Revision of the General Education Curriculum DGE and Department Heads 12 April 2018

DGE Pamela Bedore Associate Professor CLAS CLAS C&CC Chair Daniel Burkey Associate Dean Engineering Engineering C&CC Chair Robert Day Business Hedley Freake Professor CAHNR SEC Chair Jaci Van Heest Neag Jenna Henderson Program Administrator Pharmacy Katrina Higgins Director University Advising Thomas Long Associate Professor in Residence Nursing Thomas Meacham Fine Arts Fine Arts C&CC Chair Michael Morrell GEOC member David Ouimette Executive Program Director 1st Y Programs & Learning Comms Senate C&CC member Lauren Schlesselman Executive Director of Faculty Development Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Eric Schultz GEOC Chair Laura Yahn Research Analyst OIRE Julia Yakovich Program Manager Office of Public Engagement Director of Service Learning Initiatives DGE

Why do we think the curriculum could improve? The 2016 Report of the General Education Assessment Task Force found that: the goals of the General Education curriculum are not clear to students and faculty; too many students do not know why they are being asked to fulfill the general education requirements; too many students, advisors and faculty regard fulfillment of the General Education curriculum as a ‘box-checking’ chore to be ‘gotten out of the way’ rather than a valued contribution to learning and growth.

Why do we think the curriculum could improve? Our study of curricular initiatives at comparable US institution suggest positive changes we could make. The University Senate recently approved a motion to add a new environmental literacy component to the curriculum, indicating interest in broad university-wide discussions on the goals and content of General Education at UConn.

How could the curriculum improve? Better integration: It could be designed to promote connections among disciplines and between coursework and life outside the classroom. Clearer outcomes: It could be more grounded in what we want students to learn and be able to do. Greater flexibility: It could be less rigid so as to foster intentionality, rather than arbitrary enrollment.

What are we proposing to do? Our goals are to get the community more invested in General Education and design a more coherent system that is better suited to our students and the world they inhabit. We will NOT suggest increasing the number of required General Education credits.

What are we proposing to do? Better integration: We aim to identify sequences of Gen Ed courses that examine a common theme in different disciplines (e.g., Environmental Literacy; Innovation & Invention; Diversity & Multiculturalism) These could be incorporated as “strands” (required components) or “pathways” (optional components). Which best fits UConn’s goals? Should first-year seminars and final capstones be incorporated?

What are we proposing to do? Clearer outcomes: Where needed, we aim to replace vague guidance of what constitutes a General Education course with thoughtful objectives and specific learning outcomes. What are the goals on which we should build this framework?

What are we proposing to do? Clearer outcomes, for example: CREATIVITY AND IDEATION Students will: develop skills in creating novel intellectual output both as an individual and as a member of a creative team, to produce novel literary, performance, visual, entrepreneurial, and/or technical design output; gain experience in receiving and responding to criticism and other external review to generate meaningful, defensible revisions; understand aesthetic production as a way of knowing and representing lived experience; learn to ideate within a conceptual framework, within a set of externally defined constraints, and/or within a creative process methodology.

What are we proposing to do? Greater flexibility: We aim to give students more choice. For example, a breadth and depth model that spans disciplines while encouraging deeper engagement in a particular area.

Example: Breadth and Depth Model Students complete a set of courses that cover each of 6 topics of inquiry and focus on one topic by completing three courses (note: courses may cover multiple topics). TOPICS OF INQUIRY Creativity and Ideation Sustainability and the Environment Collaborative and Integrative Learning Culture, Diversity, and Beliefs Social and Economic Systems Science, Inquiry, and Theory COMPETENCIES Writing (W Courses) Quantitative Reasoning (Q Courses)

Examples of alternative approaches (Harvard model)

Examples of alternative approaches (Harvard model)

Examples of alternative approaches (Harvard model)

Examples of alternative approaches (American U.)