Date: Sun, 01 Dec 1996 14:52:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: CABOTJ@cofc.edu
Subject: final report group #11
To: gened@cofc.edu
Errors-to: gened-error@cofc.edu
Reply-to: GENED@cofc.edu
Organization: College of Charleston
This report is organized by the questions posed:
1a. An educated person in the 21st century is:
open-minded and inquisitive;
enjoys learning how to learn;
accepts and can adapt to different ways of knowing;
uses reason to form opinions;
has a sense of historical perspective;
has the ability to do research and build data bases;
can find common as well as distinct ideas across disciplines;
knows more than one langauge;
does not automatically accept opinions because they appear to
come from authoritative sources;
is scientifically and mathematically literate; and
can consume the "news" media intelligently.
1b. The skills a graduate of the College should possess:
the ability to do research;
the ability to use a computer;
effective communication skills in English;
basic communication skills in a language other than English;
mathematical thinking skills;
scientifically literate; and
ability to use an ethical framework.
The knowledge a graduate of the College should possess:
the knowledge of historical perspective and specifically knowledge of
the origins of ideas that are part of their own culture;
an understanding of the relationship between society, technology and
science;
an understanding of cultural relativity: the ability to understand
and respect other cultures, past and present, without reference to
one's own culture or abandonment of one's own cultural values;
an understanding of nonverbal communication;
literate in science; and
literate in math.
The values a graduate of the College should possess:
appreciation for cultural relativity;
belief in civil discourse; and
belief in active citizenry.
2. The College can facilitate the development of a liberally educated
person:
-recognizing its core belief--all are capable of higher-order thinking
--by demonstrating its respect for students' intellectual
capabilities
--instituting high expectations and regorous evaluation of students;
--having regular, honest and useful communication with pre-college
educators about the college's expectations of student performance
and the nature of a liberal arts and sciences curriculum;
--the same communication with the public;
--creating more opportunities for faculty-faculty, faculty-student
exchanges outside of the classroom (investigate reconfiguration of
scheduling, advising and space and coordinate co-curricular
initiatives across the campus).
3a. Reactions to the posted list of goals and objectives:
--it is a list of only goals not objectives;
--none of the goals are atttached to acquiring a specific body of
knowledge;
-- there needs to a be recognized common content core; and
--this list is more about attitudes than cognitive development.
3b. Recommendations:
--we should all return to our list of skills, values and knowledge
(questions 2) and matich that list with objectives that can apply
across the curriculum and with objectives that are tied to specific
courses, for example: the goal of knowledge of historical
perspective has several operational objectives such as the
ability to do historical research;
understanding how things change over time;
understanding globalization;
awareness of world geography;
demythologizing;
knowledge of contemporary history, etc.
Jeri Cabot cabotj@cofc.edu
College of Charleston (803) 953-5522
Charleston, SC 29424