Please join us at the Faculty House for our next meeting--Tuesday, Sept. 3, 4-5pm.

On 8/19, as part of the General Education Forum:

Topic: Identify the (one) most significant characteristic of an educated person.

Our group discussion started with a list of characteristics:

flexibility; adaptability; an interest in learning more; problem solving; critical thinking; being able to talk about & use ideas from different fields; to be able to communicate effectively; to seek broader horizons, beyond one's immediate community

We also decided to emphasize that we were discussing the characteristics of a person who comes from a _liberal_ education, as opposed to a technical or professional education. As a result, all further discussion concerned the characteristic of a *liberally* educated person.

Problem solving vs. critical thinking was discussed. One who has problem solving skills doesn't question the problem before solving it, often by rote. On the other hand, one who is capable of critical thinking questions the validity of the question before examining its solutions. The primary difference between the two seems to be an emphasis on approaching the solution rather than the solution itself. In critical thinking, the solution often implies further questions.

We talked about the phrase "A liberal arts and sciences education is intended to be 'liberating' in as much as it affords the student the opportunity to grow both intellectually and personally." from the draft statement developed in Fall 1995. The rest of the discussion focused on the *liberation* of a liberal education.

In defining this liberation, we discussed the phrase "courage to question." An educated person demonstrates curiosity as a propellant to think critically and solve problems. He or she maintains an excitement about attaining knowledge. He or she is not afraid to succeed, as opposed to being unafraid of failure.

The question was proposed: When you meet a new person, what question(s) would you ask to determine if that person is liberally educated? Some answers:
1. What books have you read lately?
2. To what magazines do you subscribe?
3. Discuss a variety of subjects, and in a variety of languages, to determine the person's level of education.
4. How have your reading habits changed over some period of time? six months? five years? ten years?
5. What do you want to read in the future?
This led to a discussion of whether reading is a valid measurement, especially since other media may be as informative in our society. We ran out of time, and had to re-focus on the task at hand.

To pinpoint a characteristic, we compared the phrases "freedom from ..." and "freedom to ..." and talked about the way that a liberal education prepares one to look beyond one's own social and family background to explore new ideas, cultures, values, etc. We also returned to the theme of courage to succeed, or being unafraid to succeed and came up with some possible phrases:

Freedom from feeling limited.
Freedom of awareness of personal limits.
Freedom to realize limits are self-imposed.
Freedom to fail.
Freedom to be unafraid to succeed.
Freedom to see the horizon.
Freedom to recognize one's limits, and go beyond them.

In summary, the group decided to focus on the liberating aspects of a liberal education. Therefore, we surmised that a liberally educated person should seek limits and go beyond them; have the freedom to fail; and be unafraid of success.

Participants:
Duncan R. Munro
Deborah Miller
Hugh Wilder
Frank Morris
David Gentry
George Pothering
Franklin Ashley
Stephanie Low Chenault
============================================== Stephanie Low Chenault
The College of Charleston ---------------- (803) 953-3187
Computer Science Dept. ---------------- FAX: (803) 953-8154
9 Liberty St., Room 216 ----------------http:/www.cs.cofc.edu/dept/cs/
Charleston, SC 29424 --------------- chenaults@cofc.edu