General Education
Approved by the GECC Mission Committee March 2, 2005
Purpose
The primary purpose of this document is to provide a framework for assessment of
general education. It supplements the Shippensburg University Catalog by providing additional
information on the content of the current general education program –specifically, it provides
material to supplement the catalog descriptions of Categories A through E.
Mission[1]
The mission of General Education at Shippensburg University is
- to ensure an emphasis on
liberal education at the University; and
- to provide breadth in the
student’s education, allowing the student to become an informed and literate
member of society.
Liberal education
- has its foundation in study
within and across the arts and sciences;
- provides education beyond the
mere acquisition of specific knowledge and skills;
- prepares students to think,
communicate, and understand broad issues beyond their major field of study,
beyond their geographic locality, and beyond their own position in
society;
- prepares students for the
challenges and choices they face throughout their lives, in all their various
roles;
- prepares students for
life-long learning; and
- provides skills, values,
awareness, understanding, perspective, and appreciation for continuing growth in
a rapidly changing world.
Goals
After completing the general education program students should be able to
- demonstrate effective reading, writing, oral
communications, and critical thinking;
- demonstrate an understanding of ideas, events, persons and creative expressions from history;
- use numerical data and mathematical methods for analysis and problem solving;
- find and use information using abstract logical thinking, inductive reasoning, and critical analysis;
- demonstrate an appreciation of and experience with literature and the arts;
- demonstrate a basic understanding of the natural sciences and their significance in contemporary society;
- demonstrate an awareness of the social, economic, political, and environmental interdependence of countries and regions of the world;
- demonstrate an understanding of the social sciences and their significance in
contemporary society; and
- understand how people's experience and perspectives are shaped by gender, ethnicity,
culture, and other factors.
Categories
Goals 4 through 8 are currently addressed through Categories A through E of the General Education program, respectively.
The remainder of this document provides descriptions, commonalities, and learning objectives for those categories.
Category A- Logic and Numbers for Rational
Thinking
Catalog
description
The courses in this category emphasize the use of
symbols as a means of expressing complex thoughts and information lucidly and
accurately. Many involve computational
and mathematical operations – that is, the use of mathematics as a symbolic
language where each element and rule of operation is defined very clearly in
order to obtain precise understanding.
Similarly, the remainder of the courses which may be taken to fulfill
this requirement stress precise, logical approaches to reasoning; for example,
the study of those aspects of philosophy involving the exposition of abstract
ideas.
Commonalities
among the courses
- Courses in Category A stress precise, logical approaches
to reasoning, in the context of one or more of the
following:
- mathematical
models
- problem-solving
strategies
- ·
logical
discourse
- ·
algorithmic
reasoning
- ·
logical
reasoning
- ·
formal expressions of complex
thoughts
Learning
objectives
All Category A courses will have one or more of the
following learning objectives. For each
course, that objective or set of objectives forms a significant focus of the
course.
- Students will be able to
build, interpret, and use mathematical models
- Students will be able to
solve problems, including problem formulation, solution, and interpretation of
the resulting answers.
- Students will be able to
apply algorithmic reasoning to aid in problem solving.
- Students will be able to
apply logical reasoning to aid in problem solving.
- Students will be able to
apply logical reasoning to aid in understanding and analyzing
discourse.
Category
B--Linguistic, Literary, Artistic, and Cultural
Traditions
Catalog description
Culture is the human-made part
of the environment, and the spoken and written work, together with the visual
and performing arts are its foundation.
The courses required in this category are designed to acquaint the
student with the richness and diversity of these aspects of culture, especially
with the recognized standards of literary and artistic excellence. The emphasis in this category is also on the
breadth and extent of the many cultural experiences and heritages that make up
our world. Knowing only the traditions
of our own immediate surrounds or even simply those of our country is no longer
enough to function effectively in a world where contact between varied cultures
and knowledge of their interaction had become normal and
expected.
Commonalities among the
courses
Category B courses provide
students with tools for comprehending cultural phenomena in the humanities,
which may include the following:
- examples of literature (in
English and other languages), together with criteria by which they are
evaluated
- studies of foreign
languages,
- works from the visual and
performing arts;
- examples of traditions and
histories from different parts of the world, representing diverse
cultures.
Learning objectives
Upon completion of any Category
B course in Literature or the Humanities, students will be able to
- identify styles, genres, and techniques in literature (English or foreign
languages) or in the visual or performing arts,
- recognize literary movements or other cultural contexts in which
literature or works from the visual or performing arts were
produced
or
- research artistic models and
create responses to them.
(Note: Some of the language courses in Category B
are included as part of the language requirement for a Bachelor of Arts
degree,)
Category
C—Biological & Physical Sciences
Catalog Description
Basic scientific literacy is necessary for knowledge of
ourselves as a species and of the universe in which we live. The courses in this
category have two comprehensive objectives —
1) to make clear what kinds of
problems in the physical world are susceptible to scientific
investigation and what kinds of
solutions such investigation can produce and
2) to provide an appreciation
of the practice of scientific research
and methodology, with its
interaction of experiment and
hypothesis.
