UA’s Revised General
Education Program
How to Tag Courses
Janet Bean
Coordinator of General Education
Program Comparison
Old Program: 41 credits
Academic Foundations (12 credits)
– Writing (6)
– Speech (3)
– Math (3)
Disciplinary Areas (24 credits)
– Natural Sciences (8)
– Social Sciences (6)
– Humanities (10)
Area Studies & Cultural Diversity
(4 credits)
Physical Education (1)
New Program: 34 credits + tags
I. Academic Foundations (12 credits)
– Writing (6)
– Speech (3)
– Math (3)
II. Disciplinary Areas (22 credits)
– Natural Sciences (7)
– Social Sciences (6)
– Humanities and Arts (9)
III. Tagged Courses
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–
–
–
Critical Thinking
US Diversity
Global Diversity
Social issues
New Program Requirements: 4-year Degree
Tier I: Academic Foundations (12 credit hours)
Writing—6 hours
Speaking—3 hours
Quantitative Reasoning—3 hours
Tier II: Disciplinary Areas (22 credit hours)
Natural Science—7 hours, including 1 lab
Social Science—6 hours
Humanities and Arts—9 hours
(at least one Humanities and at least one Arts)
Tier III: Critical Thinking and Responsible Citizenship
Students take four tagged courses, one in each area:
•Critical Thinking (CT)
•US Diversity (USD)
•Global Diversity (GD)
•Complex Systems Affecting Individuals in Society/Social Issues (SI)
Meeting Requirements through Tagged
Disciplinary Courses (hypothetically)
Natural Sciences
•Natural Science Biology
•Earth Science
Social Sciences
•Human Diversity(GD)
•Contemporary Global Issues (SI)
Humanities
•Humanities in Western Tradition (CT)
•Diversity in American Literature (USD)
Arts
•Exploring Music
Using General Education to Minor in Sociology
hypothetically speaking….
Critical Thinking
3850: 301 Methods of Social Research
Social Science Disciplinary Area
3850: 100 Introduction to Sociology
Global Diversity
3850: 325 Sociology of Women in
Global Society
General Credit hours in
Sociology:
15
US Diversity
3850: 421 Race and Ethnic Relations
Additional credit hours
Required for minor:
3
Social Issues
3850: 320 Social Inequalities
Basic Rules: What courses can be tagged?
1.Tagged courses are expected to be at the 200-level or higher.
2.Academic Foundations courses cannot be tagged.
3.Disciplinary Area courses can be tagged.
4.Any course in any college that meets the required learning
outcomes can be tagged.
5.A course can only have one tag.
Rules for All General Education Courses
1. All General Education courses must meet all required learning
outcomes for area.
2. All General Education courses must require critical thinking and at
least 15% writing. Some areas require more writing.
3. All General Education courses must identify assessment artifacts.
4. Departments offering General Education courses must participate in
General Education Assessment.
Critical Thinking
Interpretation
Analysis
Evaluation
Inference: synthesizing, drawing conclusions, identifying alternatives, generalizing
Communication: explaining results, justifying procedures, presenting arguments
Metacognition: reflection, self-monitoring, self-correction
(Facione)
Writing Requirement
Check template for percentage of writing required.
Writing should be appropriate to discipline.
Examples include:
•full solutions to scientific or math problems, lab reports
•essays, research papers, essay exams
•case studies, projects
•blog submissions on Springboard
•other disciplinary writing that can be used to assess critical thinking.
What is a good assessment artifact?
Meets multiple learning outcomes
Demonstrates critical thinking
Requires writing
Implementation Committee Chairs
Global Diversity, Martin Wainwright
US Diversity, Suzette Speight
Social Issues, Linda Barrett
Critical Thinking, John Huss
Search UA Website:
General Education Revision
http://www.uakron.edu/provost/priorities-andinitiatives/general-education-revision.dot
Questions