General Education Curriculum
Component One: Foundational Skills Learning Goals
Foundational Skills learning goals require that students will acquire and expand the intellectual skills necessary to become successful lifelong learners.
Communication and Informational Literacy
Through mindful inquiry and careful reading, students will demonstrate how to communicate and present clearly, precisely, and persuasively across a variety of modes and media. Students will also demonstrate how to recognize their information needs, how to find appropriate sources, and how to evaluate, ethically integrate, and document a range of sources in their writing and presentations.
Experiential Learning
Students will explain the theoretical foundations of experiential learning, describe the value of experiential education and demonstrate the ability to analyze their experiences, connect them with theory, and construct meaning from them so as to develop a lifelong ability to learn effectively from experience.
Wellness
Students will be able to:
1. Engage in active learning and experiential activities to develop a mindset of wellness.
2. Actively reflect on consequences of life choices as they impact wellness for self and others.
3. Translate knowledge of wellness principles into judgment related to life choices. 4. Utilize knowledge, reflection and experience to develop a personal plan for application of a mindset of wellness to daily life.
Quantitative/Mathematical Reasoning
Students will demonstrate an understanding of and ability to apply mathematical concepts as well as their assumptions and implications, and general reasoning and problem-solving skills.
Component Two: Breadth of Knowledge Learning Goals
Breadth of Knowledge learning goals require that students will gain a breadth of knowledge which will help students to develop their intellectual, social, cultural, and creative potential as preparation for a life of continued growth, responsibility and fulfillment. This knowledge is organized across content and ways of knowing with the ultimate goal that students comprehend the interconnected nature of knowledge.
Empirical
Students will demonstrate an understanding of and an ability to utilize scientific methods of inquiry, including the use of observation and experimentation to investigate, describe and discover knowledge.
Physical/Natural World (PN)
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the physical nature of ourselves and the world that surrounds us by:
● Describing the impact of human activity and decisions on that world; or
● Exploring ways of representing or describing the physical world.
Community and Society (CS)
Students will demonstrate an understanding of:
● the nature and functioning of social structures, institutions and processes and the relationships within and between members of communities,
● the institutions and processes that comprise democratic societies, and
● the obligations of members of communities to one another, and in particular the value of service, leadership and the full participation of citizens in a community.
Cultural Contexts
Students will demonstrate an understanding of their own cultural contexts and heritage, as well as cultural contexts beyond their own. In particular, they will demonstrate their understanding of:
● the interrelations within and among global and cross-cultural communities, and
● the ways historical processes and conditions shape a culture’s values and behaviors.
Cultural Contexts: Our Cultures (OC)
Students will demonstrate an understanding of important elements of the cultural contexts and historical development of the United States and/or the legacy of Western cultural heritage.
Cultural Contexts: Cross Cultures (CC)
Understanding, adapting to, and thriving in multicultural and international settings is a prerequisite to living responsible, productive, and creative lives in a dramatically changing world. Cross-cultural learning opportunities challenge students to gain knowledge about the world’s people and problems, explore the legacies that have and continue to shape the world, and help them understand the interrelational nature of identity.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of cultural institutions, traditions, and ways of looking at the world beyond their own, and an ability to connect, integrate, and act on this understanding in at least one of the following ways:
● Demonstrate proficiency—culturally and/or linguistically—in a language and culture other than English.
● Articulate how knowledge and analysis of global, social, political, and economic systems can help one to embrace and adapt to cultural differences as well as to recognize similarities across cultures.
● Describe how knowledge of others’ cultures, languages, and histories create opportunities for personal and societal improvement.
Self and Individual
Students will demonstrate knowledge that enhances their ability to understand themselves and others as individuals and to act with autonomy as well as responsibility in the world. This component encourages the development of their understanding of the human condition and human functioning as well the ability to appreciate individual differences and individual values.
Ways of Knowing: Creativity, Imagination, and Aesthetics (CIA)
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the role of the imagination, creativity, aesthetic response, and artistic expression in human experience. Students will gain direct experience with artistic creation both as a creator and as a responder. In particular, they will demonstrate an understanding of:
● different ways of seeing and representing the world and human experience,
● the interactive relationship between creative expression and human cultures and societies,
● the nature and value of aesthetic response to artistic expression, and
● the use of metaphor, symbol, imagery, narrative and an ability to communicate their interpretations of and responses to verbal as well as visual, spatial and/or musical art and expression.
CIA: Verbal Arts
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the nature and importance of language as a medium for representing and responding to human experience. In particular, students will demonstrate an understanding of narrative, metaphor, symbol, and imagery in literary works and as fundamental elements in all human communication. Students will gain direct experience with artistic creation both as a creator and as a responder.
CIA: Ethical Inquiry
Students will demonstrate their ability to:
● engage in ethical decision-making in a manner that takes into account the consequences of their actions for themselves and others,
● analyze and evaluate a range of examples of ethical reasoning,
● analyze and evaluate representative examples of moral precepts, and the role of morality and ethics in social and environmental contexts, and
● understand, respect, and evaluate the role(s) that history and cultural diversity play in the formation of cultural and societal norms.
CIA: Fine/Performing Arts
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the fine and performing arts as means for representing and responding to human experience. In particular, students will demonstrate an understanding of visual, spatial, and/or musical art and expression. Students will gain direct experience with artistic creation both as a creator and as a responder.
Cross-Category Breadth of Knowledge Learning Goals
Effective Thinking
Students will develop proficiency in critical thinking and be able to demonstrate the ability to comprehensively explore issues, ideas, artifacts or events before accepting or formulating an opinion or conclusion. Students will also be able to solve problems in unique ways as demonstrated by the ability to weigh divergent perspectives and ideas, and to design, evaluate, and implement a strategy to answer an open-ended question or achieve a desired goal.
Reasoning and Analytical Thinking
Students will demonstrate the ability to:
● develop a critical perspective, analyze and evaluate inductive and deductive reasoning and in particular the use of evidence, and utilize arguments to arrive at a rationally justified belief;
● understand logical systems and develop statistical and symbolic reasoning; and
● engage in effective problem-solving.
Interconnectedness
Students choose ONE course identified for this category that also fulfills either a Content or Ways of Knowing requirement.
Students will demonstrate:
● an understanding of the fundamental interconnectedness of knowledge and ways of knowing,
● the ability to integrate ideas and information from multiple perspectives and domains of knowledge,
● application of interdisciplinary knowledge to problem solving,
● application of critical and creative thinking skills, and
● competence in oral, written, and other creative modes of expression.
Component Three: Disposition Learning Goals
Disposition learning goals require that students develop values and attitudes that will provide them with a foundation for a lifetime of learning, service and leadership.
Students will develop values and attitudes that will provide them with a foundation for a lifetime of learning, service, and leadership. They will:
● learn from and reflect upon experience;
● examine, identify, and analyze their own values and beliefs and those of others;
● seek knowledge in order to gain understanding of complex issues from a variety of experiences, sources, and perspectives;
● articulate abstract and moral reasoning that provides a framework for decision-making and social responsibility; and
● examine the value of acting with integrity in all areas of one’s life.
This student learning goal is systematically integrated across the general education curriculum.