integrity and citizenship.
3. Developing Ethical Dispositions: Because the values of integrity and citizenship can be developed through reflection upon diverse ethical perspectives, courses within the General Education program's "Ways of Living" will articulate a connection to the themes of integrity and citizenship.
The General Education program will organize courses and activities into two primary categories, "Ways of Knowing" and "Ways of Living."
1. The University's Core Values of Integrity and Citizenship can be developed within the General Education program through interaction with various methods of inquiry and reflection upon diverse ethical perspectives. The label "Ways of Knowing" describes courses designed to immerse students in the academic traditions of intellectual inquiry.
2. The University's Core Values of Integrity and Citizenship can likewise be developed within the General Education program through exploration of ethical dispositions. The label "Ways of Living" describes courses and experiences that develop in students the ability to make ethical choices.
Ways of Knowing
Knowing through Observation of Ourselves and Others. Student outcomes will include:
1. The ability to demonstrate critical thinking skills as evidenced by reading, speaking and writing about human behavior and social interactions.
2a. The ability to gather and organize empirical information and to propose realistic solutions to problems related to human interaction.
2b. The ability to gather and organize historical information and to propose realistic solutions to problems related to human interaction.
Knowing through Observation of Our Natural World. Student outcomes will include:
1. The ability to demonstrate critical thinking skills as evidenced by reading, speaking and writing about the natural world.
2. The ability to gather and organize empirical information and to propose realistic solutions to problems related to the natural world.
Knowing through Interaction with Aesthetic and Philosophical Expression. Student outcomes will include:1. The ability to demonstrate critical or creative thinking skills as evidenced by reading, speaking, and writing about fundamental questions pertaining
to the human experience.
2a. A demonstrable awareness of how thinkers represent their engagement with fundamental questions of the human experience.
2b. A demonstrable awareness of how artists represent their engagement with fundamental questions of the human experience.
Knowing Through Mathematical and Technological Application. Student outcomes will include:
1. The ability to demonstrate critical thinking skills in the application of quantitative reasoning.
2. The ability to demonstrate critical thinking skills in the application of information literacy.
Knowing Through Reflection Upon Experience. Student outcomes will include:
1. The ability to demonstrate critical reflection upon personal experiences as evidenced by writing and speaking that integrate theory and practice
within a major.
Ways of Living
Understanding Diversity. Student outcomes will include:
1. The ability to demonstrate critical thinking skills as evidenced by reading, speaking, and writing about matters of racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity.
2. A demonstrable awareness of the importance of differences and commonalities in racial, ethnic, and cultural values, ideas, and behaviors.
3. A demonstrable awareness of the importance of justice, integrity, and responsibility to others and the role these matters play in living as an ethical human being in a diverse world.
Wellness and Social Responsibility. Student outcomes will include:
1. The ability to demonstrate critical thinking skills as evidenced by reading, speaking and writing about issues of health and well-being as they
inform ethical decision-making and behavior.
2. A demonstrable awareness of the importance of lifestyle, nutrition, physical activity, environment and mental health as they influence living well.
Serving Others. Student outcomes will include:
1. Participation within a planned, university-endorsed activity designed to improve the community and to help others.
2. The ability to demonstrate critical reflection as evidenced by speaking and writing about one's experience helping others.
