General Education Program
Educational Purpose
The overarching educational purpose of the General Education program is to provide students with opportunities to acquire and reinforce key intellectual competencies in:
- Writing effectively;
- Thinking critically;
- Reasoning and analyzing quantitatively; and
- Understanding and using the scientific method.
Students also have the opportunity to participate in experiential and integrative learning as part of their General Education coursework, including Transformational Learning Opportunities (TLOs), Community-Based Learning, Study Abroad experiences, or internships.
These competencies involve a complex set of skills that prepare students for specialized study in the major and the still more specialized study required at the graduate level. They are also the backbone of lifelong learning. What is more, as both educators and business leaders alike emphasize, these competencies are essential preparation for success in a world that relies on the ability to communicate expertly combined with highly developed skills in analyzing complex problems, scrutinizing their implications, and arriving at smart solutions.
Assessment of Student Learning
The General Education program seeks to give students direct feedback about the extent to which they have developed the ability to write well, think critically, analyze and reason quantitatively, use the scientific method, and apply their knowledge in real world situations. To this end, faculty in the General Education Program aim to provide students with opportunities to learn how to reflect critically on their own work. They also assess student performance on key learning outcomes to learn where students succeed and struggle, and why. This allows us to continually improve our General Education curriculum.