After more than three years of research on national trends and data, a close examination of Penn State’s current General Education program and consultation across the University community, the General Education Task Force has presented to the Faculty Senate three prototypes for structuring a curriculum to better prepare Penn State students to live and work in increasingly competitive global contexts.
The prototypes are outlined in a progress report that was submitted for consideration by Faculty Senate Council in advance of an Oct. 21 plenary meeting. The full report is available online, at gened.psu.edu, for public review and comment.
Representatives of the General Education Task Force will hold open meetings with faculty members at every campus and college to discuss the research findings, outline key learning objectives and faculty support measures and offer ideas for building a General Education curriculum that provides strong foundations, structured opportunities for integration across disciplines and greater intercultural and global competency. Those meetings began Sept. 22 with visits to Abington, Mont Alto and York.
The prototypes are not formal curriculum proposals. They are being offered as prompts for further discussion of the ways to structure a General Education curriculum around learning objectives set by Penn State faculty members. They will continue to evolve as that discussion – the first systematic review of the General Education program since 1997 – continues.
“None of these models is ‘the model,’” said Janet Schulenberg, co-chair of the task force and associate director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies at University Park. “Our intent in presenting them is to encourage discussion of the learning opportunities that can most benefit our students. Once we agree on those, we can take the best parts of each model and develop a curriculum that more fully realizes Penn State’s undergraduate institutional mission.”
Each prototype highlights an aspect of General Education that was consistently valued during deliberations within and beyond the task force. Each also comes with trade-offs, which are addressed in the progress report, and in an online forum for deliberation at gened.psu.edu:
-- The Modern Literacies prototype builds on the foundational skills of writing, speaking and quantification while encouraging students to cultivate new literacies in learning, inquiry, applied quantification, social responsibility and personal finance. This model would elevate ethics in the curriculum and orient students to social and cultural issues.
-- The Chosen Topics prototype would equip students to analyze, evaluate and interpret a single important topic from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. This model, which could include an optional capstone project, would also place higher value on global competency.
-- The Scaffolded prototype is explicitly structured to promote General Education learning through all levels of the undergraduate curriculum. This model would embed writing and quantification competencies into both upper- and lower-division courses, with a focus on two broad topics: major global issues and “the human condition.”
Any significant revision to the current General Education program will have to recognize and support the many ways students move into and through the University. For that reason, Schulenberg said, representatives of the task force will return to each campus and college for open town-hall meetings this fall with faculty and student advisers. Similar meetings were held across the commonwealth in the first half of the year.
All members of the University community also are invited to participate in a deliberative conversation about General Education at gened.psu.edu. The task force will consider all input in revising the prototypes as members work toward an implementable and sustainable curriculum that improves student learning.
“The goal is to develop a General Education curriculum that is transparent in intent to students and is implementable at every Penn State campus,” Schulenberg said. “In order to do this, every campus and college needs to actively participate in the deliberation.”
A new curriculum also will have to better support and reward faculty members who teach General Education courses. Throughout the semester, members of the task force will draft a framework for a faculty-support structure in consultation with other Senate committees.
“Our faculty needs to be supported when they teach General Education courses regardless of the model they are teaching under,” Schulenberg said. “Teaching General Education is incredibly important to the University, but it’s not always supported or rewarded. That’s a gap we can and should remedy.”