通识教育更新

通识教育督导委员会更新(2021年7月)

考虑到我们的使命, 理想及价值观, our university learning outcomes and the experience we want undergraduates to have at the 365滚球官网, the 通识教育 Steering Committee reimagined ways to better connect general education and the major. They envisioned a future where students clearly understand the inherent value in and relevance of all the courses they take, whether those courses are part of the general education curriculum or are specific to the major.

They believed that a good first step was to change the way we communicate about general education, 为了达到这个目的, 他们建议更加关注综合教育:

The purpose of integrative education is to equip students with broad knowledge and foundational skills to succeed in a complex, 多样化和变化的世界. Integrative education works in conjunction with a student’s area of study to demonstrate the connectivity of all knowledge, 提高对成功的智力适应能力, provide a foundation for life-long learning and civic engagement and cultivate respect for differing cultural perspectives.

他们的旅程

2019年3月, 通识教育督导委员会成立, which included 11 faculty members from across the undergraduate colleges, as well as Dean Panttaja (Director of 通识教育) and Cher Hendricks (Vice Provost for Academic Initiatives). 他们一起制定了委员会的职责和工作时间表.

委员会负责: Recommend a framework for 365滚球官网's 通识教育 program that:

• 与UI的价值观、使命、愿景和学习成果保持一致
• Helps students learn critical competencies and skills for success which are integrated and cumulative throughout the undergraduate experience and which will serve them throughout life
• 嵌入有意义的评估
• 识别的约束, including (1) the Idaho State Board of Education's policies for general education and (2) the need for the program to be financially sustainable

From March through May 2019, they met four times and were able to accomplish the following:

• Collected information on the current general education program from graduating seniors via surveys and focus groups and reviewing results
• Engaged the Engineering 校友 Advisory Board in conversations about their general education experience at the U of I and their ideas for strengthening the program
• 审查了改革普通教育等领域的最佳做法, 综合学习, 以及高影响力的实践
• Discussed opportunities and challenges with support offices and programs including Honors, 国际项目, 以及多元文化事务办公室
• Connected with the Executive Director of University Studies at Portland State to learn about their general education programs

2019年夏天, 他们独立工作, reading the general education materials they had curated in the spring as well as reviewing data collected from students and 校友.

2019年8月, they took part in a 2-day planning retreat where we focused on articulating the general education experience we want 365滚球官网 students to have. 他们建立了一个共同的, common purpose for general education but moved away from the notion of a “general” education to an “integrative” education. They defined integrative education and then discussed the current supports that the institution had in place that can help us realize this vision of integrative education. They also considered the challenges and barriers that must be overcome.

From there, they established the following goals in support of integrative education.

目标1: Implement an adaptive integrative education program that is sustainable and leverages the strengths and capabilities of our faculty.

目标2: Communicate the value of the vision to upper-level administrators and obtain their commitment to support the vision and purpose both academically and financially.

目标3: Redesign curricular offerings to ensure that curriculum eliminates current problems and challenges to create the integrative experience we have envisioned.

目标4: 推荐支持教师发展的项目和流程, rewarding and recognizing faculty who teach integrative education courses.

目标5: Develop the financial support necessary to build a program that aligns with and supports the vision and purpose of integrative education.

目标6: Create a communication plan that leverages the stories of our students, 校友, faculty and staff to clearly explain the purpose and vision of integrative integration to students and citizens.

The work of the 通识教育 Steering Committee which was an Ad-Hoc Committee, presented their proposal to the standing 大学通识教育委员会 in the fall of 2020.  该提案在投票中被否决，并讨论了替代方案.  No action was taken by the 大学通识教育委员会 on this matter for the rest of the year.

下一个步骤

The 大学通识教育委员会 will be tasked to create an integrative first year experience in the fall of 2021 that better aligns with their curricular strategy.