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Date: Thu, 05 Dec 1996 14:15:20 -0400 (EDT)
From: ARCH MCCALLUM
Subject: Group 1 Final Report
To: gened@cofc.edu
Errors-to: gened-error@cofc.edu
Reply-to: GENED@cofc.edu
Organization: College of Charleston

Gened Inquriy Group 1 suggests the following answers to our three discussion questions.

I. A brief synopsis of the nature and characteristics of an educated person: An educated person has the following skills, values, and knowledge:
A. Skills
1. Oral, written, and nonverbal communication
2. Critical thinking in the areas of logic, mathematics, and historical perspective
3. Research skills, including library use, formal experimention, and computer literacy
B. Values
1. Intellectual honesty, including accepting and giving constructive feedback, and demonstrating skepticism
2. The courage to act, thoughtfully and responsibly
3. Appreciation of demographic and ideological diversity and tolerance of its manifestations
C. Knowledge
1. Discipline-specific knowledge
2. Knowledge of the leading zeitgeists of the past and present, including philosophical, religious, and artistic schools of thought and practice
3. Theoretical and empirical knowledge of the place of humans in the natural and human-made world
4. Philosophical and empirical knowledge of political systems
II. Results of our discussions on how the college experience (in and outside the classroom) can facilitate the development of a liberally educated person.
A. We felt that this question is best answered after agreeing upon goals and objectives, so we devoted most of our time to discussin questions I and III. In addition, we suggest that . . .
B. the suggestions of the Faculty Advisory Committee to the President, communicated to the Faculty in a letter of October 14, 1996, are good noncurricular ways to facilitate development of liberally educated persons,
C. the Honor Code supports the ideal of intellectual honesty.
D. student organizations supported by the College can contribute to the courage to act responsibly.
E. one of the main ways the College can contribute to the development of values is by giving students the skills and knowledge that lead to the crystallization of desirable values.
F. exposure to a variety of ideas, cultures, and people contributes importantly to the development of tolerance.
III. Our review of the General Education Goals and Objectives resulted in some rearrangement and substitution, as follows:
A. To develop reading, writing, and oral communication skills.
B. To develop critical thinking and problem solving skills.
C. To develop familiarity with information retrieval systems.
D. To develop a commitment to intellectual curiosity and lifelong learning.
E. To develop awareness of the global scale of society and the biosphere, and knowledge of global issues.
F. To develop tolerance of, and ability to work effectively with, others, regardless of cultural and personal differences.
G. To acquire essential knowledge in the humanities, arts, sciences.
Respectfully submitted,
Arch McCallum, Facilitator
Arch McCallum
Department of Biology
College of Charleston
Charleston, SC 29424
O (803) 953-6557
F 953-5453
H 883-9818