While the requirements of this
category may be satisfied without a
course containing a laboratory
component, the university strongly encourages the selection of such courses.
Experimentation in the laboratory allows the student both to observe and to
participate directly in the systematic observation
of nature and the principles of
its investigation. One course must be taken from those listed in three of the
following disciplines.
Commonalities
among the courses:
Courses in this category are aimed at appeloping a
scientific understanding of the universe in which we live, and of ourselves as a
species. To this end, Category C courses
introduce students to the scientific method and its use in the description of
natural phenomena. This method of
inquiry is based on the following framework:
• The
development of abstract models, theories, or laws to describe or gain
understanding of natural phenomena
• The
application and the testing of these models through empirical observation or
experimentation.
In spite of this common framework, the different
disciplines of Category C, as well as different courses within those
disciplines, may place significantly different emphasis on the various aspects
of scientific inquiry.
Learning
Objectives:
Courses in Category C share the following learning
objectives, again with the possibility of significant differences in their
relative emphasis:
1. Students will understand the role of scientific
models, theories or laws as abstract representations of natural
processes.
2. Students will understand how experimentation or
empirical observations are used for the development, testing and application of
these models, theories or laws.
3. Students will learn about measurement and data
analysis which are both necessary to quantify the outcome of experiments and
observations.
4. Students will learn about the influence of science on
everyday life.
5. Student will develop an ability to critically
evaluate scientific results and reports.
Category
D—Political,
Economic, and Geographic Sciences
Catalog
Description
Institutions are
formal ways which societies and cultures create over time to pursue activities
important to them. Two of the most basic institutions in any large, collective
society are its governmental structure and its economic system — that is, the
ways which a society has chosen to regulate the interaction between individuals
and groups and the ways which it has chosen to satisfy and organize its material
needs. Both of these frameworks and the remaining institutions of any society
are all affected and shaped by their physical environment, the geography in
which they are set. In an era of increasingly complex global interaction, an
understanding of these institutions in today’s society and the influences which
have helped to pattern their development are vital to the citizens of a
participatory democracy.
Commonalities among the
Courses
Category D courses introduce
the student to a disciplinary perspective—either economic, political, or
spatial—on areas of state organization and behavior.
- The focus of these courses is on
states:
- Policies (both internal and
external)
- Economic, political, or spatial
interaction among states
- International perspective, discipline
focus
- These courses adopt an
international perspective in investigating or focusing on the fundamental
concepts and techniques of each discipline.
- Examination of the interactions of individuals and
sub-groups.
- These courses compare and contrast
how individuals, sub-groups, and states interact (economically, politically, or
spatially) with other individuals, sub-groups, and states.
Category D
learning objectives:
All Category D courses will meet objectives 1 and 2,
some will also meet objective 3.
- Students will investigate, using the tools particular to
each field, the economic, political, social, or spatial interaction among
states.
- Students will compare and contrast
how individuals and sub-groups interact (economically, politically, socially,
spatially) with other individuals, sub-groups, and states.
- Students will demonstrate an international perspective
when examining the policies (both internal and external) that individuals,
sub-groups, and states adopt under various scenarios of
interaction.
Category
E-Social and Behavioral Sciences
Catalog Description
An
awareness and recognition of the disciplines which examine and analyze group and
individual behavior is of increasing importance for all who seek to understand
and to predict the patterns and processes of human activity. These disciplines examine the causes of human
interaction and the diversity of its organization and structure. Their study will help the student to see the
connection between his or her own perspective and that of society and to
appreciate the effect social forces have on the individual. The courses in this category will also
consider the theoretical frameworks of each discipline and the methods and
results of current research.
Category E courses introduce the
student to individual, group, cross-cultural, and cross-gendered perspectives on
human organization and its impact on behavior.
Commonalities among the
Courses
All Category E courses will
have the following commonalities:
1.
All courses will promote an understanding of human behavior form the
unique perspective of each discipline
2.
All courses will provide theoretical and methodological approaches to
facilitate an understanding of human behavior
3.
All courses will provide an insight to normative and non-normative
behavior within and across cultures
4.
All courses will promote an understanding of diversity within and across
cultures
Learning Objectives
All Category E courses have the
following common learning objectives:
1.
Students will be able to summarize, analyze, and evaluate the relevant
principles, theories, research, and research methods that are essential to
understanding the behavior of individuals and groups.
2.
Students will be able to identify patterns and processes of human
activity within and across cultures.
3.
Students will be able to identify causes of human
action
4.
Students will be able to identify examples of diversity in human
organizations and structures and their impact on human
behavior.
5.
Students will be able to identify the impact of social forces on
individuals and groups.
_________________________________________________
[1]
The mission, description of liberal education, and goals of this document are
taken from the SSHE Board of Governors Policy 1993-01, and from the current SU
catalog, adapted to the current structure of general education at SU